As growing things begin to green up, we’re greening, too. This issue of Communiqué gives you an update on recycled paper. If you haven’t looked at what’s out there for a while, you may be surprised. There’s also a brief piece on how the most evergreen of media can help market new media. Happy Spring!

When the Health Compass website was redone, its co-sponsors, the American Federation of Aging Research and the Merck Institute of Aging and Health, felt that it could be getting more traffic. The site was designed to help seniors find the web’s best sources of information on health and aging and make informed decisions about their health. Unfortunately its target audience didn’t know this valuable resource was available.

To get word about the site out to the media that could publicize the site, Aaron Design, used one of the oldest mediums – print. We worked with a supersized (6" x 11") postcard format which highlighted the site logo, showed off the site’s visual clarity, and provided key facts. It grabbed attention, was mailable, and was relatively inexpensive to produce. The card, targeted to the media, was extremely effective as a hand-out at conferences.

The client got the results they wanted. Stacey Harris, Director of Communications for AFAR, said, “The card has a fresh look, and the clean lines and great use of color set the tone. I love what Aaron Design did for us, and they did it on time and on budget. They kept things simple, made the message clear and honed in on our identity.”

Aaron Design is dynamic! The journal Dynamic Graphics featured two of our Vote! posters in their article “Posters with a Message” in their April/May 2005 issue.

A new alliance: Aaron Design has formed a strategic alliance with marketing firm Hartnick Consulting. Our first joint project is a marketing initiative for the Nonprofit Leadership Development Institute of the United Way of New York.

Not quite eye candy, but: Our clients seem to find our corporate identity work good enough to eat. Last issue we told you about the logo cake from the Heart Valve Institute. Now LoHo Realty has turned the logo we designed for them into a giant cookie. We’re waiting for the puff pastry...

Ten years ago, only staunch environmentalists were using recycled paper. There were few choices among papers if you wanted high recycled content, and there was definitely a quality and price tradeoff. Most organizations felt they couldn’t afford to present themselves solely on poorly finished paper that wasn’t convincingly white, and the market languished.

Today, demand for recycled paper is climbing, which is great news for both the environment and for paper consumers. Even better, recycled paper has entered the mainstream. Demand is being fueled by purchases from companies like Timberland, Patagonia, Dell Computer and Home Depot, which means there are more kinds of recycled paper easily available at lower prices than at any other time.

There is now a high quality recycled paper available to meet every need whether you are printing a newsletter or an annual report, a brochure or a book. New Leaf Paper, a distributor, manufactures its own line of recycled papers, as do manufacturers such as Mohawk  and Neenah. Domtar just launched a new line of environmentally friendly papers called EarthChoice.

Here is some background to help you in making your own purchases.

Look for a high level of post-consumer waste: Coated stock for covers and postcards is available in both glossy and matte finishes with conventional brightness levels. New Leaf’s glossy stock uses 60% de-inked paper (not necessarily post-consumer) and 80% total recycled fiber, while the matte cover stock is 100% recycled and includes 50% post-consumer waste. You can find coated glossy magazine and catalog papers with 20-30% post-consumer waste. When you are searching for No.1 coated paper you will need to “settle” for only 10% post-consumer waste.

Make sure any wood content has FSC certification: Even with perfect recycling, we still need virgin fiber in paper manufacturing. If the paper grade and coating you are considering requires wood fiber, make certain it has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies sustainable forestry practices.

Consider bleaching processes as well: Bleaching accounts for a very significant portion of paper’s environmental impact.

 Bleaching with chlorine gas, still used by many manufacturers, introduces deadly dioxins
     into the environment.

 Elemental chlorine-free bleaching (ECF) uses chlorine compounds, and while
     significantly better than gas bleaching, still forms harmful organochlorides.

 Totally chlorine-flee bleaching (TCF) uses alternate, safer bleaching processes.

The best environmental choice is processed chlorine-free (PCF) which is recycled paper bleached with a chlorine-free process.

For more information on recycled and chlorine-free paper, check out the following websites:

Forest Stewardship Council, www.fsc.org

Chlorine Free Paper Consortium, www.chlorinefreeproducts.org

Conservatree, www.conservatree.com

Rethink Paper, a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to catalyzing a transition to an ecologically sound U.S. pulp and paper industry, www.rethinkpaper.org

Thanks to the folks at New Leaf Paper for much of the information in this article.