Paper weight: How low can you go?

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Going lighter in catalog paper weight can have many benefits, from cost reduction to helping the environment and reducing your carbon footprint. Make sure, though, that you consult with your paper merchant and printer to be certain you have weighed all the advantages and possible concerns before you go lighter.

Daniel T. Walsh (dwalsh@bradnersmith.com) is vice president, catalog papers for Chicago-based paper merchant Bradner Smith & Co.

THE GREEN FACTOR

In addition to lower costs and potentially more selling pages, reducing your catalog paper's basis weight can make your book more earth-friendly. Any basis weight reduction is going to account for less paper. Say you're changing to a 36-lb. paper from a 40-lb. stock. That equates to a 10% reduction.

So if you originally needed 500,000 lbs. of paper to produce the catalog, you now will need only 450,000 lbs. That's fewer trees cut down, a reduction in manufacturing chemicals, less water, and less energy used to produce the 36-lb. book.

Here's another easy-to-see environmental benefit: less fuel to get your paper to your printer. A truck holds about 44,000 lbs. of paper. In the example above, you've just eliminated one entire truck, its fuel usage, and the associated greenhouse gases. You've effectively decreased your company's carbon footprint, and saved money on paper at the same time.
— DTW