Shortly after Bobby Firestein bought the printing company, SVECONWAY, from its founder, Dick Svec, in 2003, his customers began asking about the paper he was using.

“We had clients that were asking us for chain-of-custody paper, so we committed early on to using only Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forest Initiative certified stock,” said Bobby Firestein, president and CEO of SVECONWAY.  ”And once we did that, we decided shortly thereafter to fully commit to being green.  We now buy only wind energy and renewable energy credits through Clean Currents and Carbon Fund.”

Firestein sees SVECONWAY’s relationship with its renewable energy suppliers as partnerships of sorts.  ”It made sense to deal with reputable, local businesses that were based in my county.  I thought we would be more vested in each others’ success.”

Carbon Fund performs periodic audits of his company’s total energy consumption, including employee impacts related to commuting, etc., and sends Firestein a bill.

“One of the things Carbon Fund does is plant trees, which is kind of cool,” said Firestein. “In fact, at the end of each job we can tell the customer that a tree was planted as a result of the business conducted.”

Today, SVECONWAY is a very successful commercial printer in Silver Spring, Maryland, with 23 full-time and five part-time employees serving local corporations and organizations including Catholic University,  Strayer University, Westat, the Jewish Federation,  American Wind Energy Association, and United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, among others.

SVECONWAY sales reps believe so strongly in sustainable practices that they routinely encourage their clients to include green logos on their printed materials.  About 20 percent of customers take them up on the offers, according to Firestein.

The big question is, have these investments in sustainability paid off?

“Yes, it has more than paid for itself in terms of generating business, but I still feel we could do more to let people know that we’re a greener option,” said Firestein.

Firestein said he has been able to stay competitive with other printers on price in spite of his investments in sustainable operations partly because his company remains nimble and efficient, and partly because customers who desire a green printing solution seek out SVECONWAY.

In addition to buying only sustainable paper and energy, SVECONWAY uses earth-friendly inks.

“Most people have heard of soy-based inks, but my plant operations guys have researched this and we use Earth-Pride inks instead, which are actually better than soy,” said Firestein.

Earth-Pride inks are manufactured with a special blend of various vegetable oils for environmentally conscious printers.  These inks offer reduced volatile organic compounds yet work well on a wide variety of substrates including synthetic (plastic) and foil, according to the manufacturer’s website.

Firestein said his operation is proof that a small business in a very competitive industry can prosper with the right perspectives.

“You print, we plant!” said Firestein with a grin.