Why Did the Free-Range Chicken Cross the Road?

Let's talk about the environment. Because the printing business, like a lot of other businesses, can leave a pretty deep footprint on our little globe. There's paper. Ink. Chemicals. And let's face it, those big presses don't run on love.

So it's no surprise that lots of folks in our industry are talking green these days. And they're not alone. It seems like everyone from car companies to agribusiness is crowing about their environmental bonafides. Trouble is, talking the talk isn't always the same as walking the walk.

Auto manufacturers boast about five-mile-per-gallon improvements in the fuel efficiency of cars that come jam-packed with polyvinyl chloride, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and lots of other compounds you wouldn't want to find sprinkled on your breakfast cereal. And supermarket shelves are filled with free-range eggs laid by chickens whose "range" might be a walled-in postage stamp of gravel and mud rarely visited by the light of day (or by the chickens themselves).

The point here? Slogans, labels and logos don't make the air cleaner, the water purer or the landfills less congested. They don't make a car anything but a gas-burning mass of metal and plastic and they don't give a chicken any more room to roam.

At Mission Press, we're not under any illusions about the impact our operation has on the environment. Just the opposite, in fact. So — despite vigorous protests from our accountant — we've made a lot of real, concrete (and substantial) investments that help reduce that impact.

Like what? Like shelling out extra money for top-quality, flaxseed-oil based ink. Put simply, flaxseed ink runs better. And it dries on its own, naturally. Soybean-oil-based inks require the application of heavy metals to dry. Our process inks also contain zero VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which is better for everyone.

We're also not afraid to invest in equipment — like our fancy new imaging system — that uses less electricity, no chemicals and cuts down on a whole lot of paper waste by getting the job done right the first time.

Speaking of paper, we only buy ours from sustainable, reputable U.S. and European sources, not the cheap product clear-cut from impoverished rainforest villages (which end up washing away in floods as soon as the trees are gone). All our house sheets are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. And it goes without saying (although we're saying it) that everything at Mission Press that can be recycled is recycled.

We believe in tending to our internal environment, too. So we pay our people not just a "fair" wage (whatever that means) but a good one, and we back it with the kinds of benefits you usually find only in larger shops. Even more important, we strive to make Mission Press a nice place to work. The way we see it, the quality of our product is a direct result of the quality of our employees and the quality of the environment where they ply their trade.

Again, the point here? The point is, look behind the window dressing. Green isn't a logo, or a certification or some empty designation printed on a carton of eggs. At Mission Press, we've made some big investments that we think have a real and positive impact on the environment, and turn out the best-quality product for our clients. We're not hiding behind slogans. Stop by anytime and see for yourself.