Many in industry believe it is hard to balance profitability with being a friend to the environment. Sleepeck Printing Company, a 93-year old lithographic printer, has successfully followed a path of environmental commitment and fiscal soundness for decades. The company is continually exploring efficient processes, cutting or even eliminating entire waste streams while improving service and retaining competitive pricing. Its environmental consciousness is reflected both in its in-house programs and the suppliers it chooses to work with. Sleepeck is a participant in the Illinois Great Printers Project, a voluntary, cooperative effort involving lithographic printers, government and environmental organizations aimed at establishing pollution prevention as a standard business practice.

Some of Sleepeck's accomplishments and practices include expanding non-break-bulk transportation, broadening the categories of recycled materials, expanding digital capabilities, continuous energy use monitoring system, adding automatic setbacks for ventilation, adding zone lighting, solvent recovery by centrifuging used rages, and education.

Source: American Printer July 1998, pp. 54-56