“It’s not that easy being green,” sang Kermit the Frog in The Sesame Street Book and Record, released by Columbia Records.

But more than 35 years after Kermit’s song debuted, it’s not only easier for people and companies to “be green,” it’s actually cool to make “green” choices and acquire “green” products.

A broader environmental awareness from corporations and consumers has pushed advancements in “green” technology and offerings despite the significant investment, research and innovation required to develop “green” products for the end user.

Xerox Corporation, one of the largest distributors of cut-sheet paper, has long recognized its obligation to social responsibility and sustainability for all of its products, including paper.

Xerox has delivered on its commitment by sourcing all of its paper from suppliers who are dedicated to sustainable forest management practices, offering multipurpose papers with up to 100 percent post-consumer recycled content, promoting printing activities that reduce paper consumption such as duplex printing and by conducting research and development projects that result in more environmentally-friendly paper options and manufacturing processes.

Xerox furthers these efforts by establishing environmental partnerships with organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy, that strengthen and advance practices used to conserve the world's natural resources.

Mechanics of an Environmentally Responsible Paper
The recent launch of its High Yield Business Paper, a first-of-its-kind mechanical fiber paper engineered for digital printing, has Xerox aligning business innovation with environmental responsibility.

The High Yield Business Paper is made using a mechanical pulping process, a “greener” process than is used for standard digital paper. For example, High Yield Business Paper uses 90 percent of the tree versus only 45 percent used to create traditional digital printing paper.

The process also requires less water, fewer chemicals and is produced in a plant using hydroelectricity to partially power the pulping process, reducing fossil fuel consumption and resulting in up to a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The “greener” process used to produce High Yield Business Paper does not equate to a sacrifice in quality. The paper has 10 percent more sheets per pound yet performs like traditional 50 lb. text made by a chemical pulping process.

Developed by scientists and engineers at the Xerox Media and Compatibles Technology Center, a lab devoted to paper innovation, the mechanical fiber paper overcomes operational problems such as curling and dust, which until now prevented mechanical fiber papers from being used in digital print engines.

Similar to the newsprint paper used in offset presses, the High Yield Business Paper can be used to produce transactional documents, manuals, catalogs and brochures, all key applications for commercial and in-plant printers.

Print providers can also use High Yield Business Paper to produce preprinted offset shells for transactional and non-archival documents such invoices, statements and direct-mail pieces, and then add highlight color or personalized information to draw attention to the documents.

The lighter weight of the paper also reduces shipping costs, making it ideal for such applications. A print provider using a carton of the new paper to print and mail 1,000 5-sheet sets of a document would save up to $80 in mailing costs because of its lighter weight.

Reduce and Reuse
A lot of people do not intend for their printed pages to have a long shelf life and quickly throw them in the recycling bin, or in unfortunate cases in the garbage receptacle.

Xerox estimates that as many as two out of every five pages printed in the office are for what it calls "daily" use, like e-mails, Web pages and reference materials that have been printed for a single viewing.

Xerox scientists at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Inc.) have invented a way to make prints whose images last only a day, so that the paper can be used again and again.

While still an experimental technology, this “erasable paper” could someday replace printed pages that are used for just a brief time before being discarded and ultimately lead to a significant reduction in paper use.

"Despite our reliance on computers to share and process information, there is still a strong dependence on the printed page for reading and absorbing content. Of course, we'd all like to use less paper, but we know from talking with customers that many people still prefer to work with information on paper. Self-erasing documents for short-term use offer the best of both worlds," said Paul Smith, manager of XRCC's new materials design and synthesis lab.

To create the erasable paper, Xerox scientists developed compounds that change color when they absorb a certain wavelength of light but then will gradually disappear. In its present version, the paper requires a special printer that creates the image on the paper using a light bar that provides a specific wavelength of light as a writing source.

The written image self-erases in about 16-24 hours or can be immediately erased by exposing it to heat. Once the image is gone the paper can be reused multiple times. Temporary documents are part of Xerox's ongoing investments in sustainable innovations that deliver measurable benefits to the environment.

From solid ink printing technology, which generates 90 percent less waste than comparable laser printers, to more energy-efficient printers, copiers and multifunction devices to other paper-saving innovations, Xerox continues to lead the printing industry in developing eco-minded products and enacting practices and standards that reduce the company’s environmental footprint.

In the words of Kermit the Frog, “When green is all there is to be, it could make you wonder why, but why wonder why? Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful! And I think it's what I want to be.”

More information on Xerox Supplies is available at www.xerox.com/supplies.

8/15/07