Have you ever considered the environmental impact of the inks you use in your printer? If you haven’t, you certainly will after hearing statistics like this:

- Conservatree suggests that one ton of office and printing paper may require up to 24 trees.

- According to the Forest Stewardship Council, the U.S. is the largest market for paper products in the world, producing 90 million tons of paper and consuming about 100 million tons each year; about 25% of timber cut annually in the U.S. is used to make paper.

To combat the displacement of trees to make paper, many printing companies today are using as much recycled content as possible, or are utilizing paper made from sustainably harvested forests.

Here’s how the recycling process works, according to GreenerPrinter:

In the recycling process, paper is washed and deinked before being made into pulp. This pulp goes through a bleaching process (ideally processed chlorine free) and is formed into paper by removing the water, drying the paper, and cutting it into rolls or sheets for use. An important measure to look for in recycled paper is the post-consumer waste content. The difference between recycled and post-consumer waste (PCW) is that PCW refers to paper that has already been used by consumers – basically, it’s the paper that we toss into our recycle bins – whereas recycled paper might include materials that never reached the consumer, such as magazines that were printed but never sold.

Printing companies are also utilizing soy-based inks (ink that is derived from soybeans) instead of petroleum-based inks, which are made using a non-renewable resource (petroleum) and also release volatile chemicals into the environment called VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).

For more information on green printing, or to purchase products that have been printed utilizing soy-based ink or recycled papers, click here.

NOTE: This post is not sponsored by the above company, individual, service or product line.