Once upon a time, back when photopolymer was a newfangled thing for letterpress printers, Chuck Izui gave me a call from Aiko’s. Aiko’s Art Materials was founded by Aiko Nakane in Chicago fifty years ago. Chuck Izui worked there nearly 30 years, taking over ownership and continually providing exquisite art supplies in a warm-fuzzy-yet-zen environment. The store will close this April leaving a huge void. He was putting together a show at the store for Walter Hamady Book artist, professor, papermaker, letterpress printer Walter Samuel Haatoum Hamady was born in Flint, Michigan in 1940. Species: homo ludens. and wanted a little card to announce the event. It should be understated (like Aiko’s) yet not too stuffy or serious (like Walter). I was honored, yet petrified at the prospect of designing and printing work for a book arts luminary. Chuck broke out some gorgeous handmade kozo for the project, adding to my fears. I wrestled with a decision for days over what to do. I had limited type and the piece called for a lot of “P”s, propelling me towards the use of photopolymer. Wouldn’t Mr. Hamady be horrified?

Page spread: Depression Dog by Toby Olson, illustrated by Henrik Drescher, Jim Lee, David McLimans and Peter Sis, 2003. Verso displays illustration by Henrik Drescher, recto is text by Toby Olson. This title was a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Fifty Books/Fifty Covers.

Many years later when it’s hard to find a letterpress printer NOT using photopolymer, Boxcar Press emails. They’re putting together a new website and hope to start with an interview of Walter Hamady. Again I’m honored to be asked, but still petrified. Walter Hamady has been the proprietor of The Perishable Press Limited since 1964, publishing 130 books, collaborating with numerous authors and artists, such as Toby Olson and Paul Auster. His books See some of his work at Vamp & Tramp Booksellers or check out this 2.1 MB PDF 4-page catalog from fine press dealer Priscilla Juvelis, Inc. have been consistently been awarded AIGA’s 50 Books/50 Covers, undoubtedly influencing graphic designers and the commercial world where their work appears. He taught for more than 30 years at the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a list of students that reads like a Letterpress Who’s Who: Walter Tisdale, Caren Heft, Barbara Tetenbaum, Amos Kennedy, Jeff Morin, Kathy Kuehn. With numerous exhibitions in his career, curators and colleagues have poured over Hamady’s books, sculptures and collages, extolling his prodigious talents with finely crafted prose.

Page spread: Reflections on a Carboard Box by Paul Auster, illustrated by Henrik Drescher, 2004. Verso is Drescher illustration of three heads falling, recto is title page. This title was a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Fifty Books/Fifty Covers.

Our interview begins by snail mail Hamady uses a typewriter, one with red/black ribbon. His wife Anna is the official word processor, hard at work transcribing Hamady’s journals. These transcriptions will be part of Hamady’s next project, “A Timeline of Sorts” which will gather bits and pieces recorded beginning in 1963 when he was an undergrad at Wayne State in Detroit.and I start the ball rolling with our Aiko’s connection, tentatively broaching the photopolymer question. Years later, I’m still curious. I seal up the envelope using some vintage Gutenberg stamps for luck. Within a week, an envelope arrives postmarked Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, where Hamady lives with his wife Anna on a farm not far from Madison. His Vandercook A non-motorized SP-15, which requires hand-cranking for ink distribution. is set up in the farmhouse parlour and papermaking takes place in the barn. Hamady responds in a perfectly typewritten letter dated “17 Febrewarie 2008”:

“Why would anyone be horrified by the use of polymer plates? Who cares HOW you get there, just get there, no?”

