A Note from Princeton Press

As individuals and companies strive to be more environmentally conscious by using earth friendly products and working with vendors who provide green options, Princeton Press decided to let you know what we do to minimize our environmental impact.

Green Processes

In the early days when film and plate processes required them, we opted to use the most environmentally friendly chemicals possible that we could source. In 2000 we changed to a Direct-to-Plate system which allowed us to eliminate seven different processes and ALL the associated chemicals. DTP cleans up with water and outputs to a Mylar versus Metal plate.

In 2005, Princeton made the move to digital printing, which immediately cut set up from a couple hundred-press sheets to a maximum of 20 sheets. Digital also allows customers to print only what they need when they need it. Priced to encourage small runs with more frequent reprinting, digital printing reduces the risk of waste from changing marketing needs. You no longer need to order large quantities to maximize economies of scale only to throw the materials out later because they are out of date, or have had identity changes. In addition, compared to our offset presses, our digital press uses biodegradable toners versus inks, and very little electrical power.

Recycling

Every desk has a recycle box, our lunch area has bins for paper, glass, aluminum and plastic, and our production facility has large wheeled recycle bins for packaging and whatever waste is produced. We provide a sink for cleaning our cooking and eating utensils to limit use of paper/plastic. As a result of our recycling efforts, we have been able to maintain the smallest commercial trash unit available, rarely filling it to capacity. We also mandate our paper suppliers collect and reuse their pallets to reduce waste as well our hauled garbage.

Green Neighborhood

We consider location in our hiring decisions, and promote our location’s proximity to mass transit. In exchange for keeping the Metro stop in front of our facility clean, we provide our staff with bus passes. We work diligently to keep trash and city sidewalk weeds at bay, and act quickly to clean or over-paint graffiti tagging to maintain a healthful and attractive neighborhood.

Green Attitude

Princeton’s view on the best way to be a green company is to consume less whenever possible. This is not only using recycled stock, our "house" stocks in both Text and Cover weights are partially composed of post consumer waste, and engineering jobs so as to limit waste. It is about purchasing used items to build out or enlarge our facilities when needed, and to recycle, re-purpose or re-use whenever and wherever we can.

Although our customers are not yet requiring it, we have considered becoming a FSC Certified Printing Company several times. The application cost alone, however, is not insignificant for our small company, add to that the cost to apply the necessary changes in internal procedures and tracking and it hasn’t made economical sense for us to pursue the certifcation. Even without this certification though, we take pride in how we handle the "greenness" of our operations and are always looking for ways to treat the earth better.

Green Paper

Click here to see a list of "green" papers that our available through our paper provider.