To build off of our last article, “Is it REALLY eco-friendly?“, it’s time to get precise about what the trade show industry and Creative Imaging Displays are doing to reduce environmental waste. We like to focus directly on efforts that reduce raw material usage, recycle existing raw materials, reduce pollution, energy consumption, and landfill waste. The trade show industry as a whole has been labeled over and over as one of the most wasteful industries, specifically when it comes to landfill waste. We do not take this lightly. Creative Imaging Displays and the entire supply chain has and continues to make great strides to reduce waste and pollution. How EXACTLY is the trade show industry reducing environmental waste? We are going to cover the top 5 ways we do this everyday!
LED Lighting
When I first started in the trade show industry in 2007, nearly every lighting option was halogen or incandescent lighting. These lights were easy to damage, hot, a fire hazard, and used up to 200W each! When LED trade show lighting was first available, it was upwards of $300 per light! As soon as LED lighting became widely available, the industry started switching everything to high efficiency LED lighting. The price dropped considerably and now LED lighting is all we offer! How does LED lighting reduce pollution and environmental waste? The longevity and durability of the LED fixtures reduce the need to buy new lights to replace your broken or worn out fixtures. Additionally, the reduced power consumption eliminates wasted energy! If you don’t care about the environment, you’re in luck too! Our LED lighting fixtures save you money by lasting for years and reducing the power draw from the show!
Recycling Programs
The vast majority of all trade show display manufactures and show locations now participate is some kind of recycling program. We recycle raw material waste like aluminum, polyester fabrics, flooring, and other manufacturing by products. Many of our facilities and products earn the ASTM International seal for compliance in many different areas. Recycling is the first step at reducing landfill waste. We understand that a lot of recycling programs are not efficient, and much of it ends up in the landfill anyways, or requires an immense amount of labor and energy to repurpose the material. However, many recycling programs are efficient and create a net positive effect!
Water Based Inks
Many products are in the process of switching to a water base instead of a solvent base. This is by choice or by force of government regulation. Many products are easy to covert to water base without a decrease in durability or cure time. However, solvent based inks, paints, and sealers are still necessary to achieve the desired durability and manufacturing speed many of us require. As technology advances so will water base technology. One of the advancements in technology is the use of fabric graphics. Our previous post, “The Fabric Trade Show Graphics Revolution“, covers how and why the industry switch to this technology.
One of the many great aspects of fabric printing is the efficient use of water based inks! So now almost all of our graphics are printed with water based inks simply due to the fact that they are fabric! Why are water based products better for the environment? Water based products are lower in VOC’s, easier to clean up, and require less energy to produce. Solvents are toxic. They off gas harmful chemicals that are harmful to people and the environment as a whole. They usually require additional solvent products to clean up after use and they are difficult to dispose of. However, solvents have many benefits as of now, like faster cure times, more durable finishes, and resistance to UV decay.
Recycled and Recyclable Materials
On top of recycling programs, we are using more and more recycled and recyclable materials in the manufacturing process. This doesn’t require a long explanation, recycled raw material and materials that are recyclable reduce the need to extract new raw materials from the environment and reduce landfill waste. Our ecoSmart Sustainable Exhibits use as much recycled material as possible, including the entire frame, to take advantage of the availability of these materials!
Longer Lasting and Multi-purpose Displays
In almost every circumstance, the most eco-friendly solution for any product is to reuse it as many times as possible. Additionally, having a display that covers multiple uses is another way to reduce the consumption of more material. One product for example, the Vector Frame Light Box, is a perfect solution for a trade show. Additionally, this product is ideal for showrooms and retail locations. There is no need to build a custom showroom graphic light box when you can just use the one from the trade show! We offer replacement graphics so its easy to rebrand the display for any use!
Creative Imaging Displays is continuously updating our product line with the most eco friendly solutions, we call this product line ecoImaging. Additionally, we are working with our suppliers to make our most popular products eco friendly without additional costs! Stay tuned to our blog for more updates!
