Supplier conversations

A drum I beat a lot here is having tough conversations with suppliers. Sometimes I find they’re tough necessarily, it just takes time to get answers.

I started my work life in a print shop (checking print files, creating artwork) and through my design career have always had contact with printers, so I keep lots of them bookmarked for various reasons – some are certified enviro printers, some are local which reduces freight emissions, some only use organic material, etc etc.

I needed a quote for a small batch of printing and being a small job, I reached out to the local shop a block away from me to keep the freight down.

I ALWAYS have questions, but this week was the first time I’d reached out to this particular printer with my climate-aware hat on.

I’m very out of touch with paper options these days, so I asked.

“What are the options for recycled paper, and where is it sourced from?”

The reply came back with an option that would work for this job (Ecostar 100% recycled uncoated) supplied by paper supplier Ball & Doggett.

I followed the link and found lots of cool stuff on the B&D website – a robust looking sustainability policy, the ISO 14001 badge (see below), and a page dedicated to “Australian Made”. Awesome and promising.

The Australian Made page listed several products that were, obviously, made in Aus. But I was curious about this specific paper which my local printer carried. One more question, to the paper supplier this time:

“Where is your paper manufactured, specifically the Ecostar 100% recycled uncoated?”.

The print industry, and paper specifically, has been in the spotlight for years as a “wasteful” resource – the print industry is acutely aware of this and is slowly leading the way with sustainability.

It’s not uncommon to see printers and paper suppliers with lofty sustainability policies, and often even an ISO 14001 certification badge like B&D.

I haven’t received a reply from B&D about this yet – I considered holding off this email until I did, but it’s more fun to speculate.

What I’m expecting: On hearing that a lot of recycled raw materials are manufactured overseas, I think that’s what I expect them to tell me here. Also the fact it wasn’t listed on the Australian Made page is another clue.

What I’ll do if that’s the case: Not sure yet. Some options include choosing the least-worst paper option or switching to a different printer with better options (and taking a bigger hit on freight). Not printing the job at all is also an option.

I actually asked B&D a second question, which was if any of their recycled paper is manufactured in Australia. I could Google some of this, but I’ll wait to hear what these folks say.

These days, I can’t imagine bringing a physical thing into existence without asking at least some of these questions. It’s small in the scheme of everything, but enough people doing it might start to shift a few minds in the industries fielding the questions.

(ISO 14000 is a set of standards related to environmental management that helps companies minimise their negative impact on the environment. There’s a pretty rigorous audit process and requires continuous improvement and reporting).