Newspapers printing commercially are finding that going green could be more challenging than they may think.

“Newspapers with commercial accounts are facing a higher degree of scrutiny and a higher standard of environmental compliance than they might be aware of,” said Peg Schmitz, vice president of operations at Color Web Printers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. CWP, owned by Gazette Communications, prints The Gazette in Cedar Rapids as well as a number of other newspapers, magazines and other commercial accounts.

“We see a high degree of awareness and a high degree of expectations from print buyers as well as from those buyers’ customers” regarding environmental awareness.

At the Web Offset Association’s annual meeting, held in late April in suburban Chicago, Schmitz said she estimated that more than 70 percent of the commercial printers presenting at the conference had a “proactive” green initiative.

“Print buyers are becoming very savvy (about green initiatives) and as their customers are asking them questions, those questions will be posed to newspapers,” she said. “We have to answer to a higher standard because if we don’t, it will add to our own demise if we don’t acknowledge readers’ questions and concerns.”

 

Adopts standards

CWP, like most newspaper printers, already adheres to environmental policies that call for the use of recycled newsprint, soy-based inks and other energy-reducing mandates.

To publicize its efforts, CWP earlier this year began producing a monthly ad in The Gazette highlighting how much newsprint it recycles and other steps it takes to reduce its environmental impact, Schmitz said.

It also worked with the local utility to reduce its electrical consumption, in the process adding motion detectors throughout CWP’s 200,000-square-foot plant to automate its lighting. The result: a $30,000 annual savings. “When we take steps to improve our (environmental) performance, we want it to be a win/win,” she said.

Finally, the printer is paying more attention to recycling its plastic and strap and is also evaluating videoconferencing as a tool to reduce the gasoline and time now required by staffers to travel between CWP’s facilities.

CWP plans to further its sustainability efforts by assessing such programs as the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, an initiative backed by the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation.

SGP was formed last summer to formulate standards that govern sustainable green printing and environmentally conscious manufacturing and business practices. The group released its initial round of specifications in March and hopes to issue formal guidelines and certification standards to U.S. printers this summer.

“We are interested (in joining the group), because we recognize there are no standards that have been yet established” that define green printing, Schmitz said. “We have to start somewhere.

“With our newspaper being independently owned we have an obligation to answer to our community,” Schmitz said. “Commercial customers may be driving this, but everybody is now paying attention to green issues and must be accountable.”

Carbon neutral at Dow Jones

Even as CWP fortifies its sustainability programs, other newspapers are rolling out plans of their own, according to the Newspaper Association of America’s Green Ideas project.

Dow Jones, for example, plans to be carbon neutral by 2010 as part of parent News Corp.’s initiative to cut greenhouse gases.

“Increasingly, advertisers and investors are requesting information on our environmental performance and are interested in partnering with us on environmental marketing campaigns,” Paul Jakubski, director, environmental and safety, wrote in his submission to the project. “We expect that our green initiatives will increase our audience by providing a competitive edge.”

The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press notched a less loftier, albeit more tangible, goal, according to Facilities Manager Hugh J. Heaney. The paper decreased its annual utility bill by more than $130,000 after replacing metal halide and high-pressure sodium light fixtures with high-efficiency T-8 Illuminator fixtures. The new lamps use 50 percent less electricity and produce much less heat, Heaney said in Green Ideas. The newspaper also qualified for a rebate from the state, which covered almost 25 percent of the project.

Recycling key

The Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star last summer launched Journal Star Recycling, a curbside service in which the newspaper collects consumers’ recyclables as part of their newspaper subscription.

The program collects items ranging from newspapers to plastic, aluminum and glass, according to Matt Kasik, operations manager of consumer products.

The Journal Star promotes the service e via print and online ads.

Kasik told NAA’s Green Ideas that when the Journal Star conceived the project, it applied only to recycling newspapers. Although the pilot program was successful, Journal Star managers realized they could expand the initiative and gain additional community exposure and support.

“We felt that with our strong market reach, 88 percent in our home county, and essentially a ‘free’ advertising tool that we could gain customers and spread the message of recycling in the community,” Kasik wrote.

Finally, the Cape Cod Times in Hyannis, Mass., might get the nod for the most novel energy-saving approach.

One of the paper’s delivery drivers converted a 1982 Mercedes to run on vegetable oil, reducing pollutants and cutting his fuel expenditures from more than $4,000 annually to less than $100 for his daily, 50-mile route, according to Teresa Ashley, retail sales and marketing manager.

The driver spent $1,000 on a modification kit that enabled the car to use the waste oil and obtains the 10 or 20 gallons of vegetable oil he needs to operate the vehicle at a local restaurant, Ashley told NAA.