I’m sure there have been times you’ve spent money on “eco-friendly” products to help lead a sustainable future. Let’s take it a step further, have you ever researched how a company operates and purchased products from them because they are environmentally conscious? We at Barrel Maker Printing think operating as sustainably as possible is simply the right thing to do, and can’t imagine it any other way. Screen printing can be tremendously wasteful which is why we want to set an example for the industry.
Our sustainability team meets every week to discuss our most detrimental environmental pitfalls and then collaborate on how we can flip those into our strengths. For example, up until recently our printers used baby wipes to clean the screens. The convenience and affordability made it hard to want to switch, but after doing some research and experimenting with reusable cloths, the printers actually prefer the effectiveness of the new material. Looking forward to transitioning all of our printers to these as we are finishing up experimenting with them. Imagine how many baby wipes we can now keep out of the landfills!
Another more long term goal we have is figuring out how to utilize our misprints in a more meaningful way. As of right now our printers use our misprints as testing fabrics and when there is no more space to print on them, they even use them to clean screens until they can no longer be used. At the end of the day, they do unfortunately still end up in the landfill. We are in the process of brainstorming how we can shred our prints into material that can be used for creating insulation, making mattresses for the homeless, or even dog beds for shelters.
Consider researching companies and look into their mission statement and operational sustainability before giving them your business. Making conscious environmental decisions is not something we have to do, it’s something we want to do.