The Verdigris Blog by Laurel Brunner

This article was produced by the Verdigris project, an industry initiative intended to raise awareness of print’s positive environmental impact. This weekly commentary helps printing companies keep up to date with environmental standards, and how environmentally friendly business management can help improve their bottom lines. Verdigris is supported by the following companies: Agfa Graphics, EFI, Fespa, Fujifilm, HP, Kodak, Miraclon, Ricoh, Spindrift, Splash PR, Unity Publishing and Xeikon.

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1st April, 2023

Sat, 01/04/2023 - 00:00

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced reversal of UK’s Brexit, following revelations of massive referendum vote hacking. British intelligence working with counterparts in Estonia, Ukraine and Poland have uncovered evidence that votes in the 2016 Brexit referendum converted Remain votes to Leave votes. The hack, code named Project Tonsils, was discovered on the day of the vote. But the discovery came too late to halt a mass of false votes being cast and counted.

Why you need a sustainability officer

Mon, 20/03/2023 - 08:58

Laurel-2018.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

We’ve got CEOs, CTOs, CMOs, CFOs and CPOs so why are there so few CSOs in printing and publishing? Chief Sustainability Officers, tasked with managing sustainability of a company, have an extensive and interesting job description. On the one hand you’d think they just worry about the environmental dimension of a company. But their responsibilities may also extend to the overall health of the business, and of ensuring its sustainable future. Which one takes priority and by how big a margin, depends on the starting point.

ISO 22067-1 is published

Mon, 06/03/2023 - 08:08

medium_laurel2015.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

Following yet another tortuous and lengthy gestation period, the first part of ISO 22067 – Requirements for communication of environmental aspects of printed products, was finally published on the 4th October 2022. This first part of the series covers general printing requirements and is relevant for most print applications, apart from textile and ceramic printing. It is hoped that printing companies will find ISO 22067-1 a useful tool in their communications with customers, so that all parties can share a common set of criteria in their sustainability conversations.

Doing more across boundaries

Mon, 20/02/2023 - 08:08

medium_2015_Laurel B.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

It’s generally agreed that the planet is in dire shape and that more needs to be done to cut emissions. Industry and science lead the way in all sectors, including printing and publishing where we have seen impressive advances in energy efficiencies and consumables recyclability. But technology is only part of the solution to our climate crisis. The much bigger part is the part that requires organisations to work together on cutting emissions.

A leaner book publishing sector would be a greener one

Mon, 06/02/2023 - 13:17

Laurel-2018.jpgThe Verdigris blog by Laurel Brunner

Decades ago George Orwell, he of Animal Farm fame, bemoaned the state of British book publishing. He said something along the lines that there were far too many books published and that only one in ten were any good. If he were around today he might want to consider upping that ratio to one in one hundred. There has never been such a volume of books published, but so many are trashed that the whole business model is surely something that should be reviewed in the interests of the planet.

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