Why a car in an environmental post? We rented this Audi A1 to make our factory tours while at the FESPA in Germany. Great sporty car, no problem doing 110 MPH or more on the Autobahn. However, its diesel engine also had this baby getting almost 60 miles per gallon. It also has innovative environmental features such as the energy from braking going back into the car’s system to save energy, and the engine turns off in stopped traffic or at lights and instantly restarts when you hit the clutch. It is a car that proves that you can have highly performing products that also show more concern for the environment. That was also the theme of much of the FESPA digital 2014, it featured many highly performing products that also show concern for the environment.

The rest of the world is embracing green business practices while in the USA we seem to very often have our heads in the sand (or underwater maybe…) and are fighting the inevitable. If nothing else it will put USA businesses at a distinct disadvantage in selling to the rest of the world. Just like that Audi, the printing industry is finding that they can offer the traditional performance and even good pricing while still having genuine concern for the environmental impact.

The booths at FESPA for all of the industries had a heavy focus on sustainable practices, sustainable ink products, and sustainable versions of just about every kind of substrate imaginable. If I questioned what was “green” about a company’s products I almost every time got an educated, thorough substantial and convincing explanation.

And then this doesn’t sound very green, and I’m guessing there just might have been a bad decision made for this booth not to get a native English speaker to check the wording….