Vanderbilt University Printing Services has earned Forest Stewardship Council certification for the university’s in-house printing operation. This certification enables Printing Services to affix the FSC® checkmark logo to printed documents and publications, certifying that the paper used was sustainably sourced from well-managed forests.
In order to produce an FSC-certified publication, special chain-of-custody protocols must be followed linking each step in the production process, from the forest to the pressroom. Printing Services staff have been fully trained in sourcing and producing FSC-certified materials and stand ready to assist departments in making sustainable printing decisions.
“The conventional wisdom is that all printing is bad for the environment, and that’s not entirely true. Well-managed forests offer a renewable supply of resources, and with our FSC certification, Printing Services hopes to encourage use of paper grown in responsibly managed forests,” said Sean Carroll, senior director of marketing and auxiliary operations for Vanderbilt Auxiliary Services. “We’re proud to promote sustainable resource management and to support Vanderbilt’s larger sustainability goals.”
Printing Services reorganized and moved its operations to the main university campus this academic year and continues to support Vanderbilt with sustainable and cost-effective print solutions.
The Forest Stewardship Council was created in 1993 to halt deforestation and safeguard forest ecosystems using the power of the marketplace. A nonprofit organization, the council sets voluntary standards by which forests are independently certified, including prohibiting clear-cutting, protecting rare and endangered species, protecting water quality, and protecting indigenous peoples’ rights. Today more than 400 million acres of forest are FSC-certified; these ecosystems are protected from deforestation and maintained as healthy working forests.
For more information about the Forest Stewardship Council, visit us.fsc.org.