Post by onoudidint on Jan 9, 2013 8:52:45 GMT -5
Is Print The True Green Technology?
Green printing is impossible to define. It all depends on the angle the issue is looked at, how it is perceived by an observer. The biggest contributor to print being seen as a non-green technology is its usage of natural resources. Substrates need to be created, transported to a print shop, printed, shipped to the buyer of print, and stored in inventory. There are a lot of steps in this process, which often causes a waste of resources particularly when the print is never used (an estimated 30% of print is never “consumed” or used, it is thrown away because it is outdated or no longer needed).
Electronic content and display is perceived to use energy only when “consumed” by a recipient. There is no transportation, and no waste of paper. However, there is a large and growing hidden use of energy: servers. Today in the US, servers consume more than 2% of the US’s energy consumption. Some project servers will account for 10% of the US’s energy consumption by 2020. Regardless of outcome, the energy servers consume imposes a large and growing toll on the environment.
Most print can be recycled. The toxic waste associated with disposing of electronic devices, which often have a life of 2-5 years, is a very large, hidden cost of electronic content. Once print is created it consumes no additional resources. Electronic content consumes resources in perpetuity, growing exponentially as the content is stored on servers that continue to consume energy.