What "Going Green" Means?

This Sign Builder Illustrated @SBIMag  article explains how going green can be good for your business

By Jim Hingst @hingst_jim

  A few years ago I volunteered to research what was involved in “green certification.” What was I thinking? 

“You never were in the army, were you?” asked Darryl Liedel, one of my RTape colleagues.  “If you were, you would know that you never volunteer for anything.”

Now he tells me. I must have been hallucinating when I thought that all that would be involved was completing lengthy paperwork for some newly-established “green” government agency and paying some ridiculously exorbitant fee. Life is never that easy.

As I was to discover, tackling the question of what “going green” means is an extremely difficult  assignment. Here’s the problem. There is no universal definition of “going green” and no such thing as an all-encompassing “green certification”. 

The term “going green” means different things to different companies. To some, green means recyclable. To others, green means free of potentially harmful chemicals. And to a few, green means reducing the impact on the environment during product manufacturing along with reducing waste materials in packaging.

The definition of green expanded once the long arm of the law pointed its fickle finger of fate at your products. All of a sudden, going green meant compliance with governmental regulations – all types of regualtions, such as the Clean Air Act,  the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) initiatives, California Proposition 65 and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), just to name a few. 

Compliance with regulations has long been part of doing business overseas.  If you want to play in their game, you have to play by their rules.

Compliance with an increasing number of environmental regulations and green requirements is in your future, too.   More and more, digital printers, screen printers and sign shops are being asked by their customers to supply green products.  This month’s article will cover what going green means, how to prepare yourself for the regulatory changes ahead, as well as how to take steps to plan and implement a green policy for your company, regardless of whether it is big or small.

Big Business Gets Into The Going Green Act

Governments aren’t the only ones laying down the law. Retail giants, such as Wal-Mart, have their own regulations.  Like it or not, if you want to see your product, stocking their store shelves, you have to abide by their rules, too. 

On the surface, the motivation for some large retailers to step to the forefront of the environmental movement is seemly transparent, and, undoubtedly as a PR ploy it can be effective. Many suspected that this was Wal-Mart’s motivation.    Although admired by many, Wal-Mart inspires hatred in scores of others, many of whom are in the press.  Wal-Mart has had its share of bad press.  

To deflect some of the slings and arrows, Wal-Mart has found some respite behind the well-publicized shield of environmentalism.  No longer the exploiter of the hapless masses of workers, the big, bad corporate goliath has deflected criticism,  portraying itself instead as the jolly green environmental giant. 

To be fair to Wal-Mart, their environmental programs are more than  window dressing. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott is a true believer and his effort to promote corporate environmental responsibility is his legacy.  As the champion of the country’s green movement in the business community, Wal-Mart has pursued several green initiatives.  At the onset of their ambitious program, which was launched in October of 2005, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott described his company’s three long range green initiatives: "To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment."

Their green policy has become a model plan for other corporations to follow. It could also a good model for your company. After setting their environmental initiatives, Wal-Mart’s second step was to establish several intermediate goals:

• To reduce solid waste from its stores by 25% in three years.

• To increase the fuel efficiency of their tractor-trailer fleet by 25% in three years.

• To cut  their company’s energy consumption by 30% in seven years.

• To reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that they emit by 20% in seven years.

Although  Wal-Mart operates 6,000 stores, their management realized  that their efforts alone would have little impact on the country’s overall carbon footprint.  By enlisting or, better yet, drafting the support of their extensive network of  60,000 suppliers, they substantially multiplied their environmental efforts.

If you want to do business with Wal-Mart, you need to follow their green guidelines. As part of their qualification process, vendors that manufacture a “chemical product” must submit it for evaluation in their Chemical Assessment Review Process otherwise known as CARP. No manufacturer is excluded.

Wal-Mart has authorized the Worldwide Environmental & Regulatory Compliance Systems (WERCS) Professional Services to administer their CARP process.  Submitting to the WERCS process is not as ominous and convoluted as you might imagine. It is not, however, without its costs.  

If your company has an OSHA-compliant MSDS, the CARP process is a piece of cake.  Submission of data is on-line.  Payment for the service has also been simplified.  WERCS even takes PayPal.  After completing the on-line forms, WERCS notifies you and Wal-Mart that you have successfully completed the process. You will then be issued a number, and you will be free to go about your business with Wal-Mart.

Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

The EU has pioneered stringent environmental regulations as part of  their REACH PROGRAM, regulating potentially hazardous substances.  One of those substances on the list is benzyl butyl phthalate. Phthalates in products that children use have also become the latest environmental bogeyman in the United States.

Phthalates are a type of plasticizer, added to products, such as adhesives, inks and coatings, as well as to plastics, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC).  These phthalates  can make a product more flexible and more durable.  Governmental agencies, activists and parents are particularly concerned when these chemicals are added to anything that a child is likely to put in his mouth, such as a pacifier or teething ring.

According to many environmentalists, phthalates can also be hazardous to your health. They claim that phthalates mimic hormones that either stimulate or stunt hormonal activity that affects male reproductive growth. Phthalates have also been linked to the rise of testicular cancer, as well as causing a host of other maladies, from autism to infertility. Now I don’t know if these are hard cold facts or weird science, but it sounds really bad.

 Any arguments about whether the risks from exposure to phthalates are real or imagined are, for all practical purposes, irrelevant.  What is relevant is that the Congress of the United States has enacted legislation that could affect your business. 

In November of 2008, George W. Bush signed into law the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which was aimed to make children’s product safer.  This is not a voluntary program and it is in effect,  right now.    If your products are intended for use by children under the age of 12, they must meet these new governmental safety requirements.

Intended to make children's products safer, the CPSIA establishes requirements for all products intended for use by children under the age of 12. These regulations affect textile manufacturers and  garment printers. 

The CPSIA establishes requirement for levels of certain phthalates and  lead.  For example, the allowable limit for lead in any product that is accessible to children is 300 ppm.  That’s half of the previous allowable limit. For products that are painted or coated with similar material, the allowable limit is 90 ppm. The allowable limit for phthalate ethers in children’s products is also extremely low at one tenth of one percent.

As tough as these limits are, the civil penalties are even tougher. Penalties for a single violation have been increase from $8,000 to $100,000.  For a related series of violations, the limits were increased from $1.825 million to $15 million.

Printers, Beware. 

Printing a fabric for a children’s products could also fall under the CPSC policy umbrella.  “Natural and synthetic fibers don’t typically contain phthalates and might not require testing,” says Marci Kitner, SGIA VP for Government and Business Information. “But inks may contain plasticizers, which means that printed materials must be tested.” 

SGIA monitors governmental regulations, which apply to printers. Its website, www.sgia.org regularly posts articles on environmental policy, testing requirements and changes in legislation, which could affect screen printers and digital printers. To keep current with changes in green policy, a regular visit to their website is time well spent.  SGIA also regularly hosts webinars on environmental issues, which can attended by members.

The CPSIA also “requires the manufacturer to certify that the finished product does not contain any of the prohibited levels of restricted chemicals,” says Tom Pidgeon, VP of Marketing and Sales for the DK Group, “and there is traceability.”  Manufacturers are required to attach tracking labels to their product, to aid the recall of products in the event of a problem.”

While suppliers to the primary manufacturer do not have to affix labels to their products, they are not absolved from the requirements of the law. “If your product is used in the manufacture of a children’s product, you have an obligation to provide a lab analysis by a qualified, third-party independent lab,” Pidgeon says. 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, www.cpsc.gov, will list accredited test laboratories.  After testing the product, the testing lab  supplies the results, and the manufacturer must issue a general certificate of conformity that certifies that the product satisfies all applicable CPSC requirements.

For more information on the CPSIA, see my article: CPSIA Update

What can you do to go green?

The “going green” bandwagon is gaining momentum each year.  And there are many reasons to jump on board.  In some cases, you may have no choice. Some products must comply with governmental standards or a customer’s green requirements.  If your corporate image needs sprucing up, going green is good PR.  But the best reason for establishing a green policy for your company is that it is the right thing to do for the future of our environment.

Many large corporations, such as Wal-Mart, have adopted green initiatives.  While their efforts are laudable and their good example is inspiring, big business initiatives alone can’t change the environment.  Until small businesses adopt green policies of their own, the impact on the environment is negligible.  The reason is that the impact of small business in the United States is significant. Small businesses, such as sign shops, screen printers and digital printers, employ over half of the country’s workforce. 

