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PSB embraces MIT's goals for an environmentally responsible campus, and we work with partner vendors who support sustainable business practices.
We can help you make environmentally responsible choices in your communications projects.
What you can do when planning your publications:
- Consider your overall communications goals, and target your audience to maximize the effectiveness of your publications. Plan how your printed pieces work in conjunction with your website and other non-print communications.
- Review your project with your PSB advisor, designer, web developer, or printer representative to solicit their ideas on ways to get the best value for your investment. Adjusting the size or graphic complexity of your piece can often save resources and money while effectively achieving your communications goals.
- Update and clean your mailing lists so you are communicating with the right audience. Updated lists can often reduce your print run and postage costs.
- Request that your printer representative give you estimates based on paper that includes post-consumer waste from responsibly managed sources. Most of MIT's preferred printers are accredited by a third-party environmental organization such as the Forest Stewardship Council. This ensures that they responsibly manage raw materials and waste products.
- Promote awareness by letting your audience know you considered the impact of your communications on the environment. Include statements in your communications that signal your general commitment to sustainability or that address your specific savings effort. For example:
MIT is committed to producing environmentally responsible publications. All efforts were made to consider the efficient use of resources in the production of this brochure.
The paper used in the printing of this booklet contains 50% recycled content, 25% of which is post-consumer waste, and the balance is from responsibly managed mixed sources.
- Consider reviewing PDF proofs, if appropriate, rather than requesting hard proofs. Try to get in the habit of not printing emails, or print them two-sided.
How PSB can support you:
The PSB staff are publishing professionals with experience in the graphic arts industry. We can assist you in the following ways:
- We can review your annual communications plans and recommend ways to further your goals while minimizing the impact of your publications on the environment, as well as on your budget.
- We are working with MIT's 10 preferred printers to assess and develop sustainable business practices. As part of their agreement to be a preferred MIT partner vendor, the printers have been asked to provide regular updates on their use of raw materials (paper, ink, plates) and how they dispose of waste (leftover ink, scrap paper, used printing plates, office waste, used equipment).
- We can show you paper samples that include post-consumer waste content, fiber from responsibly managed forests, or a mixture of both. Most premium sheets are now available in gloss, dull, or uncoated finishes that may contain 100% post-consumer waste content. With today's production techniques, recycled paper looks and feels no different than non-recycled paper.
- We continue to ensure that the Institute's official watermarked bond meets current environmental standards. MIT bond is a premium recycled paper produced on Neenah Environment stock and is made from 100% post-consumer fiber. It maintains certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, Green-e, and SmartWood; is made with 100% certified renewable energy, including but not limited to wind energy, solar power, and low-impact hydropower; is process chorine free, acid free, and archival; and maintains a random watermark, which minimizes waste when sheets are trimmed to size.
Where you can learn more:
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