Printing company to plant 600 trees to offset carbon dioxide emissions for 99 years

Beacon Press, based in East Sussex, in collaboration with the carbon neutral pioneering company, Future Forests, is to have a mix of native trees planted in a number of woodlands throughout the country during the course of the planting season running from October to March.

“Because we are one of the country’s greenest companies, you can be sure that we make every effort possible to minimise the amount of environmental damaging carbon emissions we create at our factory,” said Mark Fairbrass, Chairman of Beacon Press. “For a start, we strive for real energy efficiency so that our contribution to global warming is minimal. However, we still need to use power on fuel if we are to run a business and that means some unavoidable emissions.”

Beacon, whose awards include the Royal Society of Arts Environmental Management award and the Business Commitment to the Environment Premier Award, began its environmental improvements more than 10 years ago. The company has refined the technique of waterless and alcohol-free printing for commercial use, a Beacon spokesman told edie, which is more resource efficient than traditional methods, and reduces pollution. Between 1995 and 1999, Beacon reduced its water consumption by 49.5%, and its natural gas consumption by 39%.

“Through this initiative, Beacon is demonstrating best practice in carbon management,” said Dan Morrell, Chairman of Future Forests. “Not only have they looked at reducing source emissions but they are also addressing those that are non-reducible. The result is that they are helping to deal with the problem of global warming, setting the standard for the rest of the printing industry to follow, and, at the same time, increasing public amenity space and biodiversity.”