Consider the fountain pen as an example of an eco-friendly piece of equipment – one that will eventually save you money. In the same way, if you are looking to buy or lease new production equipment this year, remember to look at the sustainable business and environmental aspects, not just performance and cost.
The not-so-humble fountain pen has many benefits to illustrate this thinking. Over ballpoint, roller ball, felt tip or gel pens, it is permanently re-useable as the consumable raw material is continually replenished from a recyclable glass bottle of non-toxic washable or permanent ink. You can use different coloured inks in the same pen. It can create variable styles of writing, especially with interchangeable nibs, not just the single linear scribble of a ballpoint. In comparison, the ballpoint is cheap and of lesser quality. Disposing of a few or more ballpoint pens each month due to malfunction or lack of ink seems like no big deal, but when we multiply that by every large and small organization in the country and around the world, we are talking millions. How many tonnes of plastic, metal and leachable hazardous ink residue going to landfill each year would be interesting and alarming to calculate. I still have my father’s old Swan fountain pen that his mother gave him, but I prefer the stainless steel Schaefers that my wife gave me for our first wedding anniversary 31 years ago.
Extrapolating this thinking to our pressrooms then, we can look at the two types of automatic wash-up systems available on larger presses. One uses a mixture of blanket wash solvent and water from a reservoir wash-up tank that is circulated to the cylinders, blankets and wash-up brushes. The spent solution is then returned to a waste holding tank. With this system, the waste solution can be recycled through a small distillation unit and the solvent is separated from the water and both are reused. There is some loss, but usually 75 to 80 per cent is recaptured. The second type uses rolls of fibrous material that is wound around past the blanket cylinder and onto a take-up spool. The material is saturated with fast drying high-VOC solvent and cleans the press blanket by direct contact. The used contaminated material is progressively collected on the take-up spool and, when finally used up, is thrown in the garbage and taken to a landfill. New rolls have to be continually purchased and installed; they are apparently not recyclable. As paper lint and glazing from fountain solution residue is impervious to solvents, a second water wash-up by hand is required.
One system is both environmental, more compatible and saves time and money over the other. But, there are advocates for both systems. Just like some people choose to leave their cars running while doing business at a drive-through ATM machine – hey it’s their money (but our shared air) – truth is, it costs less to restart your engine if idling for more than 10 seconds.
Again using the non-disposable nature of the fountain pen, we look at the fountain solution systems on presses. Capturing the spent fountain solution in a closed-loop recycling unit with progressive filtration from Micro through Nano to Ultra, we can reduce down time, chemical purchases and disposal costs. I recently visited Annan & Sons to see a second-generation, made-in-Canada system from Optimum Environmental.
The pressman using an older unit on a Heidelberg 6-colour Speedmaster stated that instead of weekly changes to the fountain tanks, he now does it only twice a year! They add small amounts of fountain solution periodically to maintain fluid and conductivity levels.
Similar systems are used at Colour Innovations, among other successful practitioners of environmentally-ethical, sustainable printing. Speaking of which, if you are considering becoming registered under the new Sustainable Green Printer program (www.sgppartnership.org), it helps a great deal if you have participated in one of the available municipal sustainability programs. This now includes the Toronto Region, Markham, Peel, Vaughan, North York and Durham. They offer shared funding to conduct pollution prevention assessments through the Ontario Centre for Environmental Advancement (www.oceta.ca).
So go put a fountain pen on your holiday wish list and think about pollution prevention with your purchasing power.
