Okay, so I paid a small fortune for this chocolate… yes, initially for the packaging.

Look at the details: tactile paper, twine, the hand-stamp technique executed with finesse. I appreciate the messaging — focused on the cacao farmer, fair-trade practices, chocolate made in small batches, cacao from a single origin.

Then I tried the chocolate…. wow. This chocolate is for a true chocolate connoisseur. Worth every penny!

Printing inks can contain three main types of ingredients that threaten the environment:

1. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) come from inks that depend on petroleum-based solvents to disperse pigment and accelerate drying. When used, these inks emit VOCs in vapor form. VOC vapor harms print shop workers and contributes to the formation of smog.

2. Certain colors of ink contain heavy metals that are associated with various health hazards, such as cadmium, barium, copper, and zinc. These elements leach into groundwater and contaminate the soil.

3. Petroleum use isn’t sustainable and you don’t need us to tell you that. Petroleum-based inks also require more water to remove from paper you’re trying to recycle.

The good news is that vegetable-based inks either avoid or vastly decrease our dependence on these ingredients.

As an added benefit, vegetable-based inks are also naturally clearer. This clarity makes it easier to produce bright colors with less pigment (and so we need less heavy metal use). Some printers report that vegetable-based inks spread farther than petroleum inks, further reducing the amount of ink required for a job.

Still not convinced? Consider this, then. When the Los Angeles Times switched to soy-based ink, their VOC emissions went down by 200 tons per year.
We’re glad you see the light!

Now that you’re with us, you’re probably wondering how to compare the various vegetable-based inks. Is soy better than other vegetable oils for ink? The short answer is that different vegetable oils are better for different things.

Linseed (flax), tung (Chinawood), castor, canola, safflower, and soy are all used as bases for inks. Many ink manufacturers like soy for its stability, but most inks are made of a blend of oils, taking advantage of the specific benefits of each type.

When possible, using a vegetable-based ink of any variety is better than using a petroleum-based ink. However, because they lack evaporative solvents (VOCs), these inks dry slowly, and this can create issues when you print on coated paper. We recommend talking with your printer, letting them know your preferences, and doing what you can to create the best possible product using the most environmentally friendly ink.

Next up in our Green Series: find out how refreshing waterless printing can be!

Their existing lines Yes to Carrots, Yes to Cucumbers, Yes to Tomatoes, and Yes to Baby Carrots can all be found at Walgreens, Target, and Sephora. Each hero-ingredient has very different properties and benefits — carrots are moisturizing, tomatoes are clarifying, cucumbers are soothing. New on the scene, their anti-aging focused line, Yes to Blueberries. We’ve just received the samples!!

Here’s a quick-shot — better photos to come soon…

These days, a lot of the products we see in stores are stamped with labels certifying them as “organic” or “free-trade.” Sometimes these labels are straightforward, but sometimes not. While an FSC certification sounds appealing, how much weight should we give it? If the paper we’re buying is recycled and chlorine free, isn’t that enough?

No. Not if you want to help shift the whole paper production industry away from destructive logging.

Forest Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organization working to promote responsible forest management. This association of forest owners, timber industries, social groups, and environmental organizations has set themselves an impressive mandate; they strive to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples, and the violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging.

So if you see  on a label, that means the paper you’re buying comes from only “well-managed forests that have met FSC’s high social and environmental standards.” What those standards are specifically can be found on their website.

In brief, FSC certification means you’re putting your investments towards those who source their wood from responsibly managed forests and away from companies that support illegal and unsustainable logging.

There are other certifications you might see when you shop for paper, such as Ancient Forest Friendly. Even more certifications apply the “green” label more generally to a business and its practices, attesting, for example, that it uses only carbon neutral shipping. In terms of paper production, though, the FSC mark is the one we look for.

Next up in our Green Series: what kind of mark can you make when you choose an ink?

We even had the chance to do some Scotch tasting, and we were particularly impressed with the branding at AUCHENTOSHAN. Apparently recently re-designed, we appreciate that AUCHENTOSHAN decided to break from tradition to create a very modern, clean label-design — a clean appearance for a clean, triple-distilled single malt scotch. It certainly stands out amongst it’s competitors on shelf.

They’ve done a great job creating a cohesive family of products, and carrying it over to the distillery, tasting room, and shop. A job well done!

Here’s a brief tour:

When you’re shopping for paper stock, you’ve likely noticed that many papers feature an acronym like PCF, or ECF, or TCF. But what do those acronyms mean? And what do they mean for the environment?

They’re all referring to the degree to which the paper production process avoids the use of chlorine. Chlorine gas is what paper mills traditionally use to bleach paper fibers. While it does the trick, it also creates highly toxic byproducts that leak into the environment. These dioxins and furans can, among other things, cause cancer and birth defects in humans.

So, simply put, keep out the chlorine! All those acronyms are good things to see on a ream of paper. More specifically, here’s what each means.

PCF / PROCESSED CHLORINE-FREE is paper that is produced without elemental chlorine or chlorine derivatives, but it is unknown whether any recycled content was originally processed using chlorine. So if you’re buying recycled paper (like you should) the mill didn’t use chlorine when they transformed the recycled fibers into new paper. They just can’t attest to how the fibers were treated before they were put in the recycling bin.

