Environmental Printing
We can print any colour you’d like, but we always recommend going green.
Advocates of Sustainable Printing
At Harbour Printing, we do everything we can to reduce our company’s carbon footprint. It starts with our LEED building, energy efficient production, and internal recycling programs—but it doesn’t stop there.
The choices we make as a company also influence the way our industry approaches sustainability. We encourage our suppliers to keep expanding our options and improving their products with the environment in mind. It’s about pushing the whole ecosystem towards greener printing practices.
Did you know?
- Paper is highly sustainable because it is made from renewable natural materials.
- Paper fibers are strong enough to be recycled and reused appropriately seven times.
- Our recycled paper is created using 100% green energy from solar or wind power.
- Paper production helps minimize waste by sourcing pulp from leftover tree branches.
- Uncoated paper gets its sheen naturally by adding clay into the pulp mixture.
- Adding stickers, labels or other elements that makes paper products unrecyclable.
Eco-Friendly Printing Practices
Recycled Paper Options
We offer a wide variety of recycled and sustainable stock options including 100% post-consumer waste paper, hemp stock and hemp-infused folding board. All of our FSC® Certified and Green Seal™ Certified stock is made with a minimum of 30% post-consumer fiber. If you’d like to take it a step further, we also stock Green-e Certified paper which is produced using renewable energy.
Vegetable-Based Dye Inks
When we think about sustainability in printing, we need to think beyond the paper. Our printing technicians use vegetable-based, VOC-free dyes, instead of petroleum-based dyes which need to be washed with harsh solvents between prints. This eco-friendly alternative delivers bright, saturated prints that hold their colours better over time.
Interlock Packaging
The inability to recycle mixed-medium packaging presented our eco-conscious clients with a major hurdle—so we came up with a solution. Our patented interlock packaging uses an innovative hinge mechanism that allows the paper components to be easily separated from the plastic. This gives you all the stability of an adhesive while being fully recyclable.
Energy-Efficient Production
Our LEED building is just one of the ways we reduce waste at Harbour Printing. We also use a highly-efficient radiant heating system to lower our energy consumption and help preserve the quality of our paper by keeping moisture out of the air. On top of that, our desludging process for inks and recycling policies for paper and plates ensure that all waste is properly disposed of at the earliest possible stage.