Go Green
It’s always made sense to us
AIR Graphics’ commitment to Green Initiatives began many years ago. We had never heard of the term but instead practiced common sense recycling, full use of technology and looked for new ways to simply make less waste.
In November of 1994, AIR Graphics opened the first all plain paper reprographic center In Boston MA. We created the term “Greenprint®” to symbolize our commitment to recycling our large format drawings.
In December 1995, AIR Graphics introduced complete recycling of all paper in all AIR Graphics offices.
In August of 2008, Air Graphics announced our complete conversion of all large format and small format copies to a 30%, post consumer recycled stock. In an increasingly fragile world, how we use our resources has become important. Air Graphics believes strongly in our responsibility to the earth’s resources and has taken the bold step of offering recycled material as the only option for reprographic services.
Air Graphics runs in excess of 3 million square feet of white bond paper through their large and small format devices every month. With the introduction of recycled bond for both large and small format copies, Air Graphics expects to save in the course of a year:
- 1600 trees
- 4619 lbs. of waterborne waste
- 679,722 gallons of wastewater
- 75,278 lbs. of solid waste
- 148,056 lbs. of greenhouse gasses
- 1,133,333,333 BTU’s of energy
The history of “blueprints” is a study in how technology can reduce our impact on the earth. The original blueprint process was developed by the British astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842. A solution of ammonium ferric citrate and potassium ferricyanide, was coated onto paper. After exposure to strong light, the chemicals converted to insoluble blue ferric ferrocyanide. The soluble chemicals were washed off with water leaving a light-stable print. Although useful, this was not a very environmentally friendly print solution. During World War II, the diazo process, a sheet coated with diazonium salt and azodye, progressively took over from blueprinting. But this also was not an environmentally friendly solution.
Only after the introduction of the large format bond printers – image your desktop laser printer growing to be five feet tall – was it possible to reproduce large architectural drawings without creating an environmental hazard as a byproduct. This is when Air Graphics introduced the Greenprint®, to replace the blueprint. “Bond prints were hailed by our clients as a great technological advancement, says Cully, we permanently shut off our diazo machines in a matter of months”.
It is because of the reaction to bond prints that Air Graphics chose to execute their conversion to recycled bond. “The design community is especially sensitive to actions that impact our environment, said Cully, and we are confident that our customers will embrace this move. Actually, Cully said, many will not even notice…but we know it’s the right thing to do”.