Q. What is your overall view of your business' environmental responsibilities?
Commercial printing has come a long way from the heavy polluting and natural resource depleting industry it once was. At B&B Print Source we've realized that, by implementing green printing practices efficiencies are being raised, we're seeing savings in energy, disposal, and a healthier plant-wide environment overall.

Q. What types of eco-friendly inks do you use and why?
Vegetable based inks - which have low VOC's which help to reduce air pollution by minimizing toxic emissions.

Q. What types of eco-friendly papers do you carry or use regularly or recommend?
We recommend and have access to a wide range of recycled and tree free stocks with various ranges in post-consumer recycled content. Our sales team also attends regular meetings from our suppliers who keep us up to date on the latest and most sustainable options available

Q. Do you use any other eco-friendly materials or printing practices?
We are constantly investing in technology in an effort to provide superior products to our customers, maintain an efficient company wide work-flo, reduce waste and VOC emissions.

• B&B was one of the first printers to move to direct to plate printing. Our plating system is water soluble which eliminates the use of film and the harmful chemistry involved in the film making process.
• Our process color presses utilize a computer interface to set the color keys automatically which significantly reduces make ready waste.
• Our State of the art KBA, 6 color plus Aqueous, press is retrofitted with a Sentinal Ink Management System which calculates and dispenses the optimal amount of ink onto a roller from a recyclable drum. The result is a superior consistency of color and reduced ink waste which also reduces both the cleaning time and solvents used. Since implementing the system our ink usage is down nearly 30%.
• We are an alcohol free printer which reduces VOC emissions, improves worker health/safety and reduces chemical use in cleaning. The result is better quality printing with sharper dots.
• Many in house bindery options reducing the need for additional travel.
• We segregate and recycle all paper scraps, metals, aluminum plates, wood palettes, and office waste.

Q. Do you have any green certifications (Forest Stewardship Council, Rainforest Alliance, etc.)?
FSC certified, BRAG (business recycling) award winner

Q. What types of alternative energy sources does your facility use?
100% wind energy

Q. What are you doing to decrease or eliminate air and water pollution at your facility?

• Water soluble plate making
• Alcohol free printing
• Closed cassette roller and blanket washing (less polluting/VOC emitting)
• All cleaning "shop" rags are kept in an air tight drum so they don't air dry and sent to an EPA approved cleaning facility.
• We employee strict management practices to ensure that no chemicals are improperly disposed.
• To maintain efficiencies we employee a regular system for basic equipment maintenance.

Q. What do you do to encourage customers to use the above services?
Most of the above services come with the territory. Alternative options regarding stock are always recommended. We also encourage our customers to include the eco-friendly logos (FSC, Veggie inks, Wind power, etc.) on their printed pieces. Including the information as to how you printed sustainably on your's or your clients pieces promotes a positive message of change, advances the cause, raises awareness, and furthers our mission. It also instructs others on how to use the same processes.

Q. What additional steps do you plan to take in the future to make your practices and facility more environmentally friendly?
Because the path to sustainability is a journey of hundreds of thousands of steps, our goals are constant and never ending. Some near term goals include: becoming a zero waste facility, becoming a member of the Sustainable green printing partnership and adding alternative fuel or hybrid options to our fleet.

Contact Info:

B&B Print Source
9040 SW Burnham Street
Tigard, Oregon 97223
(503) 639-9835
www.bbprintsource.com