Often we think that digital marketing brings along with it the positive side effect of being an eco-friendly solution to the world of print media. Well, that can be partially true, but that doesn’t mean that print media still doesn’t exist today.

In fact, even with a globalized market, we still find ourselves being handed flyers in electronics stores, having printed coupons ready to use in the supermarket, and even the corporate business world still largely uses traditional business cards (although that is changing too!).

The best approach to continuing down a more eco-friendly route is simply switching away from paper-based advertising. Sure there’s been a lot of advancements in our recycling ecosystem, especially with paper. Still, there have been better advances in digital signage options that may end up outweighing the benefits of recycling. We’ll dive deeper into how Digital Signage can be an immediate replacement for almost anything, from menu boards to billboards. Your bottom line will most likely benefit from this switch as well.

Keep in mind that print media does try its best in many cases to reduce its overall carbon footprint, but the nature of the production in this sector makes it quite a tough challenge. With so many more versatile and environmentally-friendly alternatives, it starts to make less sense to go down the path of paper-based media.

How bad is paper signage?

In many cases, it takes around 10 liters or over 2.5 gallons of water to make one sheet of A4-sized paper. Just consider that, which doesn’t even factor in the energy used. That’s to make the paper itself, without the additional chemical components such as the ink and the glossy formatted paper to make the posters and flyers being taken into account. In addition, there are harmful glues and other adhesives that are also used in combination with the print media.

Continuing to focus on the paper aspect, where someone may come in and state that there’s the possibility to use recycled paper instead of regular paper, but in the end, making recycled paper still requires the use of water and electricity to produce.

The quality of that paper that’s then being used for print media and advertisement may also not be good enough at times. In addition, while recycling can save up to half the amount of water needed and 60% of the required electricity, that still comes out to a lot of resources for print media. Air pollution is also still being produced, whether it’s with regular or recycled paper.

Then the housing itself, such as the large billboards that you may consider placing your print advertising on, are most likely made with extensive amounts of plastic that will take the better part of a millennium to decompose properly. All these components, such as the ink on the media, the adhesives, plastics, and other chemicals, can be thrown away and eventually run off into local waterways and soil.

Another major issue with print media, besides its high environmental impact, is that it has no room for error. Getting a typo on the print or the wrong contact information means a reprint, most likely. Sure, you can still use the print media in some cases, but especially if it’s for a billboard or a limited-time promotion, you’re going to go through the same process of reprinting all of that media.

Take the eco-friendly and pocket-friendly approach

Considering digital signage will open up a much better solution to all of your branding and advertising needs. The first benefit that leads to how powerful digital signage can be is the sheer amount of customization that is possible. Digital signage means that you’re able to create as much digital content as you want and simply display it on the screen.

No need for reprints if there’s an error spotted, and there is no need to use up five or ten physical billboards when you can use one digital display and simply rotate through all the different marketing pieces. Errors these days for digital signage don’t mean you need to have any downtime, as signage can be updated instantly.

A simple setup is another piece that comes to mind. Once a digital display is set up, it doesn’t require much to switch out the marketing medium as it would be with a physical billboard. Gone are the days of needing to send people physically to these locations to tear down massive billboard posters and place fresh ones in their place.

With impressions under a penny, that means you can access more digital signage locations for a longer time.

Extremely eco-friendly is another way to relate to digital signage. Maybe in the past, with hotter running plasma-based displays, they wouldn’t seem so eco-friendly or energy friendly, but these days with LED display solutions, we’re talking about a 90% improvement in energy efficiency.

One may think that all that technology is bound to be filled with non-recyclable materials. However, LED displays are quite an engineering marvel. Not only are they energy efficient, but the components also used to make them are quite reclaimable. From the housing that holds the pieces to the glass and electronics on the inside.

Proper recycling and reclamation of LED displays when necessary minimizes the impact. Yet the longevity of LED displays is another testament to their push as a great eco-friendly option. LED displays can easily last up to over a decade with proper maintenance, leaving time to always improve upon the effectiveness of recyclability.

Our local focus is another part of being eco-friendly

Now that you can see yourself and your business using digital signage as part of your overall marketing efforts, a great way to keep up that eco-friendly mindset is to also work with local experts such as ourselves. When we work together to promote ourselves locally, we’re not having to go to big manufacturers and overproduce our efforts.

We can focus on the here and now and be able to bring the right impactful solutions to ourselves and our businesses. We want to be your local partner to help support that, just as you are supporting our local economy and community.

When you decide to partner up with us at Front Range IBN, you’re already making the right step in promoting your business with the added benefit of a smaller footprint on the local environment. We are a proponent of the latest in digital advertising solutions, from design to distribution, and ensure that every action we take is another step in the direction of a more environmentally friendly industry without the waste, chemical runoff, and other damage the print industry consistently has to combat.

Whenever you’re ready to take your advertising to the next level, feel free to reach out to us to get yourself set up.