TCF / TOTALLY CHLORINE-FREE means that instead of using chlorine in the bleaching process, the mill used oxygen-based compounds. Why would this be less preferable than PCF? Because in order for paper to be certified as TCF, it has to come from 100% virgin fibers. Unfortunately, you either need to get TCF paper or recycled paper—you can’t have both.

ECF / ELEMENTAL CHLORINE-FREE is bleached using chlorine dioxide instead of elemental chlorine. This is better by a long ways than traditionally bleached paper; chlorine dioxide use reduces the production of dioxin byproducts by 94%!

There are, of course, two other options. The first is traditionally bleached paper. Although this is often selected for visual appearance, we can’t really recommend this when it comes to creating an earth friendly package. The second is to opt for an unbleached stock. When Double 6 Design designs packaging, for example, we recommend using a stock that’s been coated white on the outside, but which is unbleached kraft on the inside. If it’s not bleached, there’s no need for chlorine in the first place.

Next up in our Green Series: what does FSC certification mean anyway?

Ninety percent of paper pulp comes from wood. In fact, about a third of the trees felled around the world today are cut down to produce paper. Buying recycled paper helps reduce this deforestation by decreasing demand for virgin fiber. Additionally, producing paper from recycled pulp requires up to 55% less water than if a mill uses virgin pulp. Because paper production uses more water than most other industries, this savings in water adds up quickly.

Buying recycled paper is not as simple as it sounds, though. If you’ve shopped around, you’ll know that there are a few different categories of recycled paper.

MILL BROKE comes from the scrap collected within a paper mill during paper production. Making paper from mill broke is like scraping the bowl after you make cookie dough, so you can make one more cookie with the leftovers. Mill broke makes more efficient use of felled trees by using what would otherwise be wasted.

PRE-CONSUMER WASTE comes from paper that left the mill, but which never reached consumers. For example, if a printer runs a large job and trims off the edges, those edges are pre-consumer waste. Like mill broke, pre-consumer waste makes efficient use of resources by reclaiming unused paper and putting it back into the production process.

POST-CONSUMER WASTE comes from you and people like you. When you put your newspaper or old reports or phone books into the recycling bin, that’s post-consumer waste. Paper that’s 100% made from post-consumer waste calls for no virgin fibers and no deforestation.

Now, often paper is produced as a blend of recycled and non-recycled fibers. For example, New Leaf Paper lists some of its stock as “80% recycled, 60% post-consumer waste.” That means 60% of the paper comes from post-consumer waste, 20% from pre-consumer waste and/or mill broke, and 20% from virgin fibers.

Choosing what type and percentage of recycled content you’re comfortable with is up to you and, to some degree, what’s available in the market. At Double 6 Design, we’ve been buying a lot of our paper from New Leaf. They use higher percentages of post-consumer waster content, plus their paper is good quality and affordable.

Stay tuned for the next post in our Green Series, on chlorine-free paper processing. In the future we’ll also cover different environmentally friendly certifications and what to consider when choosing inks.

We have quite a few clients these days who are willing to pay a little extra to be gentler on the earth. The increased demand for greener options has created a search for new innovative materials, ways to cut down on excessive packaging, and the creation of lower-impact processes. The good news is that there are more and more printers who are capable of green printing, and everyday we hear about new options.

Since we’re all still learning about how we can do our part and it’s such an ever-evolving issue, we have decided to do some research and write a series of blogs dedicated to Green Design. Stay tuned….

• You-T was formulated by a doctor with potency in mind, and it has the highest concentration of the healthy anthocyanins (the good stuff in cranberries that are responsible for keeping the bad bacteria at bay) on the market.

• Instead of a capsule or pill, this supplement is a beverage powder that you add to water. So, not only is it convenient, but you will get a dose of water at the same time. Water is particularly important to urinary tract health.

Because of You-T’s unique qualities, it was important to make it stand out on shelf. Instead of creating the usual clean & clinical looking package, we used a bold use of color. Big berry illustration increases the flavor appeal, and visual of the packet pouring into the glass helps to communicate You-T’s unique delivery method.

Our next project, now that the product is ready to hit the stores, is the new You-T website. Stay tuned!

Well, we’ve been swamped with work lately! Largely thanks to our newest client Yes To, Inc. They are the creators of 3 really great product lines: Yes to Carrots, Yes to Cucumbers, and Yes to Tomatoes. They offer natural, paraben-free skin & hair care products that are centered on using real ingredients & Dead Sea minerals.

We are working with YesTo to extend their family of products to a new product line, and in the process, we are re-working the messaging across all lines to help consumers to understand the benefits of each hero ingredient.

We’ve really been enjoying one of the best perks of our job – samples! Our favorite products so far are the Yes to Carrots Hydrating Hand & Elbow Cream, Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Eye Gel, Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes, and the Yes to Carrots Lip Butter. You can find their products nationally at Target, Walgreens, Safeway, and Whole Foods. You can also purchase their products directly from their website: yestocarrots.com.

Check back for updates, as the project moves along!