I keep coming across print business owners who are shying away from green initiatives because they think environmental projects will cost them too much money. But the idea that green is expensive is a silly one, because managing resources more efficiently is fundamentally about saving money through for instance reduced energy usage.

And we have come across some pretty wacky approaches to saving energy. One company in the UK has issued all office staff with fleeces bearing the company logo, at the same time as turning down the thermostats by a couple of degrees to help get the heating bills down. Another has rearranged their wide-format printing engines and finishing equipment to take advantage of the heat from the printers, positioning the printers to be closer to the office areas. The company is now considering whether to organise substrates to provide a barrier either between the admin staff and production people, or between the print hall and loading areas. Little things that can make a difference, at least in the winter. It's not yet certain how well this will work in the summer.

Other little things include remembering to turn off lights in areas such as the loos or conference rooms. Or encouraging staff to come up with suggestions for cutting waste and saving energy. Apart from getting some good ideas, business owners will benefit from the wider engagement of staff. And some of those ideas might lead to better business processes as well, for instance improving colour management or preflight checking procedures to reduce the number of proofs or remakes and so reducing waste.

Sign-makers and display producers are not universally known for the lightness of their environmental footprint, although the development of non-solvent technologies is improving things hugely. The sector is characterised by fast turnaround of work that is often short lived and not always recyclable, so waste is inevitable. But that doesn't mean that companies producing signage and display graphics want to ignore the need for print to improve its environmental image. Increasingly the sign and display community is improving that image. Their efforts to send out positive messages to customers include telling them about the silly little things being done to reduce carbon footprints, and offering to help them work towards a greener workflow. Such initiatives may even lead to additional and chargeable services for customers, which means that taking a greener approach to business can actually be a means of earning more as well as saving.