Impressions - June/July 2016 - 47

Tracking SuSTainabiliTy
One of the most important things you can do when starting your sustainability journey is to
track your progress. Look at one to three years worth of invoices from your utility companies,
waste-management handlers and supply chain. In a spreadsheet, list your expenditures, total them
for each category and divide the total by the number of impressions you've made (a front-and-back
print counts as two impressions) to get the cost per impression.
When you track this monthly, you can see how the weather, number of jobs and buying decisions
you are making can affect your total cost per impression. By using a spreadsheet, you can graph

Another reduction method is to reconsider how you buy consumables. Instead of
ordering white or black ink in single-gallon
buckets, buy five- or 30-gallon containers.This could lower the price per gallon,
depending on what you are ordering, and
add up to big savings at the end of the year.
Also, many suppliers have a free-freight
policy if you purchase more than a certain
amount of product. Ordering in bulk quantities also can further reduce the amount of
money you spend and reduce the carbon
footprint of the transaction. Instead of two
or three deliveries, it's completed in one.
That's eco-friendly.

the information to see changes over time. If you are making good decisions and actively seeking to
change things, that line on the graph will be trending downward.

One way to reduce energy
consumption in your shop
is by turning off flash units
when they aren't required
for printing a job.

Reuse
Ink is the primary product in a screenprinting shop that can be reused. When
cleaning up after a print run, card all of the
ink and scoop it back into the bucket.The
more ink you get off the screen, the easier
it will be to reclaim it, and the less effort
and product you may need for that chore.
Most ink manufacturers have computerassisted formula systems that measure the
ink mixes by weight.You can even use
existing mixes to formulate a new color.
Also, remember that boxes, plastic bags
and defective or misprinted shirts can be
reused.The concept also applies to saving
screens. If you are running programs for
customers who frequently reorder, just
clean the screens after using them for a
job and store them on a screen rack near
the press on which they normally are used.
Doing it this way gets the job set up
and printed more quickly, as the screens
are already in the production area and
ready to go.
Recycle
For some shops, recycling may be difficult
because item pickup may not be available
in all areas. Most people just think about
the obvious - cans and plastic bottles -
but there are other things in your shop
that should be recycled. Hydraulic fluid,
batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, metal skid
bands, paper, plastic bag remnants, old cat-

alogs, phones, computers and even office
furniture qualify for recycling.
Start by segregating materials. Look in
your area for recycling partners, such as
waste handlers or independent companies.
Just remember that anything you recycle
means less material going into a landfill.
If you use plastisol ink, bioremediation is
another tool that recently was introduced
to the market.This technology uses tiny
microbes suspended in a fluid to "eat" the
ink off of squeegees and floodbars when
cleaning them in a traditional parts-washer
station. This process doesn't use a harsh
solvent, so it lowers the amount of volatile

organic compounds (VOCs) in your shop.
One of the remarkable things about a
sustainability program and working to print
in a more eco-friendly manner is that you'll
see a cost reduction.You'll probably even
wonder why you didn't start sooner. 
Marshall Atkinson is the owner of Atkinson Consulting LLC, a service firm focused on the decorated apparel industry for process improvement and
efficiency, sustainability, employee training, social
media marketing and long-term strategic planning.
For more information or to comment on this article,
email Marshall at matkinson4804@gmail.com, or
follow his blog at atkinsontshirt.com.
june/july 2016

P.47

http://www.atkinsontshirt.com

Impressions - June/July 2016

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