Australian Paper

Have a look at what you are reading right now. For our wrap issue, we spoke to David Blundell at RA Printing about printing the Sustainability Spotlight, and why managing sustainability isn’t just green business, but good business.

“For us, it’s about listening to the client, understanding their goal, and then using our skills to exceed those expectations,” says Blundell. “Printing on recycled stocks is no different to any other. We get to know the stock, recognise the paper’s characteristics and then decide on an angle of approach. After that it’s a calculated and measured process, minimising waste but ensuring we get the best result.” The philosophy that there is nothing more wasteful than a bad print job explains how Blundell has managed to print this project on so many different papers. “Did we treat them all the same?” he asks. “We treated them accordingly, and never had any problems getting results.”

“There is a lot of greenwashing around, but sustainability in the print industry is well documented,” says Blundell. “In the last 20 years we’ve made immense progress compared with other industries.”

As a business, he suggests “it’s about having benchmarks in place so we can measure sustainability.” Placed in the market as a leader in sustainable practice, RA Printing has gained FSC® Accreditation. “It means we have good clients, which has allowed us to invest in the best technology, and continue getting the best results.”

“Our products are rubbish” is Haul’s self-deprecating tagline for its range of upcycled goods. Made from tyres, vinyl billboard advertising and, most recently, offset printing ‘blankets’, Haul’s iPad pouches, Filofaxes and shoulder bags received GECA  certification in 2004. Despite the company’s credentials, Haul founder Scott Kilmartin says the company remains design-driven. “We wanted people to buy our products even if they weren’t aware of what they were made from, yet its sustainability would be the ‘clincher’.”

Since Kilmartin caught the entrepreneurial bug in 1999, his company has been diversifying. Alongside Haul, it has established Rivetting, which provides corporations and conferences with customised Haul products. “It’s helping companies ‘walk the talk’ of recyclability’,” Kilmartin says. Where the big selling point for the inner-city demographic is that each bag is original (as it’s cut from a different piece of vinyl billboard advertising), for corporations such as Virgin, it’s the reuse of its own billboards that makes the products unique. “Part of the promotional program is documenting the process,” Kilmartin explains. “We show the billboards coming down, the design, cutting and sewing which is done locally in Victoria. Delivering that story is key value-add for the brand.”

While trend analysts predicted the rise of the green movement in the early 2000s, Haul founder Scott Kilmartin says it’s really only in the last couple of years that he has had to do less explaining about what sustainable design entails.

“Green was seen as too earthy and companies would pay lip service to it,” he reflects. “Now every company that calls us says they are ‘environmentally responsible’. It’s easy to say of course. But we can help them do it visibly.”

Yet surprisingly, it’s taken some two decades since UK businessman John Elkington began motivating business to explore the merits of corporate social responsibility and the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profits. In other words: looking after both stakeholders and shareholders. While it has become the mantra of US and European sustainability indices including FTSE4Good and the Dow Jones, in Australia it’s taken somewhat longer to take hold.

Some, like Kilmartin, place it on the mainstream radar in about 2004. Others attribute the popular awareness of impending climate change calamity to Al Gore’s 2006 Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. At least, as Kilmartin says, companies are aware that sustainable design is an issue now, even if they don’t quite appreciate how far they need to go to prove their claims.

Over the past year in the Australian Paper Sustainability Supplement we have examined many stages of the sustainable design ‘journey’. We have seen how third-party auditing and life-cycle assessments can verify claims of green credentials, so while sustainability has become easier to say, and more visible for everyone, independent auditing has helped avoid greenwashing. Arguably, it would be easier still if there was one government certification body, but at least the public and businesses can check on the claims.

It’s worth heeding the advice of Büro North’s Soren Luckins that designers need to do their own research, because information is always being updated and products not only change but their credentials are dependent on how they are used. Indeed, it costs nothing to ask questions. Organisations including AGDA, Designers Accord and AIGA provide basic information for anyone who likes to retain an independent eye on the claims made by others. For graphic designers, the print industry is remarkably easy to negotiate. As Luckins says in this issue’s Exchange, there is so much data available on carbon neutral FSC® certified papers and printing techniques.

