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Your annual report is your best stage to demonstrate the sustainability of your organization.

The numbers speak for themselves about your ability to survive this market environment.

How you publish it speaks volumes about your true sustainability.

Here are seven ways to save you money and go green with your annual report.

1. Publish it Online: Most people don’t care about the pretty pictures and prophetic prose. They, like the SEC, want the numbers. So stay focused with your brand message and deliver the goods online. Rethink how your annual report works for you and re-purpose the marketing information via more innovative, user-friendly uses, including website landing pages, PDFs, mobile devices, and other resourceful channels. Checkout out Stantec. They saved about $60,000 after the majority of its shareholders told them they preferred to view it online.
2. Produce Fewer Pages: Many clients think their annual report is a powerful marketing piece, and so they pour tons of content into it. Not very sustainable. Do you really need a 76-page report when half that number will do?
3. Source Paper from Responsibly Managed Forests: Make sure your recycled paper is certified by the  Forest Stewardship Council that promotes responsibly managed forests.
4. Use Recycled Paper: Kind of a no-brainer, but it’s still surprising how many annual reports are printed on non-recycled paper. Recycled paper comes in most colors, weights and finishes, from cardboard to tissue stock.
5. Print with Vegetable Inks: Vegetable ink is renewable, looks great, use no petroleum products, and release zero volatile compounds during printing. Just make sure that your ink is compatible with the absorbency of the recycled paper you’ve chosen so you don’t have to use a large amount of ink for optimum coverage.
6. Soy-Based Inks? Many companies, like the Rainforest Alliance, won’t use soy-based inks because the crop contributes to deforestation due to it its large infrastructure and frequent harvesting.
7. Promote the “Greeness” of Your Annual Report: Be proud of achieving a sustainable annual report and let your customers know. It not only demonstrates your market leadership, but it also educates them on how to become greener and save money themselves. A little added value never hurt any relationship.

How much will you be saving? The Clean Air Council estimates the savings from one ton of paper made from recycled pulp:

• 17 trees
• 3 cubic yards of landfill
• 7,000 gallons of water
• 4,200 kilowatt hours (Enough to heat your home for six months)
• 390 gallons of oil
• 60 pounds of air pollutants

For more information about greening your annual report, along with some great case studies, read, “3 Ways to Make Your Annual Report Greener (cheaper, too)” by Ragan’s PR Daily.

How are you greening your annual report?

One Comment

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   June 15, 2010 at 12:14 am

   Thanks. Good job! Write more. It seems like I become regular visitor