The things to definitely avoid are laminates. There is one product that is currently on the market by Dikeman Laminating. It's called Nature's Choice, which sounds like a cereal. But it is biodegradable, which is good. But it's only limited to offset printing. Mostly nine times out of 10 anything with a laminate is going to go into a landfill. It's very difficult to pull it off of or separate it from the fibers. Therefore, you're ending the lifecycle of that piece.

JB: Could you walk me through how you interact with clients regarding the report card?

DR: The first step is that when our clients receive an estimate from us it clearly states what the Beleaf program is, and states our commitment to educating our end clients about how our office operates, how the piece is going to be designed and then how it's going to be printed. If it's a new client that hasn't experienced this yet, they are advised that they're going to receive this electronic report card at the end of their project. It is - it's not a voluntary thing. We wind up just sending it to them at the end of each project along with recycling guidelines, which stipulate what that product has to go through in order to continue the lifecycle of that piece.

They receive it via email and it clearly states in three different tiers all the decisions that went into their project and it gives a final score at the end. From our experience there's three different reactions. The first one is no reaction at all. It's just become a way of thinking, the way that we do business.

The second one is is that it's a positive response and the end client wants to learn more about what we're doing and what they can do internally. And the third one is almost a challenge of, “I want to make sure that my score is better next time.” So in retrospect we've only seen a positive response from it. And clients really feel that they're being educated through the process.

JB: With some of the greener design and printing choices that you've found, has there been any conflict where making the better choice hinders creativity or what clients want to do?

DR: We haven't found a situation where it actually hinders creativity. Since honestly we've seen that the paper industry has really stepped up to the plate in providing a wide variety of choices. Recycled paper is no longer thought of as just browned text weight stock. You're seeing rich reds and browns and blacks. So with the use of paper you can really stretch the limits of what you want to do and then just making smart printing choices to make sure that your end product is recyclable.

As I mentioned, staying away from laminates. Another one is foil stamping has been proven to now be removable, but not proven to be completely biodegradable. But more so you run into a situation where a brand has been established already by a previous agency and the specified paper stock and process is not environmentally friendly whatsoever. So the role that you have to take is educating the client and giving them the necessary tools so that when they reevaluate that brand, hopefully in the next year, they will make smarter choices that will have less of an impact on the environment.

JB: Obviously not all design firms offer this report card. So what advice do you have for companies that are interested in making better choices with their designs and printing, but they aren't getting this report card? What should be the things they're asking their design firms or their printers?

DR: It's different for everybody. We really - we're here as an educational resource. So we welcome everybody to go to our website, which is RizcoDesign.com/beleaf. Where you can actually review the platform and view the report card. There's a sample there that we welcome to individuals to use as a basis for talking point internally.

Depending upon where you are in the decision-making chain of command within your company or what you can afford, there are various things that you can do. Looking at your office, once again, recycling is very important. Number two I would say is go digital. Try to reduce your printouts as much as possible.

Number three is donate. Give some of your old computers to high schools or art departments. Number four is really look at your supply chain. Not just within your printers and your paper suppliers, but look at your everyday usable, tangible items such as your cleaning products. Pick somebody like Method or Seventh Generation. Look at your copy paper. Is it 100 percent recycled? We recommend Cascades Enviro 100 copy paper.

But also too, as I mentioned, some of the other things that we consider to be valuable when you're going through the thought process of designing a project or printing a project, the individual designer or production manager has great decision-making power in their hands. And they are responsible for the lifecycle of the end product that they produce.

JB: You mentioned going digital in some of the office processes. How else in the design and printing phases does digital come into play? In what parts of it can you go digital instead of getting extra printouts?

DR: Digital can mean two different things to two different types of designers. There is the benefit of going digital meaning that you're not printing anything. You're developing websites or HTML emails or sending PDFs versus actually printing on a physical piece. There is still carbon that - CO2 levels that are emitted when you're dealing with electronic communications. But of course you are overall saving the strain on forests and fiber that needs to be made into paper. So we definitely recommend reduce print outs as much as you can. Share files electronically on your initial round. Another big thing that we always say is produce paperless paychecks.

But then there's also digital printing, which involves toner. And digital printing definitely is helpful in eliminating waste because you're able to first of all order exactly what you need. It's faster so you have less make ready time and less waste. You're able to order exactly what you need so you're not having overruns or spoilage.

So those are some of the key things when you talk about going digital. You know, you have the benefit of being able to send some things electronically. But then also when you do have to print and it's a small amount, digital printing is definitely beneficial.

JB: Okay. Well, thank you for your time.

DR: No problem. Thank you for having us.