Photographs of Walter S. H. Hamady by Zane Williams, 2004

I like this guy, this self-described “heretic aethiest curmuddgeon irrasible,” nutty spelling and all. I breathe a small sigh of relief, and continue reading. Hamady suggests I can see his books by contacting Elspeth Pope, Elspeth Pope is a retired librarian, hobby printer and Director of Hypatia-in-the-Woods, a retreat for women in the arts, which includes a letterpress shop. When she and Jim were married, she told him she’d rather have a printing press than a diamond ring. She got an SP-15 with a motor. who lives about an hour away. Elspeth’s late husband Jim Holly From Hamady’s journal entry from Friday, March 1, 1968: “Meet Mr. Holly at Macalester. (When we met, I don’t remember all the details, the weather was probably gray and cold, and I remember I had a huge great coat from Army Surplus that just about went to the ground with great double-breasted big lapels. The point is that meeting Jim Holly who was the Librarian at Macalester College and you know he looked at the work and just not any screwing around he wants a standing order for this stuff. No pussy footing, no dickering, nothing vague about it. It was just an honest straight up saying hey man he recognizes this is something interesting, and something slightly unusual and he wants a piece of the action. I guess that’s part of my good fortune through all of this. I met a lot of really wonderful, straight-up, pivotal people with clear minds and clear ideas.)” placed a standing order for Hamady’s work in 1968 while a librarian at Macalester College, which Elspeth has maintained.

Page spread: Gabberjabb No. 8 9/16: Hunkering, 2005. Verso is “Aquifer & Levels“ w/ vertical arrangement of brackets, recto is illustration of spinal cavity overlayed with anatomical male figure diagram printed on. This title was a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Fifty Books/Fifty Covers.

Elspeth has agreed to share her collection of books with me and Catherine Michaelis, Catherine is the proprietor of May Day Press. I knew her artist books—all innovative structures that glorify the natural world from seeds to signs of rain—through Aiko’s, where they were sold. Catherine took me under her wings when I moved from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest, and we’ve been fast friends ever since. who lives nearby and has been helping Elspeth get the Hypatia shop in good order. We sit at a small table in the living room surrounded by windows full of evergreens, poring over a large stack of Perishable Press books. The stack includes some of Hamady’s Interminable Gabberjabbs, Artist and critical writer Buzz Spector describes the Gabberjabbs: “The writing itself, in its typographic variety, but more importantly, in its linguistic indiscretions, adopts the multitudinous cadences of seduction-imprecations, ejaculations, double entendres, baby talk, breathless extensions of sentences—to draw the reader ever more deeply into the situation. And the situation is one of apparently delirious excess. Like the dancer in a burlesque hall, however, Hamady’s shakes and shimmers are quite deliberately choreographed. Rather than transports of unselfconscious bliss, his effects are enlisted in the service an amorous projection: the book form as the body of the beloved.” a series begun in 1976 that features every manner of page treatment, from collage, rubberstamping, drilling, numbering, corner rounding to cow’s ear-tattooing. The letterpress printing is crisp and flawless, biting into handmade paper with deckled edges in a variety of earthy colors. We marvel at the generous use of paper, with blank spreads as a prelude to a page with just one line of text: “this whole page set aside mostly for visual resting and quiet reflection.”

Catherine aptly describes the work as “excessively obsessive,” full of numbers, page-long colophons, no details left out. The bindings are solid and gorgeous, but they don’t steal the show from the words, the letters, and the spaces between.

Page spread: Title page from The Selection of Heaven by Paul Blackburn, illustrated by Walter Hamady, 1980.

I am particularly entranced by a huge folder of ephemera containing years of extra goodies sent to Jim and Elspeth as friends and subscribers. There are snapshots of Hamady, proofs for books in progress, and Hamady’s diatribes against invasions of his privacy. Just as carefully designed and printed as the books, the text draws in the reader then bites. One flyer easily confused with a 16th century title page begins “stick that fatt finger in your ugly nostril or some other grateful orifice or at any risk keep it away from that telephone dial!” and concludes in generously leaded six point type:

“Do people who so mindlessly pick up the phone ever consider that they might actually be interrupting some personal act such as composing random elements into their Self-destined harmonius order, or, even the Peaceful voiding of One’s excrement? It is a clear fact that considerate people can usually avoid the use of mr Bell’s invention just as good drivers do not need to use their loud horns.”

Time at Elspeth’s flies by, an inspiring glimpse at decades of tremendously hard work, attention to detail, a curious mind and most of all a great sense of humor. I return home to reread my Hamady letters, in particular his response to a question about his sources of inspiration. What would he ask Aldus Manutius Born 1450 in Rome, Aldus Manutius or Aldo Manuzio founded the Aldine Press in Venice. He employed Francesco Griffo as a punchcutter and used his type (including the first italic) to produce the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in 1499 which combines type and illustration with sublime harmony. or Nicolas Jensen Born in France in 1420, Nicolas Jensen was trained as a goldsmith but became a letter cutter, printer and publisher. While working in Venice, Jenson produced a roman type based on the humanistic scripts of his time. He produced over 150 books, including Eusebius printed in 1470. given the opportunity? His reply makes me laugh, but it’s just right:

“Notto be egotistical, but don’t you think Manutius and Jensen et al would be wanting to ask us the questions? Like rubberbased ink? Polymer plates, scanning and digital printing etc etc etc? Am sure they would be tickled to see little hand operations like the one here in the parlour of this old farmhouse, see a grown man get off on the ‘feel’ of the impression coming up the arm through the hand crank handle.”

