As an avid hiker, photographer, snowboarder and someone who loves the outdoors. It’s important to me that we preserve our environment as much as we can. I believe in the value of offering environmentally sustainable options for my clients and, upholding my own commitment to sustainable design by making environmentally conscious choices throughout my business.
- Go ‘paperless’ as often as possible. If I do need to print, 100% Recycled FSC-Certified paper is used.
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
- Partner with environmentally-conscious suppliers.
- Use electricity responsibly and switch off items when not in use.
- Minimize business travel.
- Continuously review my policy and research into sustainable design practices.
- As of 2017, I am planting 1 tree for each website launched through TreeCanada.
Sustainability in Print Design
By making informed decisions we can reduce the environmental impact of print material, which aids in more efficient use of our natural resources.
I offer eco-friendly print management to ensure your designs are produced with minimal impact on the environment. Helping to manage your print jobs, by finding the best price through my suppliers. I choose suppliers that adhere to clean operations and understand the impact of their business on the environment.
Paper & Printing Considerations
- Evaluate the life-cycle to understand the environmental impact of print material or packaging.
- Making sure the end-product is biodegradable or recyclable.
- Choose recycled and FSC paper stock.
- Make it thinner: does it need to be on
a thick heavy-duty card stock or get we get away with a thinner paper that still delivers a quality product. - Avoid page bleeds where possible. Printing with bleed creates offcuts that need to go through a de-inking process during recycling.
- Embracing white space and considering layout options to reduce pages and ink coverage.
- Double and triple check all spelling and content to avoid misprints.
- Design with a multi-use purpose in mind.
- Consider the size of the project. Is it possible to reduce the amount of paper required? Standard paper sizes will be used for the design to
minimise waste. Alternatively, a number of items can be printed on each sheet. - Avoid adding metallic inks and coatings such as varnishes and laminates as they are difficult to recycle and many of these special finishes contain harmful toxins.
Sustainability in Web Design
The internet uses a huge amount of energy and every website has its own carbon footprint. The technology industry is estimated to account for 2% of global CO2 emissions, the equivalent of the entire airline industry. It’s a fact that most people don’t think about, but there are ways to decrease your site’s carbon footprint.
Considerations
- No Templates. No Website Builders. Websites are custom built. This results in a faster, lighter website, which is not only good for your users and search engine optimization but also limits energy use.
- Reduce data overhead and HTTP requests by optimizing images, compressing scripts, setting appropriate cashing times and compressing downloads.
- Host website with local, green website host. With Datacenters across Canada. My recommended host offsets 100% of their power consumption by purchasing carbon credits and subscribes to sustainable business practices.
- Include a print stylesheet, so that if a user needs to print a page the content is displayed in a clear printable format designed to save ink and paper.
