Earthtone is greening your personal and business workplace, by providing the research, materials, and business connections you need to make all of your printing needs more sustainable. Imagine having the ability as a small business owner, corporate business worker, or business traveler, to be connected with a large network of sustainable printer providers that are able to give you green printing options anywhere you travel in the United States or the UK.
That’s just what Earthtone is doing, by serving as a sustainable portal between those who desire greener print services, and printers service providers who are able to provide an assortment of green options.
Last week I had an opportunity to have a virtual sit down with Founder, Nader Alaghband to talk about Earthtone and its upcoming launch in early January. Running-up against established printing chains like FedEx Office (previously FedEx Kinkos), Earthtone strives to provide three competitive advantages to those interested in sourcing greener opportunities:
1. Information on Sustainable Printing – available on web-portal for free, Earthtone has gathered and will continue to compile necessary literature and research on the variety of sustainable accreditations and format it in a manner that leaves the consumer with an educational advantage when it comes to the choices they make regarding their printer provider.
2. Carbon Offsets for Printing – thanks to a partnership with Climate Care, Earthtone provides each of their users the ability to offset the carbon footprints they leave behind each print run through their web-portal.
3. Eco-Rating Program for Print Service Providers – When service providers join the Earthtone network, they indicate what sustainable accreditations they have, as well as the variety of green options available to potential customers and Earthtone provides a summary which they include in their online Eco-Rating program. Users can easily search for and use these print providers using Earthtone’s Eco-Search feature.
So how easy is it to access and use Earthtone’s ingenious webportal? It takes no more than 4 steps from computer to printer, following the creation of your online account. No matter what program you’re running from, or what operating system you’re using, Earthtone has the ability to convert over 135 different file formats to printer ready and provide a print preview prior to confirming your order. For those of you that are a bit more discerning about the quality of prints, such as myself, there’s even the option to provide a test print if you have time to run down to the print shop and check it out.
We are looking forward to the release of Earthtone in all of its glorious printing wonders, and invite you to check out their website for more information on how they can help you make greener printing choices at www.earthtone.net.
This is a wonderful idea and something that’s been needed for some time. Come January I’ll be checking out Earthtone for my printing needs.