For over 25 years, printing has been our world and now our world needs us. Traditional printing and the fashion industry as a whole has a disastrous impact on our earth, our water and our air. Forest Digital is 100% committed to offering the most environmentally friendly and least toxic printing possible. Our planet faces a climate emergency and needs all of us to play our part in reducing climate change and preserving the world’s precious resources. Sustainability is no longer an optional extra. Along with our clients we demand technologies, materials and processes that reduce our carbon footprint and are harmless to the environment so that our products have minimum impact on our planet.
Forest Digital, a sustainable printing company, is 100% committed to offering the most environmentally friendly and least toxic printing possible. Our planet faces a climate emergency and needs all of us to play our part in reducing climate change and preserving the world’s precious resources. Sustainability is no longer an optional extra. Along with our clients, we demand technologies, materials like sustainable fabric, and processes that reduce our carbon footprint and are harmless to the environment so that our products have minimum impact on our planet.
Why did Forest Digital go green?
For over 25 years we have been in service to the fashion world and we’ve loved it. But, fashion is responsible for 10% of global emissions and traditional fabric dyeing and treatment accounts for 20% of worldwide wastewater. Shocking figures that we don’t want to contribute to. So we set about making changes – changes that protect the planet we love.
How do we save water?
Water is arguably the most precious of our world’s resources – without it we all perish. Traditional printing when coloured fabrics are dyed, white fabrics are bleached and printed textiles need to be steamed and dried to fix, accounts for the third largest water consuming sector in the world. So we use eco-friendly digital printing. When we print we use an inkjet system so that ink is jetted straight on to the fabric, super efficiently and not one drop is wasted. The fabric is coated, printed and finished in one facility, saving up to 75% of the water used in other printing methods. This is not just efficient, but sustainable.
How does Forest Digital reduce toxic waste?
Digital printing produces no pollutants, toxic fumes, or waste effluent. Any chemicals we use are subjected to stringent certification and our water-based inks are certified as free of heavy metals, formaldehyde, and Alkylphenol Ethoxylates (APE), making them non-hazardous, non-toxic, and eco-friendly.
As well as the fact that we don’t waste a drop of our precious inks, we also produce exactly what our clients need – no more and no less. So there is zero waste. We produce samples on small swatches of fabric so that the designer knows exactly how the end result will look and can print accordingly. This means Forest Digital and our clients are not involved in the crazy, damaging cycle of overproduction that creates toxic landfill and environmental pollution.
How have we reduced our carbon footprint?
Ten percent of the carbon that is poisoning our earth comes from textile production! We are totally committed to reducing the amount of carbon we produce. Our digital printer and the other technologies we use drastically reduce our carbon footprint compared to traditional printing. We use a fraction of the energy by instant activation with no excessive delay or set- up actions, our technology is primed for instant production at the push of a button. The majority of our clients are UK-based so that there is less mileage from production to the final consumer
What about our fabrics?
We are really aware that the textile industry has a massive impact on our planet so we have researched and stock a wide range of environmentally friendly fabrics. Our products from our organic silk to innovative, low-impact materials like Ecovero™ & Tencel™ are at the cutting edge of the eco-friendly textile revolution. Finding the world’s most sustainable fabrics around the world, weighing up transportation against the production, and all the other factors to consider is our promise to our customers who want to produce green fashion and homewares.
What certification does Forest Digital have?
We use solvent-free water-based inks that carry the prestigious OEKO-Tex Standard 100 certificate. This certification guarantees that our inks do not contain harmful substances, going beyond national and international standards to protect the environment. Our inks have also been approved by ECOCERT, a certifier for GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). GOTS is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. And, last but not least, we are approved by bluesign® as a sustainable textile producer, this means our final textile product meets very stringent consumer safety requirements worldwide and proves to the consumer that they are acquiring a sustainable product.
Does Forest Digital have future plans for helping the planet?
We are currently looking into making our whole factory completely carbon neutral by installing solar panels and/or windmills to power our headquarters in Sussex. This is an exciting development for us and we will keep you updated with the progress. We are constantly looking at ways and means to clean up our factory so we can offer the most environmentally friendly digital printing in the UK
Protecting our community and the planet is the essence of our ongoing commitment to reduce the impact of climate change. Our sustainable printing solutions and the fashion community they serve remain our focus. Together we can make a sustainable impact and protect the earth’s resources.
Thank you for your interest in Forest Digital’s green credentials. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further information.