Informed Printing - Paper Specifications for SMARTSlip
Print is paper, paper is trees...
Mass deforestation has definitely highlighted that use of trees as a raw material should be carefully considered, and where possible both sustainable and responsible. The customers of our clients care about the effect that their buying choices have on the planet, and so we have a duty to be open with our clients about the specifications of the materials we use. If we provide this information up front, then our clients can decide whether or not it is suitable for their company to use our services.
We like to think that SMARTSlip® represents a much better use of paper than a non targeted marketing insert or an outdated pack/dispatch note. By providing useful and relevant content to your customer on the same piece of paper as the transactional and returns information, the paper is serving a purpose and being used in an efficient way. When compared to a generic insert with little relevance to many customers (that will likely end up going straight in the bin/recycling), the SMARTSlip® allows you to print with purpose, as well as minimising waste along the way.
With the current consumer being more environmentally conscious than ever, it might be easy to conclude that using recycled paper is the best option for print. After all, recycling is definitely the way forward, and to not recycle would mean cutting down swathes of woodland and damaging the environment? This simplified view of things unfortunately is not the truth, and lacks an understanding of the big picture.
Did You Know?
Recycled paper requires harsh chemicals and treatments to remove the ink and turn the paper fibre back to an acceptable shade of white (and even then the results are often not up to a suitable standard for high quality print). Everytime paper is recycled, there is also a drop off in quality due to the reduction in fibre length. This limits the number of re-use cycles for paper to between 4 and 8 times, with the paper being appropriate for different products at the different stages of its recycling journey. In order to feed this recycling process, there is a need for fresh fibres from responsibly managed forests - fantastic as a resource thanks to it being both abundant and renewable.
So what Paper is used for SMARTSlip®?
The paper which we use for SMARTSlip® is G-Print which is manufactured by Arctic Paper. This is woodfree, uncoated paper which gives a professional standard finish and is suitable for even the most demanding high speed printing and post printing processes. It also works great for colour printing- something which is very important for SMARTSlip®! The paper is certified by the FSC and uses renewable fibre, with both the paper and packaging materials for the paper being recyclable. To learn more about the paper we use click here ,here or here
