The Congregation of St. Joseph used their tax rebate money to help their in-plant go green.

By Bob Neubauer

Remember those economic stimulus rebate checks we all got a few months ago? Most of us snatched them up with eager hands. But at the Congregation of St. Joseph, a religious community in La Grange, Ill., this free cash presented a small problem for the nuns living there. They have all taken a vow of poverty.

After some discussion about whether or not to even accept the money, the Sisters decided it was their duty, as citizens, to spend this rebate and help stimulate the economy. So they decided to use it to help save the planet.

“As a congregation, we decided that we would spend the rebate money on something...that was earth-friendly,” reveals Sr. Marianne Race.

The Sisters tossed around several ideas before deciding to spend the money on a large order of environmentally friendly paper for the congregation’s in-plant, St. Joseph Press. They ordered $15,000 worth of Via Linen from Mohawk Fine Papers, a sheet produced using renewable, emission-free, wind power-generated electricity.

“Part of our mission is to promote...good environmental practices,” explains Sr. Marianne, assistant press operator. The congregation’s vision statement specifically encourages them to do whatever they can to improve the environment, she says. Wind-powered energy is an idea they all embrace, and they hope this purchase will help promote it.

“We’ve got to start using this wind-powered energy in order for it to become more common and available,” she says.

The in-plant uses an HP Indigo 5000 to produce greeting cards and posters for the congregation’s Ministry of the Arts (www.MinistryoftheArts.org), a catalog of spiritually oriented products created by the congregation. The cards printed by the in-plant will be sold, and those profits will go toward more paper.

“Not only is it using recycled paper and wind power, it’s sustainable,” says Ed Sutoris, chief operating officer for the congregation

He lauds Mohawk for supporting the Sisters’ mission by offering a price cut. HP, too, will help offset some of the printing costs, he says.

The congregation’s pooled rebate money will buy about 240 cartons of 100-lb. Mohawk Via Linen cover stock, Sutoris says, enough to print about 300,000 cards, two-up. Lewis Paper, a Chicago-area distributor, will store it and ship 40 cartons a month to St. Joseph Press.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

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.

Tax Rebate Funds Green Purchase