9 Eco-Friendly Solutions for Sustainable Postcard Printing

All businesses are responsible for reducing their environmental impact. Yet, where do you start? We will examine nine solutions to improve the eco-friendliness of your next postcard campaign.

1. Clean up your mailing lists

This first tip is good for the environment and your company’s bottom line. Cleaning up your mailing lists allows you to minimize waste. It saves money and requires fewer natural resources, making it both business-smart and eco-friendly.

Mailing lists containing outdated addresses, duplicate contacts, and other errors are wasteful. Every targeted recipient receives one mail piece in a well-run direct mail campaign. However, your mailing list needs to be free from mistakes.

If your mailing list has errors, some recipients may receive multiple postcards, while other mailers go to the wrong people (and get returned to you). Sending multiple postcards to the same address may be ineffective marketing… but it’s an effective way to annoy your customers.

Similarly, sending postcards to individuals not on your mailing list is unlikely to garner results, unless through a prospect campaign like Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail. After all, they may not need your products or services, making your mail piece irrelevant.

Essentially, you’ve thrown money away.

You can reduce your carbon footprint and costs by ramping up your list management. It reduces your quantities, saves paper, and requires less energy for printing and processing. List management, ultimately, ensures that postcards go to the right people.

2. Implement targeted segmentation

Using targeted segmentation offers the same benefits as effective list management. When you identify and target specific segments of your target audience, you ensure postcards go to those interested. Sending mail pieces to people who are not interested in a specific product, service, or event wastes time, money, and energy. It increases your carbon footprint pointlessly.

Segmentation allows you to use your resources effectively. You aren’t wasting materials, like paper and ink, by printing more mail pieces than your campaign requires. Similarly, you’re not using extra electricity for printing and processing or more fossil fuels during delivery.

Additionally, segmentation and creating tailored messages improves the response rate of your campaign, which means it’s just as good for your business as it is for the planet.

3. Use recycled paper

You can make your next direct mail campaign more eco-friendly with recycled paper. At Troi Mailing Services, we stock several options for high-quality paper with higher amounts of recycled content; primarily FSC approved paper.

They still look and feel great, so you’re not compromising on aesthetics or durability. Plus, you can let customers know their postcards are from recycled materials. It helps boost your brand image by establishing your business as a green company.

4. Switch to more environmentally-friendly materials

Switching to recycled paper is just one example of upgrading your materials to be more planet-friendly. Direct mail campaigns require different materials, such as inks, coatings, and other chemicals. Unfortunately, some of these aren’t great for the Earth. There are more environmentally conscious alternatives to many of these common materials.

For example, you can use vegetable-based inks (such as soy) instead of the standard petroleum-based inks. Inks made from soy emit fewer VOCs (volatile organic compounds) during postcard printing without sacrificing brightness, vibrancy, or clarity. It’s also easier to recycle products that use vegetable-based inks.

UV coatings can also be eco-friendly. There are ways to apply these coatings without contaminating the local groundwater and soil.

Additionally, you can get creative with eco-innovative materials, such as sugarcane or hemp, instead of virgin paper. You can use chlorine-free paper produced using chemical-free processes for postcard printing. Seed paper is also a fun solution.

5. Use both sides of the page

With direct mail, including postcards, you can print on both sides. We highly recommend that you do this. Firstly, it allows you to include more information and unlocks more effective designs. Secondly, it does this without requiring more paper. You can offer twice the information with half the paper. It reduces costs, saves on resources, and improves the environment.

6. Make it easier for recipients to opt-out

Earlier, we highlighted the importance of sending direct mail pieces to the individuals who are most likely to be interested in your products, services, or events. You can do this through mailing list management and targeted segmentation. Another component in minimizing wastage is by making it easy for recipients to opt out of future mail campaigns.

If someone doesn’t want to receive your postcards, then it doesn’t make financial or environmental sense to continue sending mailers to that person. It is best to allocate your resources by reaching out to those interested in what your business has to offer.

Every postcard should include the relevant contact information or a URL, allowing recipients to engage, learn more, and opt out easily.

7. Recycle the leftovers

There are always some leftovers from the printing and mail fulfillment process. Although you can reuse some of these, others cannot. Instead, you should recycle them instead of throwing them away as regular garbage. Some materials may be able to be composted.

8. Remind recipients to recycle

You should also remind recipients to recycle your mail pieces when they no longer need them. If you decide on a beautiful postcard or include beneficial information, the recipient may stick it on their fridge for many months. It helps keep your company top of mind and improve brand recall.

However, customers will eventually remove even attractive mailers. When this happens, your mail piece should find its way into the recycling bin—not the trash.

By printing environmental certifications on your mail pieces alongside a friendly reminder to recycle, you can encourage recipients to do the environmentally responsible thing.

9. Choose an environmentally conscious printer and mail fulfillment company

It’s easier to run an eco-friendly direct mail campaign when you work with an environmentally conscious printer and mail fulfillment company. At Troi Mailing Services, we have taken the necessary steps to offer eco-friendly postcard printing and direct mail solutions.

We can help you develop an environmentally conscious direct mail campaign that protects the planet and establishes your brand as a green company.

Reducing your Environmental Impact with Troi Mailing Services

At Troi Mailing Services, we believe every business should strive to reduce its environmental impact, and we’re here to help. We wholeheartedly believe in implementing sustainable marketing practices through direct mail campaigns.

Therefore, we offer a range of eco-friendly printing and direct mail solutions that reduce your carbon footprint and improve your ROI.

To learn more about eco-friendly postcard printing in Toronto, call Troi Mailing Services at 1-866-486-9350 or contact us online.