Read more of Hamady’s original writing: So What, Some What’s in the So (one of the Ramble Rambles)

Page spread: 1985, The Twelve Months, 1992. Verso is illustrated with rubber stamp collage by Walter Hamady, recto displays a reproduction of a painting by John Wilde in response to Hamady text celebrating the month of June. This title was a recipient of the American Institute of Graphic Arts Fifty Books/Fifty Covers.

A note from Jessica Spring: “Walter sent me the following never before published text, one of several Random Rambles transcribed by Anna Hamady, that gives some insight into what makes the artist tick (or what tickles the artist?)”

In 1988 I called a friend (you’ll wonder what kind of friend) and said, filled up with myself: “Geez, I’ve been printing books for half of my life!” to which he said: “So what.” It is 2000 and so I’ve been printing books for six-tenths of my life and so what. I supposed there are a lot of “what’s” and let’s see if any can be specifically located.

There are 125 books from The Perishable Press Limited, so what? What do they have in common? Well they all were made by hand; they were all believed in; they all could be done better if done over; they all are flawed; they all taught me many things. They are all my friends who introduced me to other friends yet they wait for me with fierce and dedicated loyalty.

There are many reasons for making a book and probably the best one, as the only reason for making Art, is because you can’t stop. Because you can’t stop ought to be in extra bold caps tattooed on the forehead backwards so that every time you see your mug in the mirror you will remember why in the hell you are doing it! A few ancillary reasons, reasons you can explain to the IRS or a psychiatrist ready to put you away, might be: because the literature, the writing turns you on so damn bad you just HAVE to publish it; because the text flashes big lovely images on your screen that cry to be illustrated; because the various elements configurate a marvelous totality of concept applicable to the FORM; because if published, the book would encourage the author to continue; because you can make a real nifty surprise for the author if you do it secretly. But mostly I make books because I can’t stop.

Making books is a wonderful way to read. Starting with hands-on making of paper; setting type letter by space by letter, line by line, stanza by paragraph, page by book has given valuable insight into language and reading. Reading this slow way, with the hands, reveals patterns and cross-connections sometimes unknown even to the author. Somewhere I saw a diagram of the nerve endings of the human body and their connection to the brain. If you re-diagrammed our bodies on this basis our hands would be as big as our abdomens. This means that a lot more information goes into our heads through touching than seeing, smelling, hearing. Also, using our hands, touching, creating things is, as a former colleague said, a “low-yield out of body experience” but I think it is a high-yield. And further, a litmus test to know if you are “doing it right” is: if you disappear to yourself whilst in the midst of making your art. You need to get out of your own way and just work. It is as close to heaven as I can get and still tell about it.

Another so what is: because books are recognizable, peaceful objects in society at large. Most people know what they are so the expectation is easy to penetrate with subversion. That is, people easily accept the book as it is handed to them. People are suspicious when you want to show them your etchings. So as said before, the book is the Trojan Horse of Art. Art’s Trojan Horse makes me think of Bobby Byrd’s wonderful poem about Art in America, about a guy named Art, maybe in El Paso.

Anyway, you can get into more people’s consciousness through the book, the form of the Trojan book.

Again, people take the book with their Hands, they touch it, they turn the pages they interact with kinetic sculpture. While the tactile reports are tingling up the ganglia simultaneously the nose is whiffing, the ears are hearing the rattle snap and pop of the paper, the eyeballs are rolling in all sorts of bites of type into the visually tactile paper and reporting words clearly there, repeat, THERE in the fibers of the page. So it is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel to get what you want into that poor unsuspecting head!

