Save the Environment (AND some money!)

Environmental issues have increasingly been at the forefront of political, economic, personal and corporate discussions.  However, if you're like me, it's hard to find affordable, realistic ways to be more environmentally sustainable.  I want to buy sustainable fashion, convert to more efficient appliances and participate in sustainable agriculture by growing my own foods, but as a college student I have to be careful with my money, I typically don't own the building I live in, and apartments and dorm rooms don't exactly lend themselves to growing vine-ripe tomatoes.

However, I recently read this book that I really appreciated. It's called New Day Revolution and was a quick read that had a lot of simple tips I plan to use (and no, no one's paying me to say good things about it :-). I just really enjoyed it and found it helpful--plus it's only $5). Here are some of my favorites:

• Shorten your shower by 60 seconds each day to save 5 gallons of water a day and more than 1,825 gallons a year (on top of $11 in utility bills)
• Ensuring that your tires are fully inflated saves on precious fuel
• Roll down your windows when driving in traffic and turn off the air conditioning to save fuel; on the highway do the opposite--having your windows open on the highway reduces gas mileage up to 10 percent
• Take your roof rack off when you're not using it (the rack adds drag and hurts your fuel efficiency)
• Go inside instead of going through the drive thru: this will reduce CO2 emissions. Also, pulling forward in a parking space so you don't have to back out saves gas.
• Buy organic, fair trade coffee: this ensure that growers are being paid a fair wage and organic coffee is more sustainably produced and better for the environment than other types
• Use your own mug instead of a disposable paper cup and you'll save a tree all by yourself
• Eat a cold meal. Doing so will "save about $1 and keep two pounds of coal in the ground." Turning one meal that you would normally eat meat at into a meatless meal will also save energy.
• Unplug your charger when it's not in use to save $30 a year in electricity costs. (The "average household uses 450 pounds of coal a year just to keep DVD players and computers plugged in").
• Switch your five most used light fixtures to energy saving incandescent bulbs
• Don't flush your medicine: It's bad for the environment. On the other hand, throwing old medications away can be dangerous as well. Instead, take your out-of-date bottles to a local pharmacy for disposal.
• Recycle batteries (which can burst open) and used printer cartridges--or, refill the printer cartridges to save money!

Hope these helped and you heard something new! If you have tips of your own please post a comment below--I'm always looking for good ideas.

For ways Optimum tries to take care of the environment, click here or copy and paste this URL into your web browser: http://www.optimumcompanies.com/ProEnvironmentPolicy.html

Visit Optimum Print at the Ohio State Fair!

The theme of the Ohio State Fair this year is "Print is alive" and the printing industry is on site with a booth in the MarketPlace Building.

Come and visit our volunteer representative! For more information, and to find out how people in the print industry can get into the fair for free, click here.

Personal Accountability

Personal accountability is one of the core values at Optimum Companies. That is why our team leaders are all required to read "QBQ" and "Flipping the Switch", books written by author John G. Miller.

QBQ stands for "Question Behind the Question" and is built on the observation that our first reactions are often negative, bringing to mind Incorrect Questions (IQs). But if in each moment of decision we can instead discipline our thoughts to look behind those initial questions and ask better ones (QBQs), the questions themselves will lead us to better results.

Here are some examples of IQ or "incorrect questions" - how often have you heard these before?

“When is that department going to do its job?”
“Why don’t they communicate better?”
“Who dropped the ball?”
“Why do we have to go through all this change?”
“When is someone going to train me?”

These questions put the blame on someone else and are not constructive. QBQ questions are centered around taking personal accountability. Here are a few examples of QBQ questions:

“What can I do to contribute?”
“How can I help solve the problem?”
"How can I communicate better?"

Miller’s book is a quick read that is full of practical methods for putting personal accountability into daily actions. You can tell this difference when you are working with someone from both branches of Optimum Companies, Optimum System Products and Optimum Print Solutions.

Optimum Print Solutions Recognized for Print Excellence

Optimum Print Solutions is proud to announce it was recently awarded twelve 2009 Print Excellence Awards from the Printing Industries Association, Inc., serving Northern Kentucky and Ohio (PIANKO).

“Although the difficult economic times slightly reduced the number of entries, the creativity and quality of the entries made the judges’ selection incredibly hard,” said PIANKO president Jim Cunningham. “2009 Print Excellence Award winners exemplify the excellent work of our Ohio and northern Kentucky printers. Our members and the customers they represent should be incredibly pleased with their winning product or pieces.”

Each year, PIANKO holds its Print Excellence Awards Competition to reward Ohio and northern Kentucky printers that demonstrate excellence in 34 categories. This year member companies submitted more than 520 printed pieces and three out-of-state expert judges ranked them in a regional competition. This year member companies submitted more than 520 printed pieces and three out-of-state expert judges ranked them in a regional competition. This year’s judges were Susan Higgins, Worth Higgins & Associates, Inc; M. David Merrick, The Merrick Printing Company; and Richard Presley, Eastman Kodak Company.

