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ForestEthics created a survey & asked people, “Why Do Forests Matter to You?” This is the word cloud infographic they created from those responses.
Source: http://forestethics.org/wfdsurvey
Conquest Graphics asks some great questions about why recycled paper is so important in the printing industry.
- What are the issues involved in using recycled paper?
- Why is it important that you deal with companies that are FSC-certified?
These are questions which may be viewed as separate issues, but in fact they are related. It’s important that you as a responsible buyer of printed products understand these issues and why they matter to you.
Let’s start with the basics. FSC stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, and companies such as Conquest Graphics which have earned the FSC certification are those who have proved to this independent certifying organization that they meet critical standards in using paper products which come from forests which are responsibly managed, and that they use a significant percentage of post-consumer (recycled) paper in their products.
What does this mean to you, the buyer of printed materials, in practical terms?
It means that in many if not most of your buying decisions, the use of paper which contains some recycled material may lead to cost savings without reducing the quality of your product. Some printed products may require virgin pulp, and you may not be in a position to compromise on that. But wherever possible, if you can save money and use partially-recycled paper, it may well make sense to do so.
Conquest Graphics will work with you and make sure that you are able to use paper which meets your needs from a pricing and quality point of view. We do have the leeway to use paper which does not contain recycled material, and this usage does not affect our certification.
There are plenty of companies you can find to do business with which claim to be FSC certified but are not, or which make no claims along these lines and are not concerned with the issue. The fact that you are reading this brief article on the subject means that you are probably conscientious enough to want to understand the issues and make the right decision.
And so this brings us to the second question. (See above.) Why is it better to deal with us, and who is it better for?
The second part of that question is easy: it’s better for the environment, and if it’s better for the environment that means it’s better for everybody. Does this point need any further elaboration ? Probably not. If you are in favor of making business choices which favor the environment, then you will want to work with companies such as Conquest Graphics which have already made that commitment.
Now that we have established that we are committed in this direction, and that this direction helps the environment, why is it better for you to deal with us? What do you get out of it?
Simple: for whatever product or service you offer, you can legitimately say that you too are doing your part to help the environment. That makes you a steward of the environment, an environmentally-oriented company. And you can use that fact in your own marketing efforts, and you would be perfectly justified in doing so.
And since there are millions of consumers who prefer to deal with companies who are environmentally conscious, then you reap the benefits, as you should.
Contact Conquest Graphics today to join forces in printing brochures and other paper products which are environmentally friendly.
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This is pretty. And complicated. At first. And then you see that it’s just a very attractive infographic that shows you a cross-section of a house, and give you tips in what to do in each section of your house to make it more Eco-friendly. So let’s break it down section by section they way they do. This infographic is from the UK, so the numbers might be a bit skewed if you’re an American reader, but you get the general idea.
Attic
If everybody with attic space insulated it, it would save about 520 months in bills total. So, skipping the statistics in pounds (sorry, but you CAN look at the graphic), just know that if everyone insulated their “lofts” it would save enough money and tons of C02 to fill Wembley Stadium almost 380 times.
Some south-facing solar panels to heat your water would save you up to 60% on your water heating costs. You can also install sun pipes.
Bathroom
Shower. It saves 20% of energy over a bath. If you turn off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth you can save 7-12 litres (1.8-3.2 gallons) of water per minute. If you have a drip in your hot water faucet, fixing it will save enough hot water to fill a full bath every two weeks.
Inside the House
Instead of leaving your heat on all night, set it to come on an hour before you get up. Also, don’t leave your cell phone charging all night.
Outside the House
Underneath the yard, the constant temperature is, well, constant, and slightly moderate, even in cold temperatures. If you install under-floor heating, it would pay for itself in about 10 years.
Kitchen
Make sure you have enough clothes to fill your washing machine. Using it on half load uses more energy. Energy efficient washing machines are best. Also, only boil as much water as you need.
Living Room
You don’t hang out in there all day, so cut the heat down a bit. Turn off the lights when you’re not in the room. Use energy saving light bulbs. Turn off computers and televisions, rather than letting them “sleep.”
Insulation
Insulate. It saves tons of energy.
Design: A
Pretty.
Information: A
These are things that everyone should do.
Source: Wickes DIY energy saving tips
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If you ever wanted to know about apple tree pollination, then, whoo, is this the infographic for you. First of all, I had no idea there were so many different types of apples. My grocery store is really slacking. But I digress…
Apple Pollination Chart
This section, in grid form, lets you know which apples are able to pollinate which apples. You start by selecting a variety of apple from the left side, and you check to the right to see which other types of apples it can pollinate. If there is nothing in the box, it can pollinate. If there is a square in the box, it cannot. Some apples are not able to pollinate. See, apple trees can serve as pollinators, so that if you want to plant a sterile (non-pollinating) tree, you have to plant a pollinating tree along with it, so that it will bear fruit. Didn’t know that, did you?