Another so what is making a book properly, if the INTENT is to communicate the written word, it is to extend the writer’s text to the fullest realization. One might argue that the text IS the writer’s fullest realization but I think not always. The text must be READ by someone else—to what strangers what welcome—and, as the dentist can do a better job repairing your tooth so can a typographer craft the readability of the text better than the author.

Another so what is standing in with a wonderful and rich tradition. To touch the type, assemble it, space it invisibly (typographers need a special kind of ego for their fine work if successful is like retouching a photograph—if you can see the work it fails.) Print it, distribute it back into the job case in a rhythmic way, is having hands on with all the great printers and literate bookmakers since the beginning. Like the poet just touching her fingers to the keys of the piano gets a flood of imagery, a cacophony of every composer who ever wrote for the keyboard. It is being part of a great and powerful team of championship players so it is necessary to know who are in the Hall of Fame and why they are there and remember who opened the window through which you can see—the accumulation of permissions.

It is humbling to think that if I could meet Nicholas Jensen or Aldus Manutius—or any of the printers whom I admire with all my heart—we would have one hell of a lot in common and a lot to talk about. Does this make any sense?

I just thought of another so what—because, dammit, it IS fun! It FEELS good. It is like Thelonious Monk felt when jamming those keys. It is like life, on a fine line between total absurdity and absolute profundity—choose your own examples.

Another what in the so what is that yes, it could be considered hard work to make a book by hand or anything else by hand. And it is, in a way, but then there are numerous rewards, e.g. you can see piles of things stacking up. After a day in the paper mill your back should ache but it is assuaged by looking at a pile of a hundred lovely inviting sheets of malleable wealth! You can see directly what you have done, you have exchanged your time and body for a pile of product that is meaningful, worthwhile, un-gettable any other way and, it has worth both in dollars and beyond money. As the paper is editioned in the press, it is piled & unpiled & piled again. As the sheets become folios and again as folios become signatures and again as signatures become the text block and again as they come back apart to have sewing holes punched and again as they are sewn together and again as they are forwarded and again as they are stacked as finished copies head to toe, they are piled. They, these steps, are layers, they are the geological cross-sections of the earth and planet of our intellect. It is making cake, eating cake and having the cake too. So what. There are 125 titles to date, so what? This represents sixty-one authors (thirty-eight are ‘writers whose work receives serious consideration’ so what?) all of whom have taught me lessons about contemporary writing as well as given me direction as to other writers that they think worth serious consideration.

Yet another of the what’s in the so what is having to do with my own writing, aside from essay and quasi-technical—see: Papermaking by Hand, Being a Book of Qualified Suspicions #102/1982 has evolved into a lexical tennis match. The reciprocation is between actual visual images and analytical free association. This interactive relationship finds source and is often conditioned by the stuff itself, that is, the process. That means: with my arthritic fingers I scribble/scrawl the works as they squeeze out the point wetly onto the paper then I get onto this infernal old portable typewriter & with one finger and one thumb I bang out the first translation and because I can then read it, I can make changes and improvements. Next, on to the typecase with the job stick using the same opposable thumb and adding a thumb to the other hand’s finger out come the letters one at a time, space by space, etc. and it is slow enough to actually think about what the hell ever it was trying to be said and sometimes patterns and other relationships appear not known even to the author and those can be seized and added to the stew. And then proofing and printing sometimes suggests even further adjustments. So then setting type and printing can help writing. Word processors “help” writing in a fake way by using someone else’s intelligence but typesetting helps in a real way because it extends your own intelligence.

Some more what’s in so:
How we use time is how we use our life—who said: “you are what you love”? If we can spend time doing the things we love then we are very very fortunate indeed. To do something well once might be beginner’s luck. To do something over and over for a long time doesn’t necessarily mean anything. To do something repeatedly and Grow and Show is good. As long as the growth is steady then perhaps the longer the better. For me, the measure of a worth in/of a performance can only be applied to the whole life given, only when death seals it can an assessment begin. Life can only be lived forward but only understood by going backwards. So to measure five years, a decade, a quarter century or a half is still a partial judgment.

What! Art is Sex! Books are the issue of sex, are children of our minds; our children are the bridges to the future, OUR future forever. Name your most favorite purveyor of Wisdom from the past? Boccaccio, Pindar, LiPo? How are they here still copulating in the depths of your brains? By the bridges of books recycling our generic humanity made by the hands, heart and head before memory. So what.