Each of the gold award winners in the regional competition are entered in an association-wide competition for Best of Category and Best of Show prizes that will be awarded in June 2009 at the Grand Ceremony, being held in Columbus, Ohio.

Optimum Print Solutions won the following awards:

2 Gold Awards

4 Silver Awards

6 Bronze Awards

Printing Industries Association, Inc. serving northern Kentucky and Ohio (PIANKO) serves nearly 400 commercial printing companies and suppliers to the industry in tis service area. PIANKO provides a broad range of products and services to its membership, including worker’s compensation and product discounts. PIANKO is an affiliate of the national Printing Industries of America, the largest graphi arts association in the world. For complete information on PIANKO and Printing Industries of America, please visit www.pianko.org

Choosing the Right Paper

This article can also be found on Optimum-Print.com, in the resources and support section.

Choosing the right paper for a printing job can be a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be though. When selecting the best paper type for a particular job, you’re often faced with an overwhelming number of options. Asking your printer for “white” is like asking your waiter for “food” — you’ll have to be more specific than that.

To the educated consumer, the choices don’t seem nearly as intimidating. Before you order though, you’ve got to know the menu. Paper has ten characteristics that affect its cost and appropriateness for a given job.

Surface
The surface of paper affects its look, feel and printability. When paper is pressed at the mill, it passes through a series of rollers in a process called calendaring. Calendaring affects paper in numerous ways. As the extent of this process increases, paper is made smoother, glossier, more capable of retaining ink, thinner, less opaque and less bright. Why does surface matter? Because people do judge books by their cover.

Color
The color of paper is perhaps the most salient of all characteristics. White is by far the most popular color and is generally optimal for conventional usage. Not all white is the same, however — it runs the gamut from ultra-severe hues to softer, more antique shades. Photo white paper is best for accentuating the contrast between light and dark hues.

Off-white sheets produce less glare, and are best used for publications such as novels or technical manuals that demand long and uninterrupted attention from readers. When comparing color, always examine paper under standard viewing conditions and with minimal atmospheric distractions.

Brightness
The brightness of paper measures the percentage of light that it reflects. Most papers reflect approximately 60 to 90% of incoming light. Remember: brightness and color are not the same thing. Unlike the color characteristic (which is highly subjective and imprecise), brightness is a strictly quantitative, or measurable, attribute. Brightness is important because it affects readability — high brightness can cause eye strain, while low brightness can produce a blurring effect.

Opacity
The opacity of paper is the degree to which other printing is visible through the page. High opacity, or density, minimizes the visibility of printing on subsequent pages, thus enhancing readability. Opacity increases with the bulk and weight of paper, and is influenced by numerous other factors, including paper color, ink color, coatings, chemicals and coverage.

Grain
The grain of paper describes the direction, or alignment, of its component fibers. Paper grain is either grain long or grain short. When fibers are patterned parallel to the length of a sheet, the paper is grain long. When fibers run parallel to the width of a sheet, the paper is grain short. Grain direction is a critical factor for print jobs because it directly affects usage — for example, paper strength, flexibility, tack and versatility are all impacted by grain direction.

Weight
The basis weight of paper is calculated as the weight in pounds of one ream, or five hundred sheets. Each main grade of paper has a basic size that is used to determine its basis weight. Remember that paper of equivalent basis weight is not necessarily of equivalent basic size. Smaller sized paper that is thicker can possess a basis weight identical to that of larger, thinner paper. Since paper is sold by the pound, understanding paper weight is imperative to successful cost control programs.

Caliper
The caliper of paper is its thickness. Caliper is measured in thousandths of an inch and referred to as point size. In this system, .001 inch equals one point — and eight-point paper would have a thickness of .008 inch. Do not confuse type point with caliper point. Type point describes the height of a particular font; caliper point describes paper thickness.

Bulk
The bulk of paper denotes its thickness relative to its basis weight. For example, uncalendared paper would have a higher bulk than gloss coated paper. Remember though that paper may be bulkier or thicker than another grade, yet still have the same basis weight.

Size
The size of paper describes its physical dimensions. An 8.5 x 11 sheet is 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches long. Access to specific information concerning the range of paper sizes available for any given printing job is essential to containing costs and ensuring efficient usage.

Quantity
The quantity of paper refers to the number of sheets bought, sold or used. A ream is a standard unit of numerical paper quantity. Paper that is “ream-wrapped” is packaged in a bundle of 500 sheets. Cartons of paper are not defined by exact numerical specifications, but approximate weight. Cartons typically weigh around 150 pounds and are used in practice as a standard unit of sales.

There are a lot of options available, and sometimes the terminology can be a bit confusing. The Optimum-Print website offers a glossary of terms may help. Choosing the right paper for your print job can make a world of difference.