An Eco-friendly Printshop
We’d be remiss if we let Earth Day pass without a post on green printing…. PB Copy is an owner-operated digital print shop in Surrey, British Columbia. You might be imagining 44″ Epson printers and photopolymer plates, but I should clarify. PB Copy isn’t a fine art printshop; it’s a full-fledged commercial printshop- the kind that makes copies of paperwork for local businesses.
So why should Printeresting care about a commercial printshop? Well, the interesting thing about PB Copy is their commitment to eco-friendly printing. They make thier copies with a RISO printer powered by bicycle and solar panels. We’ve talked about bicycle-powered printing before but never when put to such practical application.
Here’s a link to a story about PB Copy in the Vancouver Sun:
In the last few months Shane Fortune and Kevin LaHay have spent hours on a bicycle generating juice for a printer at their Surrey store.
Ten minutes of riding the bike “at a reasonable pace” — often in slacks and a dress shirt — generates enough power to print 100 copies “off the grid,” Fortune estimated.
Combine this eco-exercise regimen with two solar panels and 100-per-cent post-consumer recycled paper made using renewable energy, and 90 per cent of PB Copy’s print jobs — the exception being colour, cover or glossy paper — are a stone’s throw away from being carbon neutral.
Fine art printmaking has taken a cue from industry in the past so it couldn’t hurt to look there for green printing tips, too. The guys at PB Copy are swamped with work at the moment (which is great for them) but when things slow down a bit, they’re going to send us a report on eco-friendly printing in the commercial sector.
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