Thanks to alcohol-free printing and vegetable based-inks, to name just two aspects, printing is a far greener business than it once was. Paper, too, is produced sustainably. It can be recycled easily (2.5 million tonnes of paper and paperboard are recovered and recycled in Australia every year) to make more, and it comes from a renewable resource. Indeed, the economics of the paper and printing industry rely on recycling because recycled paper is comparable in cost to the original fibre. In addition, carbon neutral papers are also available. They provide an effective way for companies to continue their reduction of carbon emissions. The emissions from the energy used to make these papers, and in some cases dispose of it, is offset with approved abatement providers.

Many analysts believe that because paper and print are renewable and recyclable, they have an immediate advantage over electronic communications that use new and additional energy every time they are opened or read from a computer screen. A computer’s plastics, glass, aluminium, monitors, components and parts are also recycled at much lower levels than paper products.

While design can be used to add value to a company’s green message, it’s also being used as an intrinsic part of that designed product. As Desktop magazine’s recent Create awards demonstrated, designers such as sustainability category winner Kent Gration (whom we featured last issue) embeds green principles in his bamboo furniture design – from the choice of the material to the sourcing of the product to its assembly and transportation.

Design-driven companies with green, ethical values as an intrinsic part of their philosophy are trying to change our relationship to stuff. Ideally we should be making stuff that lasts. That means everything we use and live with is designed for zero waste and either meant to last (“heirloom design” and “durability”) or to be shared (“product service systems”) or both.

These are not just models of good sense but good business sense.

From wayfinding systems at Falls Creek snowfields to producing its own Christmas trees, which won a Premier’s Design award for sustainability, Büro North has specialised in eco-design. The multidisciplinary studio that began in Melbourne in 2005 now has offices in Sydney and does business Australiawide. Company founder, 31-year-old designer Soren Luckins, explains what he has learnt so far about sustainability.

Why is the Falls Creek wayfinding project important to you?

In the past a lot of projects have compromised their aesthetics to achieve sustainability. It shouldn’t compromise anything; it should contribute to it. I would hate anyone to say ‘that looks like it’s eco’. Falls Creek doesn’t look very sustainable in that sense of looking literally green. It deals with sustainability in a more sophisticated way regarding materials and scale.

What was the brief?

To design 40 to 50 four-metre-tall steel and concrete signs, transport them to Falls Creek and pour massive concrete bases to support them. While it takes a lot of energy to refine aluminium it can do quite a lot in terms of structural strength. So it was a balancing act to work out the most efficient energy and processing. With sand casting there were almost no energy implications. And the beauty was it was produced locally. If we designed in steel and concrete then we would have needed eight-metre semi-trailer trucks. We could use cars. So it’s been an education in that there are no rules. Each project is different and we can’t make the same assumptions.

Which is your most successful design in terms of sustainability?

The Christmas tree was the most successful because we can qualify that [with life cycle assessments], but we say Falls Creek is, even though we can’t fully qualify it. We did indicative life cycle assessments but not an accredited LCA

What’s the difference?

To get an official life cycle assessment you have to get two independent LCA experts to do it, to validate each other’s work. It’s a highly detailed process that gives clients and the public confidence in the green credentials. But the more detailed the project and processes, obviously the more costly it is to evaluate. We just couldn’t afford it on this project. It would have been about $30–40K. But because the Christmas tree project was such a controlled process – with only one material and one or two processes in cutting them out – it was straightforward and therefore more affordable to commission.

How do you do an indicative assessment?

There are various ways, but the best is probably RMIT’s rapid assessment tool called Greenfly, which can be used to build your own life cycle analysis.

Like having five-star ratings for houses and commercial buildings?

Yes but maybe the next few years will be less about getting a score and certification and more about going through the process with your clients, which I think is more constructive. It depends whether you see it as a process for getting the best result or ticking a box. We tend to think it’s to get the best result… unless it’s for marketing purposes. When we launched the Christmas tree we said it’s the most environmental Christmas tree, and we had the data to support that.

How has it gone?

Incredibly well. Last year we sold about $40-50,000 worth of Christmas trees, but we’re a design studio and I don’t think we are good at ringing and supplying retailers. We’re looking to do it but through different avenues like licensing.

