Green Knowledge
(Jerry Burns, purveyor of elegant landfill)
Article by Roy Hinshaw
On Thursday, October 25th, local printing giant Mac Papers in conjunction with the AIGA and other partners, presented a seminar entitled Green Knowledge = Business Opportunity. In his capacity as a board member of the AIGA Atlanta chapter, Jerry Burns gave a short address to open the event. Jerry is also the chair of the AIGA-ATL sustainability initiative, director of the PC photography department, and all around good guy.
We car pooled to the event in his Toyota Prius.
After his recitation of the AIGA's mission statement, which is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force, Jerry spoke to the heart of the matter of the day. Jerry pronounced that he has, over the course of 15 years, devised the definitive answer for that pesky dinner party question, "So, what do you do?" Designers and would-be artists take note, Jerry's carefully crafted response was, “I make the world’s most elegant and expensive compost.”
"It's true," he continued "All in the interest of serving our clients, feeding our children, and trying to get in CA, we labor and fuss over something that...at the end of the day, ends up in a landfill, being eaten by microbes."
As designers and communication professionals, we have a great stake in sustainability. Considering that nearly all printed material originates from a designer's drafting table or writer's desk, we bear great responsibility to the end result of our work. Awareness and education is needed to understand the various certification levels and nomenclature which exist to serve sustainable product sources and output. While we cannot control the ultimate decision of our work's physical manifestation, we can influence the direction toward the choices available. Wayne Dickey, the moderator of the panel, told us that his company, Mac Papers, finds that clients are willing to pay a premium for the peace of mind gleaned from the use of paper stock which has been certified at one of the many levels available in the marketplace.
The presenters for the seminar included Mohawk paper, Domtar, Neenah Papers, StoraEnso, and Sappi. As paper companies presenting to a large audience of printing professionals, their collective goal was to educate the printing pro's about the benefits of sustainable sources for fiber and paper. And, of course, to convince us to buy their products over their competitors. Each speaker extolled the efforts of their company towards sustainability through wind power, carbon offsets, and reduced water impact - central to paper mills.
Much focus was placed on the certification of paper fiber sources and the aptly named "chain of custody." In order for paper products to bear specific certifications, strict control over the source of timber must be exacted. To see a list paper products you might use for your next project which have been certified, you can visit Mac Papers.
As Portfolio Center students, future rock star designers, and brand levitators, it is incumbent upon you to understand current standards of sustainable certification and to be ready to meet the challenge of tomorrow's increasingly green-minded marketplace. Oh, and don't forget to use both sides of the copy paper, too.