Whether you own a business or punch a time card, making green choices can make a difference.  Going green is not just limited to the products that we manufacture.  It also applies to your practices in your office.  Everyone in your company can help reduce your company’s carbon footprint on the environment.  Here’s how your business, whether your company is a corporate giant or small shop, can practice environmental stewardship:

• Comply with the laws of the land. As part of your green policy, actively research and comply with the governmental regulations that apply to the products that you make and how you make them, as well as those regulations that impact your business operations, such as air permits.

• Raw Materials and Supplies.  In selecting materials and technologies for your shop, choose products which have  a lower impact on the environment, as well as those which are  nontoxic or are made from materials which have been recycled.

• Turn off the lights. My mother grew up during the Great Depression. She bugged the heck out of me to turn off the lights. Little did she know, that she was way ahead of her time. Reducing energy consumption is good advice, whether  at home or at work.  Another way to cut consumption and your electric bill is to use the energy-efficient light bulbs. Whether you like the compact fluorescent light bulbs or not, the new bulbs only use about 30% of the amount of energy that convention light bulbs do.  Congress had made sure that you have no choice in the matter and has legislated that the conventional incandescent bulb will be phased out in 2012.

Cutting electric usage undeniably helps your pocket book, but it also reduces the amount of coal burned needed to generate that electricity.  Can one person really make a difference? If you multiply the conservation measures that you could undertake by 300 million of your fellow citizens, the combined efforts would reduce coal consumption by tens of billions of tons each year.

• Shut off your computer. Keeping your computer plugged in, when it’s not in use, wastes hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted energy each year in the U.S. If you’re not working on your computer, it doesn’t need to be running.  Turn it off at the end of the day.

• Go paperless. Save a tree and go paperless whenever you can.  By reducing scrap paper, you reduce the amount of garbage in land fills.

• Reduce fuel consumption. Encourage your employees to car pool to help reduce traffic congestion and save gas. You can also reduce fuel consumption, by reducing travel and video conferencing as an alternative. 

• Low VOCs.  In your manufacturing, choose products that have reduced amounts of volatile organic compounds VOCs.

• Communicate.  If you are pursuing green initiatives at your company, don’t keep it a secret.  Make sure that your employees understand that you have a green policy, that you have specific objectives and that you are implementing specific practices to attain your goals.  You can also communicate your company policy to your customers, prospects and suppliers on your website, and in your other company communications, such as newsletters, literature and e-mails. 

• Recycling.  Adopt a recycling program for your company.

• Landscaping practices.  If you have landscaping around your business, make a commitment to reduce the use of fertilizers, pesticides  and weed killers, and conserve water by regulating its use to times when watering is an absolute necessity.

Developing a Going Green policy for your company

Going green is a little more involved than remembering to turn off the lights when you leave for the day and designating a specific trash bin for recyclables. A comprehensive plan will cover all aspects of your business from your shop facilities, to your office, to the materials you choose to use in production.  In your shop, your policy should outline your objectives and practices covering air quality standards, disposal waste materials, and safely handling chemicals.

Your green policy sends a message to your employees, your customers, your suppliers and your community, about your position on environmental issues. 

Formulating a green policy for your company is a lot like picky up after a messy teenager. Where do you start? As Dr. Stephen Covey recommends in his book 7 Principles of Highly Effective People, start with in the end in mind.  That’s what Wal-Mart did.  They established three broad long reaching goals, which defined the company’s guiding principles. Here are a few additional examples:

• Obey all environmental laws, and monitor your practices and progress in compliance with state and federal regulations.
• Provide a safe work environment for your employees.
• Reduce your impact on the environment, by reducing your waste.

Once your goals are determined, the next step is to outline the routes that you will take to arrive at your destination.  Before deciding on a course of action, you will need to audit your current performance.

Your environmental report card should grade your company in a full range of areas, including:

• The quality of the air leaving your building.  
• The amount of waste produced.
• Scrap rate.
• Energy consumption.

After establishing benchmarks, you can set your sights on targets. The action steps that you determine should be specific, and should have a deadline. Above all, make sure that you assign responsibility for the actions required.

Resign yourself to the fact that committing to an environmental policy will be a continual work in progress, with no end in sight. The practices that you outline will change from year to year as governmental regulations and customer requirements change.  That doesn’t mean that your guiding principles will change. Only how you reach your destination will change.

In writing your outline, the best advice is to seek help.  In the graphics market, organizations such as the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) and SGIA can provide guidance.  If you have friends, who have written policies, ask if you can see their policy and if they can give you some direction.