Compatible Apple Varieties
This section tells you about the compatible apple varieties.
Top Pollen Sources
This section tells you about the types of apples that produce the most amount of pollen. The 4 in 1 apple is up there. The Gala, Granny Smith, McIntosh, and Pink Lady are all next. Apples like the Gravenstein (never heard of it) are at a 0 for pollen sources.
Fruit Producing Season
This pie chart tells us which seasons to plant each type of apple. Early summer is for Gravensteins, while late summer is best for the 4 in 1 and McIntosh.
Notes and Information
This bulleted list gives some more information about apple pollination. For instance, did you know that crab apple trees can be used as pollinators for certain types of apple trees? And we thought those trees were useless. It also explains that bit about using pollinator trees for those trees that don’t pollinate. Apple-growing is, apparently, a lot more complicated than we realized.
Design: A
Very straightforward and clean. Informative.
Information: A
No way did I know all that about apple trees.
Source: Apple Trees and Trees from fast-growing-trees.com
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While I personally like the flood of infographics, I know many people (designers) who are upset with the low quality and poor effort, but one good trend is the high number of green infographics that are promoting good green habits or at least pointing out the challenges we have with our current lifestyles. I would love to see a infographic that shows some facts about using hybrid vehicles versus our standard gas guzzlers, but I digress…
Money makes the world go around. And the businesses that help us make that money cause a lot of problems because we need to travel to make the money which is fed by business travel. A vicious cycle to be sure that causes high emissions. Emissions from our travel seems to be a problem without an easy solution. And while the emissions numbers focus on the UK, this problem is worldwide as are most issues that affect our little blue marble floating in space. The numbers don’t lie and tell a very chilling story about the amount of emissions caused by business travel and this is just to exhibitions alone. In 2009 the UK had 193,000 business visitors who spent 719,000 nights in hotels and spent quite a lot of money in the process. This is all great for businesses, both local and national, I’m sure. But not so great for the earth and its atmosphere.
The effect of all this travel was the release of 133,291,960 lbs. of CO2 into the atmosphere, an increase of 7% from 1990. Not a good trend for our planet.
At least this infographic does more than just point out the problem, it gives some simple solutions we can all help with, such as optimizing our travel, using energy saving facilities on-site and hiring companies that provides green products for your exhibit needs. Nothing earth-shattering but most good ideas are simple.
The design is minimal and doesn’t help the cause the infographic is trying to promote. The font used is great for the larger headings, but becomes cumbersome as body text. The graphics aren’t world-breakers and are overly simplistic. Simple is good sometimes, but simple here seems to be from lack of effort rather than a conscience design choice. The kerning (space between the letter forms) is also erratic. Too tight in some places and too wide in others. Attention to details are lacking overall.
Emissions are a bad thing and we need less of them, just like this infographic.
Design: C-
An obvious design job that was done far too hastily. More visual punch was needed.
Information: C+
The information that is provided about business travel emissions is good, but not nearly enough of it to round out this infographic.
Infographic provided by Marler|Haley providing banner stands & pop up displays to the UK.
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This sleek, highly informative infographic examines the Airbus 8360 and the various relevant facts that pertain to it. This graphic states many statistics that I personally wasn’t aware of. Most of us knew that it was the largest commercial airliner in the world, but did you know that it has 49 percent more space than the next biggest commercial plane, the Boeing 747-400. That is rather significant because it means that the Airbus is not only the largest commercial airliner in the world, but is far and away the largest in the world. Much like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record, it is a record that is unlikely to fall in the immediate future. It is unlikely that there will be another airbus as large anytime soon, especially given the state of the airline industry.
Here are some more intriguing facts culled from the graphic:
–The bus can hold a whopping 853 people.
–It has better fuel efficiency than a hybrid car. Let that sink in. If only hybrid cars could be made with the same type of amazing engineering.
–The plane’s tail is equal to the height of five stacked giraffes.
–If all the wiring in the plan was laid end to end,
–The plane can carry 3,000 suitcases, enough for five for each passenger!
Without a doubt, flying in this plane is an extremely luxurious experience. Buckle up. It’s gonna be a bumpy grading ride (I think, someone, off in the distance, just revoked my pun license.
Design: A-
The design is very strong. A nice use of charts here. And the graphics have a sort of classroom, captivating feel to them. I found that appealing.
Content: A-
Talk about facts! This baby is dressed to the nines with facts! There is no shortage of information when it comes to prominent planes, and it seems clear that the creators of this graphic had no intent to leave them out. Overall, this graphic is quite commendable.
