Thursday, October 8, 2009

green audit questions

Here the questions from the handout along with the ones we all came up with in class:

1. Do you recycle paper and how much?
2. What percent p.c.r. is your paper overall?
3. What happens to your byproduct? (used ink cartridges, used/leftover ink, glues, batteries, computers, plastics, etc.)
4. Do you recycle inks? Do you refill ink cartridges?
5. Do you recycle waste products, if so how much?
6. What kinds of ink do you use? What percent of recyclable inks do you use?
7. Are you FSC certified? http://www.greenprinter.com/grp/jsp/fsc.jsp
8. Do you track your plants energy usage? What do you do to lower it?
9. Do you have alternatives to vinyl signs?
10. Do you have someone in charge of green issues, a green committee?
11. Do you have buy-back program?
12. Do you purchase used equipment?
13. Who disposes of your toxic waste and by-products? Do you know where it goes?
14. Do you make available non-toxic paper sources?
15. How large is your facility?
16. Can we get a swatch book of your sustainable papers?

http://www.greenprinter.com
http://www.pimn.org/environment/greatprinter.htm
http://sustainability.aiga.org/sus_resources
http://sustainability.aiga.org/

9 comments:

  1. sorry the websites aren't actually links!

    Anyway, a few more questions I thought of were:

    -Do you have an Environmental plan, or policy?
    -Can you provide a supplier tree?
    -Are the trucks (or whatever transportation your company uses) environmentally responsible? What kind of fuel do you use, what is the average MPG?
    -Where does the power/energy for your plant come from?
    -Are you part of, or applying to be part of the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership? https://www.sgppartnership.org/
    -Do you have any of the following certifications: (FSC), SFI, Eco Logo, or ISO 14001? (by suggestion from Independent Printing today)
    http://www.sfiprogram.org/sustainable_forestry_initiative_standard.php, http://www.terrachoice-certified.com/en/, http://www.iso.org/iso/home.htm

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here are a few more:

    - If you don't have a solid "green" plan in progress, why? What is your company's hesitation?
    - (If they are using recycled/green products) Where do your products come from? Are the companies your purchasing these products from also green certified?
    - What are some areas of disappointment with your company's green efforts? Are these plausible areas of improvement you feel your company can take to be more sustainable?
    - How do you measure your office's green efforts or sustainability? Do you use a third party or is it in-house?
    - Are your customers concerned with your effort towards sustainability? Do people usually inquire about your company's recycling/green efforts?
    - If you utilize recycled paper, how many people request that over the un-recycled/original?
    - Do you promote your more environmentally safe products/papers etc. to customers?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Are you FSC certified?
    - Of all the printing the company does, what percentage is FSC certified material?
    - How actively does the company promote its FSC line?

    Does the company test the acidity of its waste water?
    Does the company have an air pollution control operation permit?
    -how many tons of VOC’s does the company emit?

    Does the company track its footprint throughout the whole company?
    -in house recycling -janitor/cleaning supplies
    -delivery fleet -waste/energy audits

    What are your future plans for decreasing you ecological footprint?

    ReplyDelete
  4. - Does your building use motion sensor lights or are power surges turned off at night?

    - Is your building LEED certified?

    - Do you offer your customers the option to refill ink cartridges?

    - What is your binding process? Have you taken steps to make it more ecological?

    ReplyDelete
  5. A couple others that come to mind:

    -where are you suppliers located
    -what types of packaging do you use
    -do you provide an incentive for employees to bike/walk to work

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is there a person in charge of looking over the environmental impact of your company?

    What is your carbon footprint?

    How do you calculate your carbon footprint?

    What types of packaging do you use?

    Where do you get your inks/supplies, local, national, overseas?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Meredith Van Acker
    Green Audit Questions:
    Do you believe that being a green company makes a difference in the customers you receive?
    Do you feel people seek out your business because it is green?
    Has your business become more successful through making the choice to become more environmentally sound?
    If you are apart of a specific regional or national initiative: What are some ways you have gone above and beyond compliance requirements?
    Do you feel like any of the aesthetic components to your prints have been compromised because of the choice to use more sustainable products?
    What are the logistics behind the transport and storage of raw materials and finished goods?
    Have you calculated the total cost of prints lifecycle?
    Can you provide information on the lifecycle environmental impacts of materials and processes?
    Have you had any environmental violations or fines in the past?
    Do you select lower-impact packaging and distribution systems?
    Is there a position for environmental health and safety?
    Do you have any information published on your environmental performance such as environmental stewardship certifications, and awards ?
    How did you go about learning the science behind sustainability in your work place?
    How are batteries, used electronics, and plastics disposed of?
    Do you use any alternatives to vinyl for signage?
    How do you dispose of toxic waste? Who do you use and where does it go?
    Do you make available non-toxic papers?
    How high of % are post consumer waste?
    Have you bought used equipment to use for printing?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kathleen here.
    Questions:

    Do you have an Environmental Impact Statement?
    Do you pair clients and distributors based on proximity?
    Do you favor local materials over sustainable/organic materials, or vice versa?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Where are your products made? Locally, nationally or internationally?
    Do you market environmentally friendly products differently than standard products?
    Have you seen business benefits from using or providing environmentally conscious products?

    ReplyDelete