Logo / Identity Guide

Sustainability

To Print or not to print
Recommendations for sustainable specification and purchasing

To print or not to print

At Grand Valley, we believe a project does not necessarily need to be printed to be effective.

Eleven questions to ask before you design, specify, or buy anything:

    1. Do we need it? Can we live without it?

    2. Is the project designed to minimize waste?

    3. Can it be smaller, lighter, or made from fewer materials?

    4. Is it designed to be durable or multi-functional?

    5. Does it use renewable resources?

    6. Is reuse practical and encouraged?

    7. Are the product and packaging refillable, recyclable, or repairable?

    8. Is it made with postconsumer recycled or reclaimed materials and how much?

    9. Are the materials available in a less toxic form? Can it be made with less toxic materials?

  10. Is it available from a socially and environmentally responsible company?

  11. Is it made locally?

Grand Valley has begun publishing many of its brochures, magazines, and other communications pieces on Issuu.com. The website allows viewers to view, download, print, and email complex communications pieces easily and cost-effectively. It is an efficient way to publish your communications pieces online at no additional cost. Some customers choose to bypass printing their piece and publish only on Issuu, saving money and paper.

To have a communications piece published on the Grand Valley page on Issuu, you must provide Institutional Marketing with:

  • A PDF, saved as individual pages, not spreads
  • A title for your publication (Example: Grand Valley Magazine Spring 2009)
  • A description of the publication (Example: Quarterly magazine for the Grand Valley community that includes profiles, features, research news, and news about alumni and campus events.)
  • A link where readers can find more information about your publication (Example: www.gvsu.edu/gvmagazine)
  • Keywords in addition to: gvsu, grand, valley, state, university Michigan, education (Additional keyword examples: alumni, magazine)

The publication must also meet our identity standards. Institutional Marketing reserves the right to reject posting a publication on Issuu if it does not meet our identity standards.

If you have any questions, or wish to have a publication uploaded to Issuu, please contact us at (616) 331-2525.

Recommendations for Sustainable Specification and Purchasing

Paper

Institutional Marketing recommends purchasing paper stock that has several of the following attributes:

    1.   Domestically manufactured paper for bulk white stock

    2.   a. Paper certified from sustainable forests. Look for FSC (Forest Stewardship
              Council) or SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative). OR/AND --

          b. Paper containing a postconsumer fiber content with a minimum of 10%.

Additional environmental attributes to look for:

  • Emissions-free renewable energy used in manufacturing of the paper or carbon neutral paper
  • Elemental chlorine-free (ECF) or process chlorine-free
  • Uncoated papers (coated papers yield much less recyclable fiber)
  • Alternative fiber paper
  • Carbon neutral paper
  • Paper from mills that have received third party certifications such as Green-e, Green Seal
  • Aqueous coating instead of varnish and vegetable-based or low VOC inks

Printing

Use local printers with FSC or SFI certification.

Use the Re-Nourish calculator to help calculate best use of a sheet size:

http://www.re-nourish.com/?l=tools_projectcalculator

Additional Resources:

http://issuu.com/gvsu/docs/csw_presentation_all

Page last modified March 19, 2013