Green Printing

The “Company Profile” is an Earth911.com series highlighting consumer goods and services making a difference through product stewardship and recycling. Products and services featured do not pay for placement and are not endorsed by Earth911.com.

Like many industries, commercial printing is rapidly changing its standards for production in order to incorporate social and environmental responsibility.

Nuri Riazati, CEO and co-founder of BIZCard, launched the business (a sister company to American Business Card) in March of 2006. BIZCard encompassed his vision of empowering entrepreneurs worldwide with affordable, professional marketing tools and integrated green building practices, along with environmentally-friendly processes.

With over 25,000 exclusive images, BIZCard offers web-based templates for business staples such as cards, postcards, letterhead, magnets, invitations, note cards and announcements. Many industries, including education, retail, transportation, hospitality and health and wellness, utilize the service. The company also offers graphic design services, web design and hosting, and marketing advice.

In a recent interview, Tammara Anderton, chief marketing officer of BIZCard, discussed eco-minded principles and processes implemented by the company since its inception.

Conservation From the Ground Up

To conserve electricity, BIZCard is housed in a facility with energy-efficient lighting, a triple-insulated roof and west wall and reflective windows. With regard to the daily operation of the facility, it is a requirement to power down all machines at the end of every work day. “It’s important for us to protect our environment and not waste all of that electricity at night,” said Anderton.

Presses That Impress

The printing industry is notorious for pollution with the use of solvents, chemicals, inks, wastewater and waste paper. At BIZCard, a large initial investment was made in equipment that benefited not only employees but also the environment.

A typical printing press uses 100 sheets of paper, according to Anderton, as well as dangerous chemicals. However, BIZCard uses two less-harmful presses:

• A press that uses one sheet of paper, creating minimal waste
• A digital imaging press that contains absolutely no film, plates or chemicals

Because waterless ink is used, employees’ exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and chemicals is minimized.

Positive Purchases

Even though the company is still in its infancy, its feeling of social responsibility is continually growing. Aside from the equipment used, BIZCard also promotes green printing practices through the use of paper and other office products that have 30 percent or higher post consumer waste content. The company also efficiently uses inks and toners and recycles 100 percent of its paper waste.

The company also has a partnership with American Forests, a non-profit organization that plants trees for environmental restoration. “Every order plants a tree,” said Anderton. BIZCard sponsors the planting of at least one tree with a $1 donation from every order you place. So far, the company has planted over 5,000 trees. One tree can produce approximately 250,000 business cards.

Future Features

BIZCard is researching implementing a program that recycles business cards. Think about how many business cards are thrown away in your office when someone leaves a position or if the company switches locations. If you could turn in those business cards and have new ones printed, possibly for free, it would certainly be an incentive to recycle them.

Cross-Cultural Expansion

When asked to describe her favorite aspect of her job, Anderton responded, “It’s exciting to extend our global reach day by day. We are embedding socially responsible, entrepreneurial values into our customers and products.” With clients in over 60 countries, employees of BIZCard are learning about cross-cultural perceptions regarding paper.

Favorite of the Three R’s

Reuse. “One man’s junk is another one’s treasure…It’s like an adventure to be able to take something and be creative enough to challenge yourself to figure out a new use,” Anderton said. As an example of cost savings through reuse, she explained how 25 presses were salvaged and reassembled into 15 that are currently in operation in the facility today.

BIZCard is a company that not only “talks the talk but walks the walk.” It combines its mission of providing affordable marketing opportunities to small business owners with minimizing its impact on the environment.