Unless you are doing your own product, how difficult is it for designers to practice sustainability?

It takes a lot of commitment and effort to constantly question and challenge all your assumptions and all the information you’re given in the industry. A lot of data doesn’t exist, so you’re constantly having to explore and get all the information yourself.

Do many jobs require you to validate the sustainability credentials as part of a client’s larger project?

On lots of print and graphic design jobs, yes. But that is much easier to validate. If we do a print job we use FSC® certified paper then all that [sustainability] data exists for the paper. If we use vegetable-based inks then the data exists for the inks. For print jobs it’s easier to audit.

How sustainable is your office?

It’s carbon neutral but we carbon offset to achieve it, because we have cars and motorbikes and every week one of our staff is interstate. You do everything you can in terms of paper, energy, waste, recycling and offsetting.

Any lessons for other designers?

Don’t right off things that appear less sustainable on paper. Read and scour the internet as much as you can because there’s always new information emerging.

Looking good sustainably isn’t one of the fashion industry’s strong suits. Dyeing processes; sweatshops; high carbon footprint caused by transportation; the water-intensive cotton farming industry… these are the darker shades of fashion that horrified Kelley Sheenan as a young New Zealand designer. The difficulties in obtaining information on sustainable fashion encouraged her to start her own magazine, Peppermint.

With its suggestively fresh green flavour, the quarterly magazine’s first issue hit the shelves in August 2009. “It was never the intention to start a ‘green Vogue’,” says Sheenan. “It’s about educating the fashion  industry about sustainability, but also changing fashion intrinsically. It’s not about skinny supermodels. It wasn’t about replicating what was going on elsewhere. It’s attacking fashion in a different way. It’s about finding clothes that will last and are good.”

Rather than conduct exposés into individual label’s sins, she prefers to pat on the back those that are producing sustainable design. “Finger painting’s not positive,” she believes. “You need to show that sustainability can take little steps. There is no such thing as completely green, anyway.”

The response to Peppermint has been surprising, says the now 37-year-old Brisbane-based designer. “It came out at a time when things began to explode with eco stuff. Everyone seemed to need it. Leonardo DiCaprio’s website [11thhouraction.com] caught wind of it and wanted to feature it.”

Not surprisingly there have been talks with two different publishers, but Sheenan backed out at the last minute, content to publish on her own terms. With a print run of 10,000 (largely in Australia and NZ) she also ensures her own publication is green. “We use FSC® certified paper, a waterless printer, and we still publish from our home office, so it’s as small as it can possibly be,” she explains. “We don’t have much of a carbon footprint.”

As the magazine’s graphic designer, Sheenan’s approach is that “green design should be invisible…people expect green to look less good, but graphic designers are communicators.”

Would Peppermint reach more people and be more sustainable as an online entity? “To reach the fashion industry we had to be on the shelf,” she adds. “People still want to touch and feel.”

www.peppermintmag.com.au

www.sociallyresponsibledesign.org

www.11thhouraction.com

If you’ve managed to get your hands on an iPad before anyone else, you may have also unwittingly taken a step away from being a green consumer. Electronic media is becoming more common place, but printed media may be one thing we need to hold on to in a sustainable future.

www.papereveryday.com.au

www.a3p.asn.au

www.pneb.com.au

www.pefc.org

www.paperonline.org

www.fsc.org

To put it simply, fashion labels have to look their best. Making no exception, when Kirrily Johnston approached VervePrint to produce their recent catalogue, director Karl Page says he was looking for a stock with “the look and feel that would best represent the Kirrily Johnston brand.” Working closely with the designers, Page settled on Stephen, describing it as a “nice, toothy, non-bright eco-sensitive stock.” Stephen is one of Spicer’s most environmentally and socially sustainable papers available, another important outcome for the client. “Every brand should be aware of the small steps they can take to make a difference,” says Page. Stephen is one of the Australian Paper range that has full cradle to grave Carbon Neutral certification from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and comes with a carbon calculator, so you can find out the exact amount of carbon you offset by your purchase.

When the client has an end result in mind, Page sees his role as to present “the best, most cost effective option, always with the environment in mind. Stephen fitted the brief perfectly.” As an image conscious industry, fashion labels have strived to not only look green, but also make a valuable contribution to the environment. Finished with a ‘French fold’ and black stitching, the project gives a sophisticated look with a highly sustainable choice of stock.

