Sustainability is of growing importance to specialty imagers, and SGIA’s Sustainability Recognition Program strives to recognize exceptional members as they take steps toward realizing sustainable business practices. Adopting a sustainable business ethic requires a strong commitment on the part of both management and the workforce, and Visual Impressions has made that commitment. Since 2013, Visual Impressions has been certified under the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership Program (SGP Partnership) and just renewed their certification for 2015. The SGP Partnership is a non-profit organization that validates printing facilities’ sustainability initiatives, including and beyond regulatory compliance. The SGP certification process encourages printers and suppliers to reduce their environmental impact and increase social awareness of their best practices towards assuring print buyers a more sustainable supply chain.
One of the biggest and most current topics buzzing at Visual Impressions is the use of bio-remediation cleaning. This innovative solution for hard-to-clean squeegees involves a fluid which contains microbes that eat away at petroluem. Because ink is petroleum-based, it was easily repurposed to use as a safer alternative than harsh solvents. The byproduct of this process is simply carbon dioxide and water, meaning there is no hazardous waste or VOCs.
Additionally, Visual Impressions took advantage of an energy audit, a free service offered by their utility company that gives them a snapshot of their energy use throughout the day at 15-minute intervals. Along with receiving a detailed report about energy usage in the entire shop, they discovered that there is a surge of energy output right after the lunch hour. By staggering lunchtimes, Visual Impressions can use energy at a steady rate versus large increases and decreases, ultimately making their energy usage more efficient.
“We always look for new innovations and products that are more natural and environmentally friendly. We're not afraid to experiment,” said COO Marshall Atkinson. “Even doing small things locally and onsite could reduce the carbon footprint.”
Visual Impressions’ plan was strategic, establishing a Sustainability Committee and focusing on implementing ideas centered on energy reduction and reducing our landfill waste. Coupled with work using the three Rs — Reduce, Reuse & Recycle — as a theme, the company sought improvement that encompasses three major areas: The materials used to produce products, the printing process, and the facility in its entirety. As of May 28, 2015, they have recycled 81.67 tons of paper, plastic, metal and cardboard since recyling program's creation in March of 2013.Visual Impressions is also participating in two Milwaukee sustainability programs, ME2 & ME3. They received a combined $100,000 in grant money for the programs, which paid for a sustainability efficiency study with some outsourced engineers, and also helped partially pay for the purchase of a new Kornit Avalanche Direct-to-Garment digital printer.
Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me²) is a federally funded program to help homeowners and business owners make energy-efficiency improvements. Often, the up-front costs of making energy-efficiency changes to a home or business can be challenging. Me² wants to help alleviate that! Me² provides innovative solutions to help homeowners and business owners implement energy-efficiency projects that will yield large energy savings over time.
Achieving and maintaining sustainability has to be a community effort. ME3 improved operational and resource efficiency at 22 small and medium sized Milwaukee manufacturers between 2011-2013. In aggregate, these 22 ME3 firms reduced energy use by 3.6 million kWh; diverted almost 9,000 tons of waste from the landfill; saved $2.1 million annually; invested $3.6 million in their plants; and saw an average payback on process/project improvements of just over 1.5 years.
For more information about Visual Impressions’ commitment to sustainability, or to learn more about the services they offer, http://www.visualimp.com/sustainability.html
About Visual Impressions As a single-point source, we make it easy for you to obtain high quality decorated garments under tight deadlines. Our in-house digial and screen printing and embroidery departments enable us to efficiently and affordably produce jobs of any size. Combine this with our years of experience, state-of-the-art equipment and a talented creative services department, and you end up with "Decorating at its Best."