It’s Easy Being Green: Part 1

Here at Logo Factory, we are trying to work in an environment that is good for us and good for the earth. For us, going green falls into two categories. The first category is Frugal Green, which I’ll talk about today. “Frugal Green” simply means don’t waste what you have.

We receive hundreds of cardboard boxes a year from our suppliers and we recycle all of them. When you pick up your printed shirts, you get them in these boxes. They might not be pretty on the outside, but they are clean on the inside and still have useful life in them. Boxes not reused for shirts go to the recycling center or get used for other projects around the shop.

Another thing that we accumulate is misprinted shirts. No matter how hard you try, ink can and will get on things it shouldn’t. We recycle these garments by cutting them up into rags that we use for test prints and for cleaning equipment and tools.

Our shop has a mini-kitchen that is helping us go frugally green. We make our own coffee which we drink out of ceramic mugs, instead of stopping for take-out coffee every morning. We bring our lunches from home in reusable containers. We waste less food and money with our new break area and contribute to less waste of disposable take-out containers. With four of us here most days, this is a very frugal use of shop space!

Wasting energy is another thing we’ve cut down on. We are able to walk to work, which saves gas. We keep the heat down in the winter and schedule heavy cleaning in the colder months to get us moving. We shut down all our equipment when we don’t need it and often unplug things not in use.

These are just some of the simple ways we try to go Frugal Green in our business. Nothing here is rocket science; anyone can reduce wasting resources, energy and money. It seems silly mentioning these things as part of our going green efforts, but all these things over time are making a tangible difference in our business’ waste.