sustainable printing

We will be a model for sustainable printing by caring for the environment and by lessening our impact on the Earth.
-Boxcar Press's guiding principal #3

During Boxcar Press's first company-wide retreat, back when there was just two of us and a lot of dreams, we tented in a state park on Cape Cod. While we rode our bikes along the bogs and watched the ocean tide come and go, we talked about what kind of business we wanted to become. We dreamed of a business that would inspire; that would make not only our grandparents but our grandchildren proud. Decades from now, we wanted to look back and point to the concrete good that our business had done.
Looking back, it makes sense our first retreat took place around a nylon tent and a camping stove. Wherever we go in the world, Boxcar Press is always with us like a (sometimes heavy) second heart. We've taken our printing bases with us while camping in the coves of Nova Scotia, and we’ve carried letterpress invitations in our packs on treks through the Alps. Likewise, back at the print shop, the joy we get from this complex world remains with us. Our love for the world means that we, as a business, must practice our craft as sustainably as we can. Our responsibility as a business means we must do what we can to preserve and restore the health of the planet. And in the 21st century, we acknowledge that it's simply good business to care for the Earth. An integral part of Boxcar Press’s mission is to use the power of business to do good.

We have always used environmental papers in our print shop (high recycled paper content or tree-free fibers). We recycled our offcuts, donated a percentage of sales to environmental causes, and did typical environmental practices that are standard now in the business world. But in late 2007, we took a close look at our own shop and realized we weren't doing enough.  We knew we could do better and so we have (read about our current environmental practices). But we know we're not there yet. We can still do better. Read about our goals.