The Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA) has launched a new campaign titled Print Grows Trees. With a shift in the last decade to favoring electronic media in response to growing environmental concerns, it is of no surprise that the paper industry has been greatly effected. With that shift, PGAMA is suggesting an alternative way of thinking about and supporting our resources. The more paper needed—the more trees planted—the more tree farmers and mills economically prosper.

With a reduction in planting trees, property owners will be forced to sell their land for other types of development, equating to less trees! Either way you go, there is environmental strain, but at the end of the day we need to find a balance in using electronic media and print. As designers, we love nothing more than the smell of fresh ink on paper, feeling a 130lb. sheet of paper, or roaming stacks of library books. We can't loose the importance that only a printed piece of information can tangibly deliver. So support your local paper store, buy a greeting card, be smart about what types of paper you are sourcing and the ethic standards by which the individual mill holds themselves to.

If you are feeling especially eager to learn more, don't forget tonight is The Production Club of Baltimore's Annual Paper Show. Come out and support your local vendors and launch some new ideas.