Sustainable marketing materials for small businesses

Sustainable marketing materials are the printed pieces your business already uses, made on 100 percent recycled, FSC certified stock with soy-based inks, and ordered in quantities you will actually hand out. They are not a separate category of product. They are the same business cards, brochures and postcards, specified with better materials and printed in the right quantity.

We are Eco Friendly Printer. Greg Barber started the company in Northport, New York in 1990 and it is still family run. The business is now based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Most of our work is for small businesses, event and trade show companies, and restaurants. We quote and ship nationwide, so your location does not limit what you can order.

Decide what deserves to be printed

The largest environmental saving in a print job comes from the pieces you do not print. Before choosing a stock, decide which pieces are worth printing.

Print is worth it when a piece does something a screen cannot: it is handed over in person, it sits on a counter, it has to be readable in a loud room, or it has to look and feel high quality. A business card, a menu, a trade show banner and a product label all meet that standard.

Print is usually not worth it for a price list that changes every quarter, a general company overview that customers have not asked for, or a mailing to a list you have not cleaned in two years. Put that information on a web page and link to it. A QR code on a printed piece can carry details that would otherwise need a second printed piece.

Then choose a realistic quantity. Order what you will use in a reasonable period rather than the quantity that makes the unit price look best. Boxes of outdated materials in a storeroom are paid for and then thrown away. We print short runs, and minimums vary by product.

What we print

These are the pieces small businesses order from us most often, and what each one is best used for.

• Business cards. Business cards have the longest life per sheet of paper. Uncoated 100 percent post-consumer stock takes a pen well, which is useful when someone writes on the back.
• Brochures. Brochures work best when a customer needs to compare options or take information away from a meeting. Keep the fold simple, since each extra panel adds paper.
• Flyers and posters. These have a short life and high visibility. Recycled uncoated stock is the best choice here because flyers are rarely kept, so recyclability matters more than finish.
• Postcards. Postcards are the most efficient direct mail format. They need no envelope or insert, only one piece of card. Cleaning your mailing list first makes the whole job smaller.
• Signs and banners. These are used for events and storefronts. If possible, design them without a date so the same banner can be used again next year instead of being replaced.
• Stickers and labels. These include product labels, jar labels, packaging seals and giveaway stickers. Both the stock and the adhesive affect whether the container they are applied to can still be recycled.
• Letterhead and envelopes. It is worth ordering these on the same paper family as your business cards so the set looks consistent.
• Packaging. This includes boxes, sleeves and wraps. For most small businesses, packaging has the largest material footprint and the most room for improvement.

Large format printing can also use recycled stock. For one event client, we produced twelve posters measuring four feet by four feet on 100 percent post-consumer waste paper.

How we specify the materials

Every job uses the same basic specification, which you can share with any customer who asks.

• 100 percent recycled, FSC certified stock. We use post-consumer fiber, with a documented chain of custody.
• Soy-based inks. The petroleum carrier in conventional ink is replaced with soybean oil. That lowers the volatile organic compounds released as the ink dries and makes the ink easier to remove from the fiber when the paper is recycled.
• Chlorine-free bleaching. The brightening step avoids chlorine compounds.
• Finishes chosen for recyclability. Lamination bonds plastic film to paper and removes the piece from the paper recycling stream. Blind embossing, uncoated stock and heavier weights give a premium feel without adding anything that has to be separated later.

If you would like to compare stocks before committing, ask about paper samples when you request a quote. Our paper samples page has details on each stock. For a mixed set of pieces, seeing the paper is the easiest way to confirm that recycled stock looks the way you expect.

Describe your materials accurately

Specifying your materials carefully also gives you accurate details to share with customers. Specific claims are more credible than general ones.

Print the stock and the ink on the piece itself, or on the web page it links to, for example: printed on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper with soy-based inks. A customer can verify that statement. A leaf icon and the word "green" do not tell a reader anything specific and can make customers doubt the claim.

Three habits keep your claims accurate. Name the material instead of describing a general benefit. Present an ordinary choice, such as recycled stock, as a sensible decision rather than a major achievement. Do not make claims about your supply chain that you cannot document, because customers who ask are often the ones who care most about the answer.

Plan a consistent set of materials

Small businesses often build up their printed materials one urgent order at a time: cards from one supplier, a menu from another, and an event banner ordered the week before the event. The result is often four paper colors and three versions of the logo.

Planning a set is less expensive and less wasteful. Choose one paper family and one range of weights, then print cards, letterhead, postcards and menus on it. Reprints are faster because the specification already exists, colors stay consistent because the stock is consistent, and you avoid paying setup costs at four different printers.

For seasonal businesses and event companies, it helps to plan the year's pieces in one conversation. Combining runs reduces setup waste and can lower the overall cost compared with ordering the same jobs separately.

Start with one job

Tell us what you need printed and roughly how many, and we will reply with stock options, a price and a schedule. Typical turnaround is 1-2 weeks from artwork approval. Start your order, or send us the list of pieces you reprint every year and we will quote the set.