One step at a time: leading the way toward a bright green future

We are extremely proud that Ross Printing is recognized by the City of Spokane as well as the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency (Spokane Clean Air) for our leadership role in sustainable business practices.

In 2009 we took home top honors with the Clean Air award from Spokane Clean Air. The Clean Air Award is presented annually to a company that has consistently demonstrated a commitment to reduce air emissions. Previous winners include Avista, Huntwood Industries, and Inland Empire Paper.

KXLY stopped by for a visit Inside the Green Printing Company. Check it out.

The SMART thing to do

In 2010 we received SMART Certification from the City of Spokane along with 46 other local businesses, many of which are our friends and neighbors in the East Central community.

All businesses receiving Sustainable Management of Assets, Resources, and Technology (SMART) Certification have developed a proven track record of cutting energy use and reducing resource consumption.

The Spokesman-Review did a nice writeup.

It’s easy being green

Sustainability for us is more than today’s buzzword. It is tomorrow’s reality and a consideration in everything we do. As one example: we cut our VOC emissions by over 50% in less than two years!

A few of our recent initiatives:

• Purchase 100% of our electricity in the form of renewable wind power
• Recycle 34 tons of waste paper annually, along with every wooden pallet and corrugated container used in our manufacturing processes
• Design and build a unique, closed-loop oil recovery system for our printing presses – 100% of our press oil is filtered to a finer purity than new and reused on press
• Print with soy-based ink which has considerably lower VOC content than standard inks
• Switch to alcohol-free press wash on our offset litho presses
• Convert roofing material from black to white, resulting in a 15% energy reduction
• Install a chemical-free, water-based plate setter for our Flexo department
• Upgrade to an energy-efficient heating and cooling system in our 35,000 sq. ft. plant
• Virtualize and consolidate network servers, reducing excess capacity and power consumption
• Make waste ink available at no cost to local artists
• Promote an expanded range of recycled papers to our customers and choose these same stocks for our own in-house and promotional use

And we’re not done yet.

In addition to the quality and reliability for which we are known, with Ross Printing you can be sure that you are working with a partner committed to the highest level of community-minded, environmentally-conscious business practices. You don’t even have to ask.