Saving the Earth

Environmental Activist to Print Shop Owner
Roger Telschow

Editors Note: Roger is the printer of this Legacy Report as well as our NPT News. But, he is more than a printer, he is a member of the new breed of environmentally aware business owners. We asked Roger to tell us his story.

It was a circuitous journey from environmental activist to print shop owner, but this is my story.

I feel fortunate to have been raised in a family that valued our environment. Both of my parents were in the field of education. My mom, a fourth grade schoolteacher who taught her young students to treasure the natural environment, gave me an impromptu lesson one day. I was age thirteen and asked why she had switched brands of laundry detergent, and she explained that the old brand contained phosphates, which didn't break down as readily and harmed the water.

"People aren't listening - they're still using the bad detergent," she explained. "We've got to do our part, or our water will eventually get too polluted to drink." Of course, I assumed this meant I'd eventually turn on the tap only to get a glass full of suds! It was a story I never forgot. Something needed to be done!

My love of the outdoors and concern about pollution led me to participate in the nation's first Earth Day celebration. A high school senior at the time, I became overwhelmed by the magnitude of environmental challenges facing the human race. One evening, I approached my Dad to tell him how helpless I felt. Dad was a school psychologist and a great listener. I'm sure he heard the budding cynicism in my voice as I complained that there really wasn't anything I could do as an individual to turn the tide in favor of conservation and environmental protection.

"Well," my father said after some thought, "I wouldn't underestimate how much one person can do -- look at Ralph Nader and what's he's accomplished." True enough, I thought. The encouragement of my parents helped to shape a lifelong concern with environmental preservation.

In college, I actually ended up meeting and eventually working with Ralph Nader. I spent eight years of my life as a citizen activist, fighting for a diversity of environmental and social justice issues. It was an exciting time, crisscrossing the country in an old school bus that I had fixed up into a campaign vehicle. Ironically, my printing company was born in that bus! Our group needed printing, so we got the idea to buy a small printing press and -- why not? -- just bolted it to the floor of the bus. We finally figured out how to run the press, and printed up our own flyers, which helped stretch our lean budget.

Never an effective fund-raiser, and nearly out of funds, I began taking on commercial printing jobs from friends in the nonprofit community -- Nader's group was one of our first customers. Not only did these "paying" print jobs keep our activist programs funded, but we had enough left over to buy a ramshackle old townhouse. I lived on the top floor, had a campaign office below me, a print shop in the basement, and a campaign bus parked in the rear. The ideal place to live!

Nearly five years later, I let go of my full-time activism and decided just to operate a printing company. I then set out to create the most environmentally responsible printing company that I could. This mission meant finding solutions to the environmental problems that were inherent in the printing process: toxic solvents and inks; papers that are manufactured at a high cost to the environment; air pollutants caused by the evaporation of alcohol during printing; and water pollution from darkroom chemicals, to name a few. It turned out that this challenge required many of the same skills I needed as a citizen activist: patience, innovation, and the willingness to toss conventional wisdom aside.

Printers tend to stick close to the status quo, and probably for good reason: Printing companies usually operate at only a three to five percent profit margin, and changing production methods can wreak havoc on costs. So when in 1981 I went to buy press wash that was free from chlorinated hydrocarbons, the guy across the counter said wryly: "What do you want with that stuff? It doesn't clean, it never dries, and it's expensive!" "That's okay," I responded, "I'll make it work somehow. Anyway, I'd rather wait awhile for it to dry than get cancer!" He just shook his head, then grabbed a dusty can of slow-drying solvent from the bottom shelf.

As the print shop grew, we named it "Ecoprint" to broadcast our environmental focus. Our customer list began to read like a directory of conservation and social change organizations in the Washington, DC area. Our commitment to clean up our manufacturing process continued, as we became the first printer in the country to offer a recycled paper containing more than 50% postconsumer waste (we imported it from Germany). We worked with mills to create new papers that were manufactured "process chlorine free" -- removing the most persistent poison from the paper making process. By systematically creating markets for alternatives, we helped push the printing industry toward more environmental innovation.

Ecoprint got the reputation of being the small printer that tackled the impossible. Here's an example: In 1992, we set out to make inks cleaner. We wanted to go beyond "soy ink," which offered only a partial solution. The fundamental problem with inks is the barium and copper used in color pigments, which end up in the de-inking sludge when paper is recycled (or in the dump or incinerator when it's thrown out). We spoke with a pigment manufacturer to see if alternative non-metal pigments could be used to make a printing ink.

"You can't do it." he said bluntly. "Colors will fade, the inks might not work with press chemistry, and the alternatives are too expensive, anyway." Having heard all these arguments dozens of times by now, we figured this was a job for Ecoprint! We proposed to EPA that they help fund a project to re-formulate printing inks. With a $25,000 grant, we hired an ink company as sub-contractor, tested alternative pigments, and after 18 months had created our current line of "Eco-ink" -- specially formulated to be free from toxic metals. We weren't heroes, just persistent in saying "yes" to innovation.

I'm one of those lucky people who has been able to follow his passion into the workplace. Despite the inevitable challenges that face a business owner in a highly competitive industry, most days are rich and full. I come to work at a company I can believe in and work with a caring staff that is committed to excellence. In addition, there is the knowing that we are setting a new environmental standard for our industry.

One more blessing: I feel a partnership with our customers, like the National Park Trust, that continues the important work of preserving our precious natural history.