The renaissance of letterpress has been one huge reduce/reuse/recycle extravaganza. Proof presses considered obsolete twenty years ago are now selling in the thousands of dollars, with prices for small hobby presses rising similarly. Everything is snapped up, from orphaned wood type and single cuts to pied lead, with demand outpacing supply. As new printers join the fray, there are numerous possibilities for creating a greener shop that’s easier on the environment and makes for a safer workplace too.

Janet Maples is a Seattle-based graphic designer who recently purchased a small shop from a retiring hobby printer. She hopes to supplement her design business by offering printed invitations, and plans to rely primarily on photopolymer plates. Janet had taken a few classes, but starting a shop from scratch was daunting. Her first task was sorting through a lot of mysterious equipment and supplies. One huge jug of typewash was stored in an old glass wine jug and labeled in pencil. Based on the unknowns involved, Janet took the jug to the city’s hazardous recycling center. Any type she doesn’t need will be sorted to list on eBay or Briar Press, or taken to a local scrap metal dealer. She’s trying to use the existing rollers to practice before ordering new ones and plans to reuse the cores. Janet’s press also came with piles of paper including some very appealing vintage stocks and other offcuts that will be perfect for makeready. She recycles paper through the city’s curbside program, and hopes to offer clients the option of recycled papers for their invitations.

Teaching green

Teaching institutions are often leaders in experimenting with less toxic press practices, especially as younger teachers emerge from book arts and printmaking programs that have increased their awareness. Bonnie Thompson Norman teaches letterpress classes in her Seattle home studio, and heard about using vegetable oil for press cleaning from friend and printer Katherine Ng.

“It took me a couple years to actually getting around to trying it out because I was so skeptical. But go to the grocery store, buy the least expensive vegetable oil on the shelf, and pour liberally on a rag. It will clean your press thoroughly and quickly,” says Norman, who uses the oil to clean up both rubber and oil-based inks.

She also keeps a jar of oil handy on the imposing stone to soak ink knives. Norman notes that for quick color changes, she does follow up the cleaning with rubber rejuvenator to remove any oily residue and avoid problems when inking up again. For students that are pregnant or have chemical sensitivities, Norman always keeps a few organic vapor masks available.

“I was working full time in a letterpress shop when I was getting pregnant, carrying and nursing my son who is now 6 foot 3 inches and very smart and healthy. So I feel the masks do offer good protection,” notes Norman.

The School of Visual Concepts (SVC) offers several letterpress classes each semester in Seattle, but found they didn’t have enough volume to afford an industrial rag laundering service. Their solution was partnering with Day Moon Press, a large commercial letterpress shop, basically subletting rag services. Students at the school learn to fold and refold rags to use every clean surface possible. Partially soiled rags are stored in a fireproof safety can to be used again, eventually landing in another can designated for completely soiled rags. Shop manager Jenny Wilkson considered possible solvents and after hearing about Envirowash “bought that because it was less smelly” (see resources section below for more information on Envirowash).

Printers have the option of comparing solvents through Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), which manufacturers are required to provide upon request. The MSDS gives detailed hazards identification and uses a numerical rating system to rank solvents in terms of Health, Flammability and Reactivity. This rating system allows for simplified comparison and can be used to label shop containers, especially when rebottled in squeeze bottles and plunger cans.

In terms of ink, SVC uses rubber based ink as the most cost-effective option. Supplied in one pound cans, it rarely dries up if students are taught to minimize the surface area disturbed while retrieving ink, as if frosting a cake. Instructor Amy Redmond encourages students to store mixed inks in foil packets, even providing a diagram for some foil origami that keeps ink for years. Students are encouraged to wander through a collection of color-coded orphan ink packets, often finding just the right mixture waiting.

Greener ink options

There are a few options coming available on the market for inks that don’t require any solvents. Caligo, a European company, makes Safe Wash Relief Ink that is oil-based but cleans up with soap and water. Joe Borges is a graphic designer and proprietor of Pomegranate Letterpress & Design in Ontario, Canada. He opted for Caligo’s safe wash to avoid odor in his basement shop, and make a lower impact on the environment.

