Going Green with Invitations

Today's advanced eco-friendly printing technology has made it easier than ever to print green invitations. Even though green invitations have been around in the form of recycled paper for some time, new innovations have made it possible to print eco-friendly materials without sacrificing quality or budget. If your company has a green agenda, it's important that you take note of the following to ensure that you're truly printing green invitations.

Green invitation paper

Today's eco-friendly paper stocks represent a vast improvement over yesterday's grainy, somehow-pulpy recycled papers. For a deep, rich, elegant look print your invitations on  recycled 13-point matte cover paper stock. Your paper will be smooth and yield an elegant sheen that enriches your colors and adds class and professionalism to your invitations.

Green invitation inks

Some printing companies simply print on recycled paper and call their invitations "green," but still print with petroleum-based inks that are decidedly eco-UNfriendly. This is because when petroleum inks dry, a large volume of Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, is released into the atmosphere. Instead of petroleum ink, have your invitations printed with eco-friendly soy-based inks release far fewer VOCs and have the added benefit of spreading farther, so you use less ink to begin with. Best of all, soy inks are capable of producing more vibrant colors than their petroleum-based cousins, so you can actually print higher-quality green invitations by going this route.

Choose a green invitation printing company

Many businesses overlook the eco-friendliness of their supply chain when they go green. If your printing company offers recycled paper but does not recycle paper itself, then anything you print with them contributes toward an unhealthy environment. If you're unsure of your invitation printing company's environmental practices, ask them for an environmental statement or see if they engage in recycling - from press room clippings to soda cans used by employees at lunch breaks. If they do, then you can rest assured that your supply chain is green and satisfies your eco-friendly agenda.

Order an electronic proof

Another very easy step toward printing green invitations is to order electronic proofs. Instead of having a hard copy proof shipped to you via carbon-emitting vehicles, you can view your proofs right on your computer to double-check your invitation layout and text. Your colors won't exactly match those of the finished printed product (since computer screens and paper represent colors in different formats), but they'll be close enough to tell whether there's a glaring mistake that needs fixed before you go to press. Plus, if you used a color swatch to design your invitations you'll know what the colors look like anyway.

Mail invitations directly from your printer

Once your green invitations are printed, you have two distribution options: have your invitations shipped to you and then send them out yourself, or have your printer send them directly to the recipients for you. A true green agenda dictates that the latter is the best option, since you skip an emission-producing shipping step involving planes or delivery trucks (or both). Since the ultimate destination is the same, you can reduce your carbon footprint and your costs by having your printing company mail your invitations for you.