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Interest in environmentally responsible technology has never
been higher; a lot of powerful marketing is being done by major IT
suppliers’ brands to highlight their efforts in this area and much
of what is being done is very laudable, but not particularly
sustainable.
Research by Kyocera has shown a dramatic decline in the number
of organisations willing to pay a modest premium for
environmentally sound products, down from 60% in 1993 to just 31%
today. This factor, coupled with the continuing perception that
environmentally responsible products come at the expense of
performance, demonstrates a “hard green line”, which places the
onus on suppliers to absorb any costs of going green.
A lot has been said about initiatives in recycling, and
offsetting schemes, especially in the world of printing, but they
can have the unfortunate side effect of creating a culture of
“excusing” environmental damage, a feeling that corporate guilt can
be assuaged simply by paying a fee to a carbon offsetting
company.
This approach in itself is not a sustainable way of dealing with
the environmental challenges that we face. It is far more valuable
to invest in attempts to reduce that damage in the first place,
which is where sustainable design comes in. And this approach can
also yield business benefits.
The benefits of design-led sustainability are straightforward: A
product that consumes fewer resources at the outset is generally
likely to cost less to manufacture. Similarly, the greater the
thought put into minimising a product’s impact at the end of its
life, the less cost will be associated with dealing with that
impact.
This podcast will aim to show clearly the commercial benefits of
design-led sustainability.
It will;
- Look at he basic costs of going green, especially in terms of
print solutions
- Show how advanced features can improve workflow efficiency and
reduce unnecessary document printing and copying
- Look at how driving complexity out of print-based products can
be business efficient