“It really does clean up as easily as it sounds. I use a small damp foam paint brush, I start by applying some dish soap (no name, phosphate-free) to the platen and you actually see the soap line cut right through the ink. Just a little rubbing and the platen is all foamed up. Then I take a disposable shop rag and wipe it down. The rollers take more elbow action with the rag to get it completely clean…” says Joe.

He also notes that the Caligo ink can be a challenge for achieving large areas of coverage, as it tends to be more transparent even after adding opaque white. “The upside to it is I am able to play with transparency and layering almost like silk-screen printing.”

San Jose Printers’ Guild member Dave Robinson saw an opportunity several years ago when a member brought several five pound cans of ink to a meeting to share with other printers. Ink in Tubes was born, as Dave started what he calls a “hobby operation” by finding tubes, filling them and hand-printing labels and boxes.

“I’ve always disliked how much ink must be discarded when skinning a can (especially a five pound can) of oil-based ink, particularly when so many of us are actually using relatively little ink doing short runs on small presses,” says Robinson.

He stocks nearly 40 different inks in quarter pound tubes, which contain about 5 ounces and offer ease of use, no skinning and small quantities. Most of the ink Robinson uses is oil based, but he has some specialty inks such as soy based and “vintage” letterpress inks plus fluorescents, metallics, and varnish too. Most tubes cost $7.50 with higher pricing for the specialty inks.

Robinson says, “Almost all the ink I put in tubes is from cans that were surplus to someone’s needs and may otherwise have been trashed. Trying to keep usable ink out of landfills and getting it to those who can use it is a big part of Ink in Tubes. Also as long as the supply lasts, I’m using surplus new-old stock aluminum tubes that were manufactured and printed (but never used) decades ago…”

Going green through paper

Sarah Hart Shimamoto of Blush Paper and Press couches her recycled handmade paper.

Another home-grown solution for recycling is in practice at Blush Paper and Press, a San Francisco area studio which makes their own paper utilizing junk mail, offcuts from printing jobs and cardboard boxes. Owner Sarah Hart Shimamoto says, “For our recycled papers, we combine organic raw cotton with uncoated paper scraps from previous print jobs and sometimes even junk mail delivered to our studio to create a nice speckled paper. We also combine cotton with fibers such as hemp, sisal and sabai to create a unique blended paper for our letterpress needs. We’re also experimenting with natural dyes to give our paper a hue of green tea, coffee, or lemon from our garden.”

The resulting paper is either tree-free, 100% cotton or recycled and clients can choose from soy or rubber-based inks for the printing. Unlike some commercially recycled papers, Blush does not use bleach or chemicals for deinking in their papers and the water can be reused: first for soaking fibers, second for processing pulps, then eventually strained for watering the garden. Blush plans to offer their papers for sale to other printers beginning this summer on a small scale.

Shimamoto estimates 90% of customers choose Blush based on their green approach: “It seems there are so many people who are interested in making a difference where possible, and we think the idea of having a business that practices and produces environmentally and socially responsible products is a great option to have.”

For those shops without the expertise or facilities to make paper, commercial papermakers are offering a greater array of recycled options. Not far from Manhattan, Vivian Leung offers custom letterpress printing and a wholesale line of cards at 9SpotMonk Design. After several years in the business she wanted to move beyond the obvious: “Let’s recycle paper… I feel like it’s much more than that.”

Leung started by partnering with Mohawk Paper, specifically choosing brands that are carbon neutral (where the mill offsets both the electricity and thermal energy used to make the paper) and FSC-certified, a designation that wood and wood products are responsibly harvested and processed. Leung was also motivated to make some changes after discovering both her children had food allergies, prompting her to shop at Whole Foods Market. Inspired by their commitment as a corporation to go carbon neutral, she started researching the option of purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for 9SpotMonk. Leung found the process to be fairly simple, and actually affordable. Based on her studio usage, Leung pays about $100 a month to buy wind power credits, essentially guaranteeing the electricity she consumes is replaced with a renewable source. She has seen that investment pay off: “About 20% of our clients ask for green and that number is growing.”

The green commercial printing landscape

The commitment towards a greener shop at both 9SpotMonk and Blush Paper is an integral aspect of their business models—both companies spend a lot of web space letting potential customers know their priorities. How does a consumer separate all the claims made by a growing number of studios offering green products from mere greenwashing? Having data (for instance, using environmental calculators to chart resource savings) and certification by a trusted environmental label to support environmental claims may reassure consumers.

