2. How do we make the whole supply chain (in its multitudinous forms, for such a vast industry) engage with eco-positive principles? What can be done (apart from EcoPrint itself) to make manufacturers see beyond their own marketing agendas and work together for the benefit of their customers, the print community and the world at large? Calling out greenwash for what it is would be a good start, but we can go further; the end of the road would be cradle-to-grave analyses, and independent access to the results for all printers, who could then make up their minds what process would be greener for them. This is not to say that all of our industry manufacturers are irresponsible – far from it – but many still have a long way to go in being utterly transparent about what green is beyond the terms of their own marketing communications.

There is, perhaps, a more important area of this question, but fundamentally linked: how do we support smaller PSPs in their quest to become more ecologically and economically sustainable? It is all very well preaching about what must be done, and many large print houses will pave the way – but it is the more densely populated, small-business end of the industry that must be guided positively in order to ensure proper adoption, and who will suffer if punitive legislation is introduced. This is particularly true in the wide-format sector; the market is stuck in a rut of solvent-printed banner because of its accessible pricing for local supply. While solvent is not a 'wrong' method of production, it may not always be the most suitable or ecological option.

3. What processes or substrates are wasteful and therefore no longer necessary? In wide-format terms, for example, should we prohibit the sale of additional lamination if it is purposeless for the end product? Should somebody (the publisher, the purchaser) be penalised for over-printing, or refusing to dispose of waste product? And – most importantly – how do we encourage the market to specify these eco-friendlier products when, at first, they might cost a little more?

Similarly: what processes will lead us towards a greener future for print? This must be a manufacturer-agnostic discussion which analyses current processes and materials and determines their actual footprint, leading us to the most environmentally responsible – and least expensive – course to production of any given application. What are the new opportunities for on-demand printing, for example, in reducing wasted print matter?

Last week's EcoPrint tweet chat raised a vital issue in this field: that environmentally sound solutions are often sold and seen as premium. We need to discourage this, and demonstrate that an ecologically sound production process can lead to a cheaper end result – while encouraging customers to invest in a quality product not because it is sold as 'green', but because they are supporting best practice, and receiving a premium application as a result.

4. Establishing a full cradle-to-grave (or -cradle) analysis of print and digital media based on application. I, for one, am sick of two things concurrently: the writing off of print as a filthy industry, and the sanctimonious preaching of print industry organisations and pundits who blithely claim that print is 'better than you think' for the environment, citing assumed statistics about digital media or print-biased 'evidence' from sources with obvious vested interests. This leads to my next two points:

5. Suitability for purpose. A digital poster site in a large city may make more sense than a static site for reasons of engagement and information distribution – perhaps in an emergency. But is that necessary in a remote Cornish village? Probably not. However, if an e-reader lasts several years, is it a more cost- and waste-effective way of reading, say, 100 books? And should newspaper production be considering a major move to an on-demand process for ecological reasons, with more people than ever consuming their news online?

You, for whatever sociological, economical or other reasons to which you are perfectly entitled, may not agree. So, try this:

6. Listening to what consumers actually want. In my humble opinion this is the major fault of the printing industry: we are totally ignorant of what people want to consume, and what their habits are. Is direct mail necessary? Do newspapers still have a role in modern life? What applications can the world simply not live without, and which can it eschew for a preferred alternative? How can we make print more convenient to the consumer, and how can we open their eyes up to the fantastic potential of printed matter? Proper research must be conducted, especially in the publishing field, to ensure that we are not supplying blindly, but are providing a service to those who want it, and in an efficient and profitable way.

Whether or not you agree with my hypotheses, there are conversations that need to be had, without preconceptions and in an open forum. Quite sincerely, I believe that EcoPrint can be that forum; it is now up to the rest of us to deliver, for the benefit of our ailing industry and our planet as a whole.