"Three years ago we decided to give our customers the opportunity to offset their carbon footprint when ordering printed materials. Ever since, the number of Onlineprinters customers willing to take environmental responsibility has steadily increased," says Dr Michael Fries, CEO of Onlineprinters GmbH. In total, the amount of CO2 offset by Onlineprinters customers since 1 January 2013 equals the CO2 emissions of 2,000 cars with a mileage of 10,000 km each.
The average cost per order remains surprisingly low, at about 0.86 percent of the order value. Onlineprinters customers can choose to support three different projects: forest protection in Brazil, hydroelectric power in Indonesia and wind energy in Turkey. More details on the environmental projects offered can be seen at any time during the order process.
Tracing the carbon footprint offset
Climate-neutral print products can be labelled on request. A logo and a QR code can be downloaded and subsequently integrated into the print data. This way, the offset amount of CO₂, as well as the supported project, can be traced and continuously monitored.
Onlineprinters GmbH is supported by ClimatePartner GmbH, which provides IT solutions for CO₂ accounting and offsetting worldwide. "Since 2013, we have processed over 350,000 climate neutral orders for more than 700 printers in Europe. More than a third were Onlineprinters customers", says Moritz Lehmkuhl, Managing Director of ClimatePartner.
Onlineprinters operates all online shops and the shipment of goods with logistics partner DPD CO₂-neutral. Production is also eco-friendly: Gang-run printing, in which several clients share a printing plate, allows for maximum effectiveness of paper use, reducing paper waste to a minimum. Finally, the central ink supply avoids unnecessary waste from ink cans or cartridges, and ensures that 100 percent of the ink is used.