How did Monroe Litho, in less than five years, turn our initial environmental campaign from a raw concept to receive one of the broadest certifications of sustainable print manufacturing? And what made Monroe choose SGPP certification—a relative newcomer to the roster of sustainable badges being adopted by printers around the country?

“It all started in a meeting when one of our customers asked if we could print their materials on FSC paper,” according to Chris Pape, our president and CEO. “It didn’t sound like a big deal, so I agreed to do it. Little did I know the importance of that decision at the time. In retrospect, it was one of the most important decisions I made in my seven years of owning the company. It represented a major change in direction for us as an organization and triggered a company-wide focus on the environment which continues to this very day.”

Over the course of the past five years, the team at Monroe Litho has re-worked virtually every corner of our operations to be as environmentally friendly as possible. “By putting a formal program in place, we were able to channel all of our thoughts and ideas into one focused effort,” explains Steve Whittaker, Monroe’s VP of quality management and sustainability services. In addition to revamping our operations, says Whittaker, Monroe made an effort to demonstrate our commitment to the environment to the marketplace.

“When we started in 2004, the most critical acknowledgement to earn was the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody Certification. At that time, it was really the blue chip award of our industry,” says Whittaker. “Chain-of-custody is the path taken by raw materials from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing, and distribution. From a customer’s perspective, the FSC label represents a promise that a printer, such as Monroe Litho, is conscientious in the observance of forestry practices—using certain specific grades of paper manufactured from timber that has been grown, managed, and harvested under very rigid environmental protocols.”

For Monroe Litho, independent certifications play an important role in helping support and, ultimately, proving our environmental focus. Simply put, each time Monroe Litho receives a certification or verification by an outside organization, it only confirms the validity of our environmental work.

“The FSC certification for us was a springboard into the environmental movement,” says Pape. “It got everyone looking at everything—from the amount of energy that we consumed to the type of lightbulbs that we used.”

The changes in practices touched both printing operations and the environment of the plant, even the site on which we are located. We converted an old parking lot outside of our facility into 8,400 sq.ft. of green space. We stopped buying ink in five-pound cans, which were not readily recyclable, and switched to ink that was sold in recyclable barrels. We reduced annual VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions 29% in the last five years as a result of process updates and changes. It has also changed the culture of our business. Not a day goes by that one of us in the company does not offer up another way to make the company a little greener.

Adopting wind powerIn June 2006, the team at Monroe Litho took our environmental program a step further with a commitment to 100% wind power to offset our electrical consumption. “We were one of the first in the industry to do this,” says Pape. “At the time, it raised a lot of eyebrows. But it was a great step for us.”

That shift was really significant. Monroe purchases over two million kilowatt-hours renewable energy credits (recs) of electricity. This compensated for over 3 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution in 2007 alone. Essentially, this purchase was equivalent to avoiding the same amount of CO2 emissions of nearly 233 passenger cars each year, or the same amount of electricity needed to power an estimated 130 average American households each year. It was this dramatic move, coupled with our other environmental initiatives, that earned us another recognition. We became one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partners in August 2006.

Over the years, Monroe Litho employees have been sources of ideas on how to make our policies and procedures as environmentally advanced as possible. We formed a seven-member Go Green Committee to explore and evaluate ideas proposed by the employee base. Members drawn from each area of the organization serve on the committee for three months. “Since the Committee’s formation in 2006, we have explored hundreds of ideas proposed by our employees, and have adopted many,” says Whittaker. Now under review are 54 new suggestions.

Monroe Litho’s customers also have played a critical role in the our environmental adaptation. “What has always impressed me is they are in it for all the right reasons,” says Gary Tooth of Empire Design Group. His agency has worked with the Monroe Litho team for nearly a decade. “Over the years, I have worked with them on many projects and they are always the first to propose an innovation that works best for me as a client as well as the environment. And, if you don’t understand their concept, they can explain it so you do,” says Tooth. “They are about as green as it gets for printers, which is incredibly important to me as a client. I like to be as green as possible with the materials that I produce.”

In June 2008, Monroe Litho was recognized as a member of the EPA’s “Green Suppliers Network”—a partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Last September, we were chosen as one of “America’s Safest Companies” by Occupational Hazards Magazine. Monroe Litho’s dedication to providing a safe and healthy workplace for all employees led to our selection. Monroe Litho was one of only 18 companies in the U.S., and the only printer, to receive this prestigious award.

Two months later, Monroe was awarded the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certification—our second forest environmental certification in four years. This made Monroe Litho one of only five printers in New York State to hold both FSC and SFI certification. SFI’s premise is that responsible environmental behavior and sound business decisions can co-exist. SFI-certified companies practice sustainable forestry on all lands they manage.

“The SFI certification was something of which we were incredibly proud,” says Whittaker. “We had worked hard to rework our entire infrastructure to be environmentally sound since winning the FSC award in 2004.” And, then came the SGP verification in December 2008.

“The moment we found out we could apply for verification from the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, we did,” says Whittaker. Monroe is the first printer that was not part of the original beta group of printers to apply. And, to date, we are one of only five to have achieved it. Today, Monroe Litho is the first printer in New York State and the only one in the Northeast to hold all three certifications.

Founded in June 2007, the SGP Partnership is an independent recognition organization. SGP-verified printers must establish a sustainability team; implement a management system; use SGP program metrics; take specific steps to reduce the entire facility’s environmental footprint; implement pollution prevention activities; and commit to fundamental social and ethical norms. SGP Printer status includes annual reporting and a biennial verification audit requirement. Certified printers are given a number and logo for use on their printed products to indicate it was “Printed by a SGP Printer.”

Printers that meet the criteria, and have it verified by a third-party audit, are listed on a registry for print buyers and customers to use when searching for sustainable green printers. To become an SGP Printer, Monroe completed an online self-assessment application and provided supporting documentation to demonstrate our compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. We provided pre-audit documentation, then passed an on-site audit.

“The team at Monroe Litho has strived to become one of the most environmentally friendly printers in the U.S.,” says Pape.

“The environment is now more than just a program for us; it is a culture—a way of life.”

By Kathryn Lancioni, Monroe Litho — Graphic Arts Online, 2/1/2009