Smart Sustainability – Rethink Your Way Green

Being green is simpler than many people will have you believe. A massive amount of the resources we turn into goods and services are never used for their original purpose or they are only partially achieve the desired result.


There are two big sources waste from poorly utilized resources. The first is very obvious, the second not so.


In printing (and in many other manufacturing settings) the per-unit cost drops with the larger quantities you purchase. Therefore, the incentive is to purchase more. The problem is the per-unit purchase cost does not include the per-unit effective cost.


For example, if you buy 1000 for $300, the purchase cost is 30 cents each; but, if you only use 240 pieces the effective per-unit cost is $1.25 – big difference. Then consider the environmental impact, the unused 760 pieces are waste. Sure, you put them in recycling but what about the energy used to make them and then to later recycle them?


The second type of waste from poorly utilized resources is really just a further extension of the per-unit effective cost. It is the per-unit result cost. Continuing with the same example, if you used 240 pieces with an effective per-unit cost of $1.25 and only generated 20 of your desired results (e.g. visits to your website, sales transactions, etc) your cost is $15 per result.


To simplify, you paid $300 dollars to get 20 results. Therefore, each result cost $15. No one buys printing to have printing – everyone buys printing to achieve a result. The waste in this example is 980 pieces – 980 pieces did not achieve the desired result. What if you could have purchased 100 pieces at $2 each and achieved the same 20 results? I see this possibility everyday.


The key to taking advantage of this idea is to ask some important questions (i.e. rethink) before doing the same thing you have always done – whether it is purchase letterhead or start a direct mail campaign. Give your self time to look for a better way to do what you have always done and in some cases ask "should I be doing this at all?"


If you rethink your activities, you can reduce your environmental impact, increase your effectiveness and ultimately find the profitability in being green.