Commercial letterpress printers spend a lot of time and energy creating ephemeral work, by its nature disposable. Some extraordinary wedding invitations may merit a final resting place in the scrapbook or behind a magnet on the fridge, but plenty wind up possibly recycled but probably trashed. In fact, to have the greenest wedding possible, eco-wedding expert Emily Anderson suggests going digital with invitations, skipping printing entirely. There are some printers who use handset, lino or monotype for their work, but typically metal and plastic backed photopolymer plates are generated for many commercial jobs. Some plates are used and reused for thousands of impressions, often lasting longer than lead type could hold up if printers simply store plates in a humidity-controlled environment. Fancier than it sounds, a ZipLoc bag does the trick. Other plates with time-sensitive information have a much shorter life expectancy and hopefully there will be a way to recycle the plastic in the future. In the meantime, printers can try to create goods with the lowest environmental footprint possible.

Olden Badger operating the press at Barefoot Press, a print shop that’s been green for the past 20 years.

Barefoot Press has made such a commitment since opening in 1987, when “few paper companies sold recycled paper and few clients wanted to use it. At that time, no one knew what ‘green printing’ meant,” according to Barefoot’s website.

“I’d have to say selling green printing has been an uphill battle for the past 21 years, with most folks just wanting to go the cheapest route rather than supporting recycled papers. This year, happily, we can’t seem to keep up with all the interest!” says owner Rich Kilby.

Over the past two decades, the North Carolina shop has grown and now offers everything from marketing and design to letterpress and digital printing. Each aspect of their operation is green in focus: soy-based inks, low-VOC solvents, and responsible waste disposal. Barefoot had an opportunity to expand their eco-friendly practices on an even larger scale when buying a 1950’s era industrial building. Bamboo floors were installed along with energy efficient appliances, windows and lighting throughout.

In a recent partnership with Whole Foods Markets, Barefoot has implemented a vinyl banner recycling program to keep outdated signage out of landfills. They also encourage customers to consider alternatives like heavy paper banners or natural canvas when possible. As part of an effort to guide clients through potentially confusing eco-friendly printing options, Barefoot has recently implemented their own Green Rhino seal indicating the “the most eco-friendly paper choice available for its grade (usually 100% post consumer recycled fiber, processed chlorine free), using soy inks and low VOC, water-miscible solvents. We use those inks and solvents on all the offset presses as well as the letterpress,” says Kilby.

From full-service commercial shops to in-home hobby printers, the choice to get greener is an obvious one. On even the smallest scale—perhaps as small as a five ounce tube of ink—saved resources equal a healthier pocketbook, planet, and printer. In his book Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, Gary Hirshberg argues by example after example that environmental business decisions are also smart economic decisions. “Business is the most powerful force on the planet; it got us into this mess and is the only force strong enough to get us out.”

Resources

Ink in Tubes, mostly oil-based, are available via email from Dave Robinson

Arch Paper sells 100% post consumer fiber made from shredded cotton clothing, sorted by color and ready for the beater. They also sell 100% post consumer white cotton rag paper in various weights, as well as a wide variety of recycled buttons.

Mr. Ellie Pooh is handmade paper that is 100% recycled, with 75% Sri Lankan elephant poo. There are 15 colors available in text, cover, and matt board (“heavy doody”) weights.

Envirowash is manufactured by Anchor Lithkemko and sold through Xpedx. Their parent company is Day International, which lists MSDS in pdf formats on their site. They also make Varn California Wash, another solvent with a low
effect-on-health rating which is available through NA Graphics.

Greenfield Paper sells a variety of handmade and recycled papers including plantable seed, hemp, garlic, and junk mail.

Consumer Reports hosts Greener Choices, a web site that helps decipher eco labels.

SoySolv is a non-toxic, biodegradable solvent suitable for press cleaning and is sold through Daniel Smith.

Caligo Safe Wash Relief Inks are sold through Graphic Chemical and will be featured at the Southern Graphics Conference Product Fair this year.

Recycled paper calculators: see how many trees you save, and how much pollution you prevent, by using recycled or wind-generated paper. Environmental Defense has a great calculator, as does Mohawk Paper.

Become wind powered through Renewable Energy Credits with Native Energy or Community Energy.