Copy General cares about the planet and believes strongly in green business practices and sustainability. This is why we have undergone the effort and expense to become the only printer in Loudoun County to be certified and audited, similar to an ISO process, by both the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). We can add these certifications to any of your print projects so that your recipients know you care, too.

As a company, we have done many things to reduce our environmental footprint.

• We recently replaced all of our interior and exterior lighting with LED fixtures.
• We have upgraded our HVAC systems to be more energy efficient
• Our production area floors are made from recycled tires
• Our packaging is made from recycled materials and are reusable and recyclable themselves

Is recycled paper the answer?  Where do FSC and SFI certified papers fit in?

Many people think that recycled paper is the best thing they can choose for the environment.  And nearly all of our papers have some recycled content.  But it takes energy and chemicals to take printed paper and make it clean again for printing.  Paper in a landfill decomposes in a matter of weeks, not years.  So, while it’s best not to waste paper—that’s why printing just what you need is such a good thing—recycled paper is not the only answer.

Sustainably farmed trees are an excellent and environmentally friendly source of paper.  Note the word “farmed” because to paper manufacturers, trees are a crop—planted, grown and harvested just like corn and soybeans.  The only difference is that it takes a few years for a tree to reach harvesting size.  No one thinks twice about eating an ear of corn because they know that next season there will be another harvest.  It’s the same for the paper we use.  And, rather than reducing the number of trees, paper manufacturers actually grow more trees than they harvest.