“I’m passionate about packaging design,” says Benja Harney. “So often people do bog standard boxes. But with a little thought and care you can do amazing things.” The Sydney-based designer has created pop-up boxes for Smirnoff Black Vodka and Clarens among others. But over the past five years his work has been used to beautiful effect in fashion. Stylists have commissioned Harney to create window displays for Hermes, pop-up books for Harper’s Bazaar and sets for Commonwealth bank. For a designer working with paper he was also a natural to work with renowned Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, whose buildings are constructed from recyclable cardboard. Harney designed the box and cover prospectus for a recent Ban presentation. While his handmade designs have emerged serendipitously with a backlash against digital design, Harney says his work relies on computers in the design stage. “Part of the magic is getting the technical, mathematical feeling, but made by hand where you can see human error. There’s a friction which people love. But it’s the simplicity of paper that people respond to.”

Alongside his packaging and paper-sculpting, Harney plans to move into furniture made from recycled cardboard. Milan’s Salone del Mobile is in his sights. “Paper in the home is a wonderful thing,” he says. “It’s a natural product and even if it’s designed beautifully it doesn’t cost the earth.”

Despite the many great changes wrought by the electronic revolution, the print medium still holds an essential place in the Information Age. This is because a technological revolution has inevitably taken place in print also. But, despite greater efficiencies, and the print industry following more sustainable models, misconceptions continue to prosper – the main one being that electronic media is cleaner.

In 2006 Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the Government Economic Service for the British Government, tabled a report into the effects of climate change on the world economy. Among the many comparative figures and charts Stern produced in his 700 page report was an evaluation of the carbon footprint of electronic media vs. print. A simple chart illustrates his point.

Because paper and print are renewable and recyclable, they have an immediate advantage over electronic communications that use new and additional energy every time they are opened or read from a computer screen. A computer’s plastics, glass, aluminium, monitors, components and parts are also recycled at much lower levels than paper products.

Printing on the other hand is a far greener business thanks to alcohol-free printing and vegetable based-inks, to name just two. Paper too is produced sustainably. It can be recycled easily (2.5 million tonnes of paper and paperboard are

recovered and recycled in Australia every year) to make more, and it comes from a renewable resource. Indeed the economics of the paper and printing industry rely on recycling because in some cases recycled paper is often cheaper than the original fibre.

Of the original fibre that’s used, increasingly all that’s used for printing and communication paper is sourced from softwood plantations and regrowth forests. Third Party verified schemes, such as the Forest Stewardship Council® or Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification ensuring that forest harvesting in Australia is well managed and credentials maintained. What’s more only a very small amount of paper and printed material ends up in landfill.

Today there may be more publishing platforms to choose from, but market research confirms readers still prefer the tactility of paper and print.

Book sales are increasing in Australia ahead of population growth, and we read more magazines per capita than anyone else on the planet. Less glamorous perhaps, but nevertheless vital to the economy, is business, advertising and government pre-printed material (such as direct mail and annual reports).It constitutes almost 60% of all the paper used in Australia.

The reason why two billion dollars is spent on direct mail each year is simple – because it achieves greater penetration and higher response rates with its target market. A July 2009 study conducted for the Australian Catalogue association showed that Unaddressed Advertising Material (UAM) is the least costly and most effective means of communicating detailed product and price information to households and businesses. The reason why paper and print continue to rate so highly in advertising is that research shows people retain and refer to print matter at a later time. It’s a tangible commodity and appeals to peoples’ senses of having received something of value, even before they embark on their purchase.

Then there are the social and economic benefits of a paper and print industry that employs more than 76,000 everyday Australia and creates almost $21 billion of national income every year.

As the former chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, Jonathan Porritt, declared, “There aren’t many industries around that can aspire to becoming genuinely sustainable. The Pulp and Paper industry, however, is one of them. At its best, this industry is inherently sustainable.’’

* that’s the maximum because once its printed, its printed and can read and used over and over again without new CO2 emissions.

# that’s without accounting for any emissions associated with creating the computer file or emailing it.