Sustainable Inks

Sustainable Inks

After all the considerations i have taken into looking into many fields of my research i havent looked into what happens after i have made and designed the packaging.

More detiled, printing. Using certain inks i have found are not bio degradable, This means that you can spend as much time makeing your packaging green friendly but when it comes to priting you are going to have to be very carefull. Using normal inks like mineral inks isnt good for the environment. But by using some vegitable inks you are still helping the planet.

The paragraph below tells me a short piece on what some inks are used for and why. But more importantly in the article on the webpage is says where not to use the inks. I found this helpful as if i where to take my design to a printers i am sure i will now choose the right inks.

Ink
Although it might not seem obvious, it is important to think about your print options at the design stage. For example, by reducing areas of ink coverage in your design (eg. solid colours and dark full bleed photographs) you will use less ink. This will also make your product easier to recycle.
Also, brief your designers to avoid using fluorescent colours which require petroleum-based inks. Until recently metalics have only been available as petroleum-based inks but a vegetable oil version has just come onto the market so ask your printer if they’re using these yet.
Other important ink considerations:
Heavy metals such as barium, copper and zinc are contained in certain pigments and can result in environmental and worker health hazards. As mentioned above, metallic and fluorescent inks are the most toxic and do not decompose as easily as other inks. The heavy metal component causes problems by leaching into groundwater.
Few modern sheet-fed inks contain non-renewable mineral (petroleum) oils but heatset web inks still contain 30-35% mineral oil – think about whether the inks you use are made from non-renewable sources.
Soya – These days, instead of containing mineral (petroleum) oil, inks typically contain three parts linseed to one part soya. By using these vegetable oil based inks you’re reducing environmental hazards and avoiding using a non-renewable resource.

http://lavishconnect.co.uk/environmental/