Unfortunately, the screen printing industry can be one of the worst industries for the environment. In fact, they are listed fourth as the manufacturers that are the highest energy users. In addition to the huge energy use, they are taking a toll on the forests and the toxins that they release into the atmosphere from the inks, varnishes and adhesives are polluting the air and causing health risks especially to the people that work around it.

However the good news is, many printers are now trying to become as environmentally friendly as possible.

They have begun to use recycled paper for all their printing needs. With the improvement of the recycling process over the years, recycled paper is almost identical to new paper. Another large jump for the industry is moving to soy based inks, water based inks and ultra violet inks. Soy based inks have much less toxins and water based inks make it possible to avoid the toxins in the solvents used to clean the screens. Ultra violet inks have zero solvents in them which means zero emissions into the environment.

When you have your nameplates made, there are many options that you have to choose from, many of which you may not be familiar with. For example, you were probably asked what kind of metal nameplate you wanted.

There are basically four different types of nameplates to choose from. You can get etched metal, printed metal, metal photo or photo imaged. Depending on what you are using the nameplates for and what type of nameplate you are having made, you will have finishing options to choose from too.

There are a number of finishing options offered to choose from. One option is called embossing and it basically makes the letters and design raised up just a little bit. They can also supply you with mounting holes if you would like to make it easier to place the nameplates when finished. If you would rather not have mounting holes installed, you can have adhesive applied to the back. You can choose from square or rounded corners or special shapes for your nameplates. Metal nameplates can include debossed sequential numbering and are supplied with a removable protective film masking.

Ultra Violet curable inks that are available for screen printing are so environmentally friendly that they produce almost zero emissions. Most traditional air dry screen printing inks contain solvents but the ultra violet curable inks do not.

The solvents that are normally used evaporate as the inks dry and they release what are called Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC’s into the air. When these VOC’s are released they create harmful pollutants. Some are even classified as Hazardous Air Pollutants which means that they can be harmful, even fatal, to the people that work around them in screen printing facilities.

The benefit of using the ultra violet inks is that they do not actually dry and release toxins, they cure instead. Ultra violet inks look like a liquid at first but when they are placed in contact with intense ultra violet light provided by ultra violet reactors, they become a solid instantly. By the speed of this curing process, there is no drying time involved and signs can be produced at a much faster rate without exposing yourself and your employees to dangerous toxins.

Glass with laser engraving is popular with a lot of people, and it’s actually not that difficult to do. You just need to remember that the lasers of today will not actually engrave glass, they will only mark it, so the actual term is an incorrect one. However, it’s still used by most people.

Try to engrave hand-blown and colored glass, which will add new and dynamic components to the mix. Being careful of how one handles the issue of engraving glass is very important to avoid improper and unattractive engravings and/or damage to the glass item itself.

Flat glass is also more easily engraved than rounded glass objects, so be sure you know what you’re working with before you get started.

The standard CO2 lasers that are used for engraving today won’t work on metal, but yet people see engraved metal all over the place, all the time.

The reason behind that is the YAG laser. It can do a lot of things that the CO2 laser just can’t handle. However, it’s not good for acrylics and other applications. Unless you’re going to be engraving a lot of metal, an investment in the YAG laser probably isn’t a good one.

Brass, brass plated steel, aluminum, and anodized aluminum are some of the most common metals that are engraved with a laser, and they’re all different so they have to be handled differently, as well. In addition, gold and silver and other metals can be engraved, too. Once again, be sure what metal you’re engraving before you start, because different metals require different techniques, and mistakes can be costly.