Access Publishing is committed to being environmentally friendly

If we do not take care of our environment today, we will not have a clean place to live tomorrow. We have always believed in this philosophy and for this reason have embraced the idea of sustainability and environmentally responsible business practices long before it came to the forefront of the public eye. Consequently, we have a suite of programs that are designed to help our environment, cut costs and provide our team with a great place to work.

Local Printing

Access publications are among the few that are printed right here on the Central Coast at Casey Printing, only 45 minutes from our main office. This helps us to reduce fuel, greenhouse gasses, and provide local employment. Most of our competitors are printed accross the nation and outside the U.S.

Recycling

Recycling is a way of life, and a way of doing business for Access and our production partner, Casey Priting. When Casey Printing built their main production facility in the mid-nineties, they designed it with an efficient, automated paper recycling system in mind. Ducts were installed running to various binding machines that vacuum excess paper to our recycling center. Here it is pressed into giant bales, and along with other recycled paper products from the plant, it is transported to facilities that make it into other products ranging from home insulation to egg cartons. They also recycle our aluminum printing plates, waste inks and oils, and of course, all the human consumables like aluminum cans and paper products.

Not only do we and our printer work hard at recycling our waste products, but we are a large consumer of recycled products. Recycled paper is used on nearly every job we print. In fact, 74% of the paper that travels through our plant is made from recycled materials. This far exceeds the California Integrated Waste Management Board’s goal of 50%.

Chemicals

In our ongoing commitment to reduce our impact on the environment, we and our printer strive to eliminate as many undesirable chemicals and compounds as possible from our production processes. Utilizing a direct to plate pre-press system did away with the need to develop film, and consequently the associated chemicals and processing that go along with the film. We eliminated isopropyl alcohol from the pressroom many years ago and we take advantage of vegetable and soy based inks.

Paper Waste

Waste reduction is crucial, not only to help the environment, but also to keep us efficient and competitively priced for our customers. Our start up procedures (the system followed by operators to get a job going on the press) are designed to produce the smallest amount of waste possible while maintaining a high level of quality. We also have an incentive program that is designed to encourage our press employees to reduce paper waste.

Energy Consumption

Reducing electricity usage helps keep our air clean and our costs under control – savings we can pass on to our customers. During the winter of 2007-2008 Casey Printing reduced natural gas usage by 27%. A lighting upgrade recently completed within the plant to reduce the amount of energy usage. A report on this project can be found by clicking here. We have also installed a new HVAC control system designed to reduce energy. These new thermostats are linked to a computer system that allows for automated temperature settings and automatic optimization of energy use.

The system is set to take advantage of early morning cool outside air and cools the building down to the low 70’s. The AC units run in “economizer” mode and draw in cool outside air rather than running compressors. Later, as the day warms up and energy demand (and power company rates) goes up, the set points go up to the mid 70’s. The new controls save a dramatic amount of energy while doing a better job of maintaining comfortable temperatures.

Monterey Bay Green Business Certification

In August, 2008 Casey Printing became the first business in southern Monterey County to be certified “Green” by the Monterey Bay Area Green Business program. As a part of this certification, program auditors followed a strict set of criteria, closely examining all of our production and business practices. To learn more about the MBA Green Business program, please visit http://www.montereybaygreenbusiness.org.