Minnesota Gets Greener
Known for its “10,000 lakes*” and vast tracts of forest land, Minnesota is an outdoorsman’s paradise. So where better to make a stand for sustainable forestry than in the state’s largest city, Minneapolis?
“The city as a whole is really committed to supporting sustainable resources,” observes Roger Williams, supervisor of the City of Minneapolis’ Document Solutions Center.
So to support the city in this noble cause, the five-employee in-plant recently earned its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification, becoming the first city in-plant in the country to get certified, he says.
“It shows our internal users that we’re…part of the team and that we are committed to one of the goals of our city, which is to be environmentally responsible,” he says.
The in-plant received its certification on July 31. To add to the prestige, Corey B. Brinkema, president of FSC-US, presented Williams with the certificate. The in-plant was also recognized for this accomplishment at a city council meeting.
The Document Solutions Center earned its FSC certification through the InGreen group certification program for in-plants offered by Printers Green Resource LLC. So far 26 in-plants have taken advantage of the program, which allows U.S. in-plants with annual print sales of less than $5 million to get FSC certified for a much lower rate. In Williams’ case that rate was $1,900 a year—much lower, he says, than the $5,000+ it would have otherwise cost.
He lauds the InGreen program for providing guidance on how to organize the shop and prepare for the audit. InGreen also handled some of the administrative tasks.
“They helped tremendously,” Williams lauds.
Since the Document Solutions Center was already using a lot of FSC papers, he says, preparing the shop for the audit was not too complicated. FSC and non-FSC papers are now clearly marked, and an internal accounting and tracking system has been set up.
The biggest task has been educating customers about what FSC certification means and why they should have their jobs FSC certified. When the FSC logo appears on printed pieces, he explains, the public is reminded of the city’s commitment to sustainable practices.
“This is the route that our city has chosen to go,” he says. “We’re just a little, tiny piece of helping all that happen.”
Located in the basement of the old city hall building, the Document Solutions Center is an all-digital operation running Canon and Konica Minolta equipment. It cranks out between 500,000 and 700,000 impressions per month, printing items like booklets, brochures, flyers, letterhead, licenses, water bills and city notices.
Getting FSC certification was a wise move, Williams says, and well worth the small cost.
“In Minnesota, we have a very big forestry industry, so people are sensitive to that,” he notes. “We need to be good stewards of our environment. Supporting FSC helps do that.”
*Officially, Minnesota has 11,842 lakes.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
