Thursday, Dec. 01, 2011

Pawleys Island print company goes green

Lindsay Milbourne

 

Brewster Buck has helped the environment his whole life.

“Even as a kid picking up shells on the beach. We recycled the shells up on the sand dune,” said Buck, owner of 131 Digital in Pawleys Island.

When he started work in the print industry in the ’80s he reused material to save money.

Thirty years later, it’s a part of Buck’s daily business practice.

“It doesn’t make me feel anyway other than that’s what you need to be doing if at all possible,” he said.

131 Digital reuses everything from adhesives as tape to yard sign backing.

“Now that I’m getting older I can figure out what we can reuse and what needs to be sent to the dump,” Buck said.

131 Digital also donates scrap paper material to schools and churches in the area. They use it for art projects.

“I think really now we need to think in terms of how to help one another through each step of each process,” he said.

Buck said printing output was always a problem in the print industry. For the last five years Buck has used eco-solvent ink. He said some printers now have water-based ink.

“You don’t have fumes and odor. When we go back in the print shop you don’t have to deal with all of that,” said Buck.

131 Digital prints on eco-friendly material such as biodegradable paper and canvas.

“Sometimes we can slip recycled in there. It still gives the customer what they want, so they don’t really know that they’re benefiting as much we might” he said.

Some of these non-traditional print materials have more texture and offer a different look for their clients.

“We’re doing a lot of floor cloths, the old oil cloths. Instead of painting on them, we’re printing them on recycled or reused material much like early oil cloths were,” Buck said.

Buck said going green is something more people need to incorporate into their daily lives.

“It’s going to be necessary more than a trend to reuse and recycle as much as we possible can,” he said.

Lindsay Milbourne, weekend meteorologist/Living Green reporter for WBTW, is passionate about all things green, from eco-chic clothing to organic vegetables, ecotourism and sustainability. Contact her at lmilbourne@wbtw.com.