B Corps We Love: Greenerprinter

By Cameron Crane

When Rana DiOrio started Little Pickle Press, she knew that she wanted her company to be different. With so much knowledge about the fragile state of the environment, she didn’t understand how publishing companies were still entrenched in 20^th century practices. Rana knew that if LPP were going to be consistent with her values, it was going to have to be a company that was both socially and environmentally responsible.

To this day, Little Pickle Press goes the extra mile to ensure that we uphold these values. All of our books are printed on recycled paper using soy-based inks, and from production to their arrival at the warehouse, we try to reduce our impact as much as possible. The same goes for our posters, bookmarks, and sales and marketing tools. It is, in part, these procedures that encouraged us to become a B Corporation, and it would not be possible had we not found high-quality, like-minded printers like Greenerprinter to help us make our vision a reality.

Greenerprinter is a fellow B Corporation, using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Based out of Berkeley, CA, it has become one of the West Coast’s leading sustainable printers, fulfilling a variety of business needs, from business cards to wall graphics. Similar to LPP, Greenerprinter is on the vanguard of positive change, adopting practices that are unique in such a paper-and-production-heavy business.

Greenerprinter’s mission is to create a new world of printing -- to demonstrate that a manufacturing business can operate in harmony with the planet while providing a transparent and sustainable environment. Here are some of the specific practices that they adopt to achieve this goal:

• Offering recycled paper. Greenerprinter stocks only papers that contain a high percentage of recycled content. In fact, most are 100% recycled.

• Using soy and vegetable-based inks, low in Volatile Organic Compounds.

• Operating as a carbon-neutral business via carbon offsets of shipping emissions and investments of Renewable Energy Credits to offset emissions from operations.

• Investing in state-of-the-art equipment to minimize waste in the printing process.

• Using technology to implement streamlined operations that optimize efficiency.

• Minimizing chemical use in the platemaking and printing processing.

• Doing all of their printing on-site, which enables them to maintain consistency and quality, while closely monitoring their environmental impact.

• Supporting the green movement as a whole by partnership with organizations that promote the transition to a green economy.

If you are looking for a high-quality, high-integrity printer in the Bay Area, we recommend Greenerprinter. For Little Pickle Press, the choice to work with them to produce some of our materials was an easy one, and we have been more than pleased with the quality of their work. It is refreshing and encouraging to have found a company that is going above and beyond to stick to its values. It is certainly no easy feat.

Our hats are off to you, Greenerprinter! Thank you for all that you do for us, the community, and the planet!