biodegradable banners

I’d like to let you know about a couple green products that we found for the printing division of Zone 5. We had a specific need to find solutions for temporary and one time use signs. Event signs and banners make up a significant portion of our printing revenue. The fact that these signs we were making were being used for a few hours and then being tossed in the garbage was making me cringe. So far I have found two alternative products that are working well.

We produce a lot of vinyl banners. Graduation parties, running races, golf outings, charity events and everything else. Vinyl is great because you don’t have to kill trees to make it. It’s waterproof and durable which is exactly what you need for creating an outdoor banner. However the same properties that make it a great banner product make it terrible for landfills. The solution is a truly biodegradable vinyl banner material called BIOflex. It’s just as thick and tough as non-biodegradable banner material except it will break down in 3-5 years in landfill conditions. This is perfect for temporary banners and I have been promoting it heavily whenever a client asks me for them. 

All those events I mentioned need welcome signs and directional signs and we make a lot of those as well. Usually you print on paper, adhere the print to a board and let the mounted poster sit on an artist easel. The problem here is that the boards used are made out of paper so I went on the hunt for a substrate made from recycled content. Joe Pompei, Zone 5’s assistant production manager, found a really nice product called Bioboard. While the name isn’t particularly creative the product itself seems to be terrific. It’s strong and lightweight and made from a high percentage of post consumer content.

I’m constantly asking my vendors for green printing solutions. What started out as sort of a fad or trend seems to have become standard practice in the printing industry, which is good to see. There are new green products coming out often and I’ll be here to determine how I can incorporate them into our daily practices. If you have something that’s been working for you at your place, please let me know about it by commenting below.