The Gallery Collection, Vegetable-based inks

The Gallery Collection, the leading business Christmas card and personal Christmas card publisher, announces the use of vegetable-based inks in the printing of its greeting cards. The publishing company, which recently decided to go green, has been making numerous eco-friendly investments to show the company’s dedication and commitment to a cleaner environment.

The Gallery Collection’s greeting cards are finished at print shops that utilise agri-based inks made from vegetable oils, such as linseed oil. These vegetable-based inks were common prior to the 1960s, but petroleum-based inks popularized over the past several decades due to cheaper costs.

Petroleum-based inks, however, negatively impact the environment and print shop workers. These inks contain hazardous metals that contaminate the soil and groundwater when released into the environment. These inks also contain harmful solvents that emit volatile organiccompounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere, causing air pollution and ozone depletion. And when inhaled by print shop workers, VOCs can cause an array of illnesses such as bronchitis or depression.

Used as a substitute for petrochemical inks, vegetable inks significantly reduce toxic VOCs, benefiting the environment, the atmosphere, and print shop workers. Vegetable inks are also developed from renewable sources, whereas the global supply of petroleum will be exhausted indefinitely in years to come.

“The Gallery Collection is committed to making decisions that minimally impact the environment,” declared H.L. DeVore, Chief Marketing Officer of Prudent Publishing, The Gallery Collection’s parent company. “As a publisher of greeting cards, we have an obligation to our planet. We want our company to leave a smaller imprint on the environment, and this needs to reflect all aspects of our business…including the ink used to print our cards.”

To learn more about agri-based inks, please visit The Gallery Collection’s vegetable-based inks information page at http://www.gallerycollection.com/articles/vegetableinks.htm.

ABOUT THE GALLERY COLLECTION – Prudent Publishing’s The Gallery Collection is the leading publisher of premium quality personal Christmas cards and business Christmas cards in the United States. Established in 1929 and still family owned, the company offers direct-from-the-publisher prices that include customized ink and foil imprints, a large selection of memorable greetings, and matching deckle-edged envelopes made of recycled paper. The Gallery Collection also offers birthday cards, sympathy cards, and personal photo cards.

The Gallery Collection, UK launch, FSC Certified

The launch of The Gallery Collection in the UK marks a highly commendable addition to the Greeting card market.

Ethically and environmentally-sound U.S. based The Gallery Collection continue to "do the right thing." said H.L. DeVore, Chief Marketing Officer of Prudent Publishing, makers of The Gallery Collection line of greeting cards. "We want to conduct our business in a fashion that minimally impacts the environment and makes good economic sense."
"The Gallery Collection has made a commitment to wind power energy, specifically in the manufacturing of our greeting card stock and envelope stock. Currently, we sell 163 business Christmas cards, personal holiday cards, all occasion, and birthday greeting cards that are produced in windpower paper mills. Additionally, all of our envelopes are made in these eco-friendly facilities which are utilizing Green-e certified renewable energy."

The Gallery Collection use paper mills owned by Mohawk Fine Papers.
"Mohawk is at the forefront of environmentally sound manufacturing. Every day we look for better ways to reduce emissions, use clean energy, and protect the environment inside and outside our mills. On June 1, 2007 we increased our purchase of wind-generated electricity RECs to 100,000,000 kWh annually which represents 100% of the electric power required for all of Mohawk's operations in its New York and Ohio facilities.
Because paper manufacturing relies heavily on water, forests, and energy, it is our responsibility to care for these precious resources. At Mohawk, environmental stewardship is a top priority for everyone, every day. We act responsibly within our own mills and we require the same level of environmental performance from our suppliers."

Continuing in the vein of 'doing the right thing', The Gallery Collection have also announced that they have gained FSC Certification. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization that brings people together to find solutions which promote responsible stewardship of the world’s forests.
Over the past 13 years, over 90 million hectares in more than 82 countries have been certified according to FSC standards while several thousand products are produced using FSC-certified wood and carrying the FSC trademark. FSC operates through its network of National Initiatives in 43 countries.

