Going Green with Newsletters

If your company — and more importantly, your customers — has a green agenda, newsletters present of the best possible opportunities for implementing eco-friendly printing practices and for spreading the message about your dedication to the health of the environment. Here's your guide to going green with newsletters:

Print with soy inks

Have your newsletters printed with soy-based inks, which emit far fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than traditional petroleum-based inks. Soy inks also spread farther, thus further decreasing VOCs. What's more, soy inks are capable of producing brighter, more vibrant colors than petroleum inks, so you can easily command the attention of your audience by printing newsletters with soy inks.

Print on recycled paper

Printing your newsletters on recycled paper is perhaps the easiest way to go green. Opt for a professional, great-feeling paper such as eco-friendly recycled 70-pound matte text, which has a subtle sheen for deep, resounding hues. This type of high-quality paper looks every bit as good, if not better, than traditional paper and uses half as many resources to produce.

Recycle old newsletters

Not only should you recycled your old newsletters, you should also encourage your readers to recycle their newsletters once they've finished reading them. Remind them of the positive impacts of recycling and that — who knows? — maybe the paper they recycle will end up part of the next newsletter!

Spread the word

Many eco-friendly marketing materials have enough room for a small statement about your green efforts, but newsletters have plenty of room so you can include an entire article or column about your organization's green efforts in every issue. Be creative, and think of ways to tie in your eco-friendly agenda into monthly promotions. You could have a contest for the most green household, and the winner gets a discount, a feature in the next newsletter and a free product or service or other incentive. You can generate a lot of leads this way and also gauge how receptive your audience is to your green agenda. As you can see, going green with newsletters doesn't take a lot of effort, but it opens a world of possibilities for enhancing your public image, generating leads, connecting with your customers and boosting sales. Take note of these eco-friendly tips and tricks to go green with your next newsletter.