Mesa Public Schools' In-plant Focuses on Sustainability and Productivity

By Dawn Greenlaw-Scully

Early Lessons

"Going green" gets plenty of press as a modern trend, but for Bill King, it's very much an old-school philosophy.

King has spent a decade at Mesa Public Schools' Printing and Publishing department, which earns high marks in the ecological arts. During his tenure, the in-plant supervisor has supported, suggested, and implemented numerous green efforts.

However, King acknowledges, the seeds of his environmental consciousness (and conscience), were planted years earlier.

King grew up in an ink-on-paper environment. His family owned and operated King & Sons Printing, in Detroit. There, King practiced what previous generations preached. "A lot of [the environmental] practices printers are using today are what my grandfather used to do when he started the print shop out of his garage," he notes.

Green means clean, and cleanliness is just good business, King learned, as his family's shop grew. "My father once pointed out that we were wasting a lot of time and energy walking and working around piles of paper in the pressroom," he recalls. So, the staff straightened up and productivity picked up.

"Cleanliness really helps when you're in a hurry," King declares.

The family repurposed paper waste creatively, just as King and Mesa's in-plant staff does today. "And we never left papers or paper waste lying around outside," King adds, admitting that they were motivated by more than concern for the environment.

"If we left paper out in the yard and a strong wind came along, blowing sheets all over the lawn of a resident or business, you can be sure we'd have people coming in wagging their fingers in our faces," he laughs.

King recalls that his grandfather taught his family "to do things that demonstrated to the community that we were looking out for them, not just for ourselves." King saw that "doing the right thing" was politically smart, improved operations, and saved money in the long run.

In short, he found that working thoughtfully could serve the best interests of the environment, the community, and the business and its employees.

"For example, we always did everything we could to conserve heat and energy, using the best insulation and making sure nothing was escaping," King reminisces. "We didn't want to be wasteful—plus, it gets cold in Detroit and we wanted to stay warm."

OUR CORE business isn't necessarily printing, it's educating students," declares Bill King, Supervisor of Printing and Publishing at Mesa Public Schools. "We ask ourselves, 'How can we shape our operation to mirror the core values of the school district?' "

Yet the in-plant of the largest school district in Arizona is all business when it comes to printing. The shop generates approximately 32 million impressions annually to fulfill the needs of more than 10,000 employees and 65,000 students. It also insources work from non-profit organizations and other school districts.

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