According SGIA’s Marci Kitner, developing a “green policy” for your company doesn’t require the high cost of a consultant. The SGIA has developed their “4-Step Sustainability Action Plan” to help member companies implement sustainable initiatives. Their plan serves as a great outline for you to develop and implement your company’s green policy. The four steps of their plan are: Plan, Do, Check and Act.

The Plan step covers the initial steps in planning:

• Establish a sustainability committee;
• Map your company’s business activities;
• Identify the environment impact of each activity;
• Determine your company’s legal requirements;
• Audit your company’s compliance with those requirements.

The Do step helps companies formulate and implement an organized and sequential action plan. Key elements of this step are:

• Publicly issuing your company’s “green policy”;
• Measuring your company’s current performance as a baseline, against which future measurements are gauged;
• Setting goals for improving your company’s performance;
• Communicating your company’s policy and goals to your employees;
• Create a records management system for documenting your results.

In the Check step, your company will audit your  compliance with the requirements  and standards, which you have established.  Just as a pilot reviews his preflight checklist list prior to take off, making  environmental checklists for your company ensures that what you intend to do gets done.

The Act step, which is the keystone to a Sustainability Management System, is based on the principle of continual improvement.  After conducting an environmental audit and indentifying problems and deficiencies in your program, you initiate corrective actions.

Conclusion: Going Green Corporate Policy.

I began my article with the assertion that it was difficult and confusing to pursue a  corporate green policy, because “going green” means some many different things to so many different people. The reality of going green is that pursuing a corporate policy will be all encompassing.  The going green process touches every aspect of your business and your personal life. If you and your company are serious about formulating a “green policy”, every major department within your organization should be involved.

“When we decided to establish a green policy for our company,” says Chuck Bules of vinyl manufacturer Arlon, “we organized a task force, which included top management, manufacturing, purchasing, product development and marketing.”  Because the parameters of going green are continually evolving, Bules feels that a company’s green policy must also change.

“Our corporate initiative of becoming more eco-friendly,” he says, “is more of an on-going process as opposed to satisfying a static set of requirements. With this mindset, we can proactively evaluate how we run our business, so we can discover and adopt newer, more earth friendly ways to make our products.”

If you care about the effect of carbon emissions on climate change, then you may want to adopt practices in your business and personal life that have an environmental impact.  Even if you don’t care, some of your customers may have decided to buy green products. They may be looking for products that are recyclable, plasticizer-free, non-toxic and have a negligible effect on the environment. 

While no product is 100% green, you and your company can make  greener choices. If you do, it can be good for the environment.  Your customers may recognize and appreciate your efforts and reward you at the cash register. 

Green initiatives are not necessarily just added costs to doing business. In many cases it can be good business. For example, a reduction in scrap rate is good for both the environment and your bottom line.

As Wal-Mart discovered, by improving the fuel efficiency of their over-the-road tractor-trailers, their trucks burn less gas, reduce greenhouse emissions and save their company hundred of thousands of dollars.  By selling the loose plastic from their stores to recycling processors, they save over three million dollars a year.  These savings go straight to their bottom line. 

Just as going green has been good business for some corporate giants, it can be good for your business, too. By reducing material waste, reducing energy consumption, cutting packaging waste you can make the earth a better place for your children and grandchildren and you will be realize rewards to your bottom line. After all, money is green. At least it is in the U.S.A.

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About Jim Hingst: After fourteen years as Business Development Manager at RTape, Jim Hingst retired. He was involved in many facets of the company’s business, including marketing, sales, product development and technical service.

Hingst began his career 42 years ago in the graphic arts field creating and producing advertising and promotional materials for a large test equipment manufacturer.  Working for offset printers, large format screen printers, vinyl film manufacturers, and application tape companies, his experience included estimating, production planning, purchasing and production art, as well as sales and marketing. In his capacity as a salesman, Hingst was recognized with numerous sales achievement awards.

Drawing on his experience in production and as graphics installation subcontractor, Hingst provided the industry with practical advice, publishing more than 150 articles for  publications, such as  Signs Canada, SignCraft,  Signs of the Times, Screen Printing, Sign and Digital Graphics and  Sign Builder Illustrated. He also posted more than 325 stories on his blog (hingstssignpost.blogspot.com). In 2007 Hingst’s book, Vinyl Sign Techniques, was published.  Vinyl Sign Techniques is available at sign supply distributors and at Amazon. 

Slides of Jim's Artwork

© 2016 Jim Hingst