Our focus here at Green Home Authority is mostly on the home however, without a job… you really can’t afford a home so logically, we want to help you green your job as well! Introducing green business cards, that being business cards made from recycled paper with recycled packaging and nature friendly inks and dyes. While there are several options out there (and we encourage you to share your favorite one in the comments below) we’re going to focus on one specific brand today called MOO.
After searching around online and finding some really nifty green alternatives that aren’t for sale anywhere (and are super labor intensive), we decided to focus on cards that anyone could get today, as in right now! Before we were hip to the green movement our long time “inexpensive and fast” choice for b-cards was overnight prints, but unfortunately (at the time of this writing) they don’t offer recycled paper for any of their products, let alone green inks. Don’t worry though, while we were doing research for this piece we let them know that we wanted to see recycled paper and green alternatives down the line and as soon as they are available we’ll update you here.
Back to the task at hand, we wanted to find a green business card printer online that would allow us to customize cards ourselves and then have them shipped speedily. After much searching we decided on MOO.com. Right from the get go they have a paper choice option which includes “eco friendly recycled green” and that’s what we chose of course. However, if for some reason you’re not down with recycled paper and you choose their MOO Classic option, your cards will still be made from sustainable forests and whitened using elemental chlorine free (EFC) products which is pretty awesome. If you choose the green option your cards will be whitened with totally chlorine free (TFC) products and made from 100% recycled and biodegradable paper.
In addition to providing green options, the MOO interface is super user-friendly and even lets you grab pictures and artwork directly from flickr, facebook, and our favorite Etsy! Of course, you can always upload images directly from your hard drive as well. Once you’ve added some cool graphics and colors you will be asked to add text and business information OR… you can import it directly from LinkedIn. Wow, talk about web 2.0 overkill here! In our opinion the LinkedIn addition is unnecessary but hey, it’s not a bad touch and it adds a novel “we play nice with the other kids at recess” feel. Since the average Facebook user is 21 and the average LinkedIn user is in their late thirties this option might actually cater to a more business card minded audience. The last step is choosing paper as we’ve already covered. The MOO Green card is 100% recycled and has received the NAPM recycled certification from the UK. It’s also uncoated, revealing the paper texture which is very high quality. This is an un-flecked, non-reflective paper, with a more traditional matt feel and we here at Green Home Authority have actually ordered and tested these cards for ourselves and give them our stamp of approval so rest easy ;)
MOO is based in London, England, where they claim to carefully print and hand-pack everything for global delivery. For a nation that isn’t known for having the whitest teeth, these business cards (even the recycled paper cards) are crisp and snow white in color. Check them out and spend the extra few dollars to go green. Below is a picture printed on the inside of the shipping container from MOO which reads like a comic book of sorts, detailing the journey your cards will take. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s printed on biodegradable paper, people 10,000 years from now would still be able to understand its message! Feel the love that goes into each MOO Green order.
