| "Conventional" ink has a petroleum base and uses | | | | Soy ink is also great for printing full color |
| a mixture of water, resins, pigments, and a | | | | stationery, as the heating point is much greater |
| variety of metals such as barium, copper and zinc. | | | | than petroleum based ink. What this means is that |
| The water waste from the printing press, even | | | | when you run your stationery printed with soy ink |
| when properly disposed of, can leach these toxic | | | | through either your color or black and white laser |
| metals into the soil and groundwater. Heavy | | | | printer, there is less of a chance that the colors |
| amounts of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) | | | | on your stationery will run, fade, or ruin your laser |
| are also released during the printing process when | | | | printer by coming off on the rollers. I learned the |
| using petroleum based inks. VOC's are a primary | | | | hard way. |
| cause of headaches and dizziness among printing | | | | As with all of our blogs, we like to offer both |
| company employees. | | | | sides of the eco-picture. We at Green Graphics |
| Soy ink is made from soybean oil, pigments, | | | | and Printing DO prefer soy ink over petroleum ink. |
| resins and waxes and does not contain all of the | | | | No one in our shop ever gets headaches and we |
| heavy metals that petroleum based ink has. | | | | are not leaching toxic fumes and metals into the |
| During the printing process, a significantly smaller | | | | earth. However, we are also very aware of the |
| amount of VOC's are released. | | | | fact that only 33% of the soybeans produced in |
| Another benefit of soy based inks is that they | | | | 2008 came from the U.S. Many acres of forest |
| produce brighter colors. This is due to the ink's | | | | and rainforest in other countries are being cut |
| lighter consistency, which allows it to lay on the | | | | down in order to provide room for soy bean |
| paper differently than do petroleum based inks. | | | | growing farms, so we are always on the lookout |
| Soy ink also degrades nearly twice as fast as | | | | for a product that will be a 100% win for the |
| petroleum based ink, making it easier to de-ink | | | | environment. |
| paper during the paper recycling process. | | | | |