The Gallery Collection are also supporting two Charities, Marie Curie and Operation Smile
A donation of 10p for each card ordered will be given to either charity of the customers choice. Additionally, an elegantly embossed, self-adhesive charity seal is provided for the customer to add to the card or envelope.

How Green Is Our Valley?

Greening the Greeting Card Industry
Via: GCA

...The time could be nigh for a universal grading that will clearly state the heritage of each card. “I would love to see the environmental credentials of not just the card but also the envelope and packaging to be made compulsory for all, so that consumers can make an informed choice when buying their greeting cards,” suggests Susanna Morrish from Glebe Cottage.

Besides board and envelopes, packaging is another element that is coming under the environmental spotlight. While paper can be fairly easy to recycle, individual cellowrapping is not. Some publishers, notably Glebe Cottage, Canns Down Press and Art Angels have recently begun using bags made from corn starch, which is fully compostable, while Roger La Borde is looking at introducing biodegradable bags on all its cards for 2007 so this looks to be something that will develop quite quickly in the next couple of years. “There is a small cost concern when it comes to using corn starch bags rather than those made from polypropylene but we can just about manage to absorb these costs. I am sure that as publishers begin to increase demand for these bags, I am pretty confident that the prices will reduce in line with this,” predicts Robert Hartford, director of Canns Down Press.

The UK printing industry has long been governed on minimising any damage to the environment (with greeting card specialist Loudwater being the first in the trade to gain the highest ‘green’ credentials) but there is the inevitable environmental cost of transporting the materials to consider. “To be honest I don’t think it’s enough to just to look at the product and pander to public concern by undertaking a defensive marketing exercise. We feel we are going to have to review the so-called carbon footprint of all our business activities and we are just starting the process of assessing everything, from our electricity suppliers to our how long our computers stay on for in a bid to try to reduce the size of this footprint,” explains Tim Solnick, director at Roger La Borde.

At the moment, public concern over the environmental credentials of the greeting card industry has been relatively low key – there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to potentially harmful manufacturing. However, as the ecological situation worsens and global warming hots up, so society’s demand for every aspect of manufacturing and consumerism to be environmentally responsibly is likely to increase. Add this to the fact that it is in everyone’s best interest to protect our precious planet as much as possible, in any way possible, and it becomes clear that taking a strong eco-friendly approach is essential, even for those who don’t list ‘tree-hugging’ among their hobbies...

Read More: Via GCA .:Click:.

Wind Power Cards

Greeting Card Publisher, Gallery Collection, Announces Wind Power Commitment
"We are trying to do the right thing for our planet," declared H.L. DeVore, Chief Marketing Officer of Prudent Publishing. "We want to conduct our business in a fashion that minimally impacts the environment and makes good economic sense."
The Gallery Collection's commitment to wind power actually began in 2006, but the company made the decision to stay quiet and see how the political and economic landscape developed for "green corporate behavior." DeVore admits to some reluctance about making the move to wind power, stating: "It seems there are always people looking to criticize you for not going far enough." He further comments, "These critics hurt the world and make people reluctant to do their small part. Green should not be about extremes. Green should not be a political issue. We are trying to do our small part to help the environment and send energy dollars into friendlier hands."
Via Marketwire .:Click:.

Wind Power to Propel The Gallery Collection into the Future
The Gallery Collection has made a commitment to wind power energy, specifically in the manufacturing of our greeting card stock and envelope stock. Currently, we sell 163 (cards) that are produced in windpower paper mills. Additionally, all of our envelopes are made in these eco-friendly facilities which are utilizing Green-e (.:Click:.) certified renewable energy.
Via The Gallery Collection .:Click:.

Cool Cards comment: We haven't been able identify which paper mills are used in order to validate these statements. Perhaps Gallery Collection could provide further information?
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Cool Cards were very pleased to receive a comment from Mr. DeVore, who informs us that The Gallery Collection use paper mills owned by Mohawk Fine Papers.
Many thanks Mr. DeVore and congratulations on your excellent green credentials!