PFL and the World

Our Green Printing Practices

There are many reasons why PrintingForLess.com is located in Montana amid some of the most pristine wilderness in the country, but the most obvious is simply that we love it here. We're passionate about building "America's Print Shop" while preserving the clean environment and natural beauty in which we work and play every day. We have built our business on sensible alternatives that both help sustain our local and global environment, and enable us to keep our prices low on high-quality products our customers can take pride in.

Printing Responsibly

We are proud to use paper made by Oji Paper Group for many of our main house stocks. Oji is based in Japan and adheres to that country's incredibly strict environmental standards. Oji obtains 60% of its pulp from recovered paper, and nearly all of the rest from its own well-managed tree plantations. PFL's responsible paper sourcing practices have earned us certification with all three of the globally recognized Chain-of-Custody Certifications: FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative). Tri-certification is a guarantee to our customers that products printed on our core house stocks come from well managed forests adhering to strict environmental standards. By earning our tri-certification, we are now able to offer our customers more paper choices and assure you that your print order will have the lightest environmental footprint possible.The chain of custody is the path which paper products take from the forest all the way to the consumer. PFL, our paper supplier and our customers play a vital role in helping to ensure the health of the world's forests for future generations. Our customers can demonstrate their commitment to the environment by displaying the FSC label on their printed materials. Contact us to find out more. For more information on the certifications, call us or visit www.fsc.org and www.unisourcelink.com. Please check out our FSC Chain-of-Custody Certificate.

We also strive for environmental responsibility throughout the rest of our production process as well. Here are some examples:

• Our paper is milled Elemental Chlorine Free. Trees are a renewable resource, but dioxin (used to bleach paper white) is forever!

• Our inks are vegetable-based, primarily soy, which is both gentle on the environment while producing bright, high-quality images.
• We package our products with biodegradable padding materials instead of those that are annoying and harmful to the environment, such as petroleum-based foam "peanuts."
• We offer a solvent-free UV coating and use water-based aqueous coating to protect your printed pieces, both without any harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Aqueous provides a glossy, durable surface that deters dirt and fingerprints while UV coating adds a hard, ultra-hi-gloss finish.
• We are focused on reducing waste. By using top-grade paper with highly-trained press operators, we have considerably reduced the number of test or "make-ready" sheets needed to run through the presses as we set up your printing project.

Working Responsibly

In addition to our actual printing process, we are also fully invested in positively influencing our immediate surroundings through our new facility. As important as it is that we manufacture in an environmentally responsible manner, we also believe your project should be created in an atmosphere that respects the environment as much as we do. Our office and production facility boasts a range of environmental and health-friendly benefits:

• PFL is 100% wind powered! That means every computer, press, folder, and light we use is powered by a nearby windmill farm. Though wind-powered electricity costs a little more, we believe that as more businesses choose to purchase energy from renewable sources, green power will gain momentum and go mainstream, eventually providing our country with the best of all worlds: energy that is clean, cost-effective, and made in America.
• We have a carpet-free facility that eliminates the effects of formaldehyde outgassing produced by many carpet products.
• We have open architecture with minimal finishes and little material waste.
• Many of our office areas are finished with Tectum, a recycled shredded aspen slash that also provides excellent sound absorption. No need for sheetrock, tape, paint, or other harmful extras.
• Our facility is built into a hillside, rather than high-marked on a knoll; this preserves our community's viewshed.
• We have preserved a twenty-five acre wetland on our property, with plans to enhance this area into a wetlands interpretive center in the future.
• Office areas at PrintingForLess.com have abundant natural light. Where natural light isn't sufficient, we use energy-saving fluorescent fixtures, switched to allow 1, 2, or 3 tubes to be on at any given time.
• Our exterior lighting conforms to our community's latest voluntary anti-light-pollution guidelines.
• Our building is heavily insulated, which is especially important in Montana! We actually had special insulation inserts created to fit into the concrete block walls, which reduces energy consumption and waste, while increasing our insulating value and comfort.
• Outside, our landscaping is designed specifically to low water consumption standards.
• Our smoke-free campus and building-wide humidification system help keep the internal air quality healthful for employees and visitors.

We believe that our "light green" practices and standards result in an environmentally responsible company that allows more people to print beautiful pieces at an economic threshold that is not prohibitive for small businesses. Reducing, reusing, and recycling come pretty naturally to us, and we'd love to hear your comments about how we're doing it!

Supporting Our Community

At PFL, we strive to be active participants in our local community. We are supporters of our local Big Brothers Big Sisters, which is one of the highest-performing chapters in the country. As a dog-friendly workplace, we also support the Stafford Animal Shelter, where each animal receives daily meaningful human contact and an opportunity to interact with other members of its species. In addition, we support our local volunteer fire department and participate in various fund raising efforts by sponsoring employee participation.