This graphic has been provided by http://www.netflights.com/
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Ever wondered what the most common type of grass in the United States is? Thankfully, this infographic, submitted by grass-types.com, is ripe and ready to provide an answer to this question. There are, as it turns out, really only 12 grasses that predominate the U.S. landscape. We here at the Showcase have decided to present them to you in a song to the tune of “We didn’t start the Fire.” Here goes:
Bent, Bermuda, Buffalo. Rake them with a garden hoe. Bahia, Fescue, Pasplum, Zoysia grass and Rye. St. Augustine, Centipede. Care for them; they’re no ragweed. Carpet grass, Kentucky Blue and we ran out of song! We didn’t start the grass war…”
Our little gimmicky songs on this blog have seen better days, methinks. Anyway, moving on. Like Sportscenter, the graphic has a brief, but important, “Did you Know?” segment. It asks, “did you know that 20% of the Earth’s vegetation is grass?” My answer: no, I did not. And frankly, that fact that it’s so little scares me. Should it?
Another graph indicates the “thirstiest” kinds of grass. No matter how many gallons of water it “drinks,” Carpet grass is always thirsty. Another graph compares the growing height of the grasses, and it turns out that rye grass grows higher than any of the others. Based on the data from the graph, it appears that rye grass is actually a winner by a longshot.
If you cut your own grass, you’ll be interested in this stat. Buffalo grass has the highest height on average. Now, here’s something you probably didn’t know. One type of Bamboo has been found growing 100 feet tall. It must have been fun to cut that, assuming someone had to. Frankly, if grass is that high, I would just leave it alone. The graphic also touches on the economic angle of these grasses. Paspalum grass is high class indeed, states the graphic. It costs $45 a pound, making it the most expensive grass in America.
Infographics Scorecard
Design: B+
The color scheme leaves a bit to be desired. Sure, it does need to be green, I suppose, but the shade of green used wasn’t very potent. I think a darker, brighter shade of green would have a given the graphic the kind of punch it needs in order to be at the “A” level.
Content: B+
Without a doubt, this graphic serves to increase your love and interest in grass, if it wasn’t already well-established. The bits about which grass types are the most expensive, the most tolerant to temperature changes etc. hold your attention. At no point while I was reading the graphic did I say, “I’m bored now.”
Inofgraphic Showcase gives this graphic two giant green thumbs up for a job well-done!
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This infographic, provided by the blog of Earth Touch, examines just how much the wetlands of the world have been eroded by the cold touch of humanity. But, let’s get some definitions out of the way first, says the graphic. What exactly is a wetland? Is the ground near a creek that runs by the outside of your office a wetland, for instance? Possibly, but not necessarily. A wetland is defined as an area of land with soil that is either permanently or seasonally saturated with moisture. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water. Wetlands include bogs (areas of land so dirty even Wade Boggs can’t stand them), marshes, swamps, mangroves, salt pans, and estuaries.
Ok, now be honest, do you know the difference between all of those wetlands? I personally did not until I looked them up. I suggest you do the same by searching either Wikipedia or Citizendium to refresh you memory. I’d be surprised if the average American actually knew the differences between a salt pan and a mangrove off the top of his or her head. Can you honestly say that you did without looking it up?
Many disturbing facts about wetlands have been revealed in this graphic. Here are some sure to make your head hurt. 50% of global wetlands have now been lost or totally eradicated. This is, shall we say, very bad, especially when you consider that 1/3 of the water we drink comes from wetland areas. Some more bad news: 65% of the fish we eat reside in wetlands, so the more wetlands are depleted, the less fish we have to eat.
Let’s move on to the grading portion now.
Design: B+
The design pulls you in, but it doesn’t knock you off your feet. It’s not that this graphic is unappealing, it just isn’t extraordinary. As a result, we can’t in good conscience let it cross the border into A territory.
Content: B+
Many facts are displayed in “delightfully” (if you’re into that whole, “let’s destroy our environment” craze) detail. But the graphic lacks flow and organization. Facts are splattered on the graphic, seemingly at random. The graphic shifts abruptly from talking about how damaged our environment has become thanks to the destruction of wetlands to talking about how oysters are improving the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality. Top-tier infographics have a lucid narrative: they don’t just throw a bunch of factoids on a page. This graphic slightly misses the mark, in that regard.
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Two questions for you. 1.) What is the correlation, if any, between how old you are and how cold you will be this winter if you live in the U.K? 2.) What is the correlation, if any, between how much money you have and how cold you will be this winter? Did you guess that you will be colder if you are older and colder if you are impoverished? If so, then you are correct, as this infographic indicates.
The number of households in fuel poverty in England has risen to 1.7 million, and 2 out of 5 people age 60 or older are concerned about being warm this winter and being able to afford their energy bills. That’s 4.6 million people who are worried about the heat. The graphic shows that one in three people over 60 years of age took drastic actions to fend off the cold last winter. What kind of drastic actions? Essentially, they are the type of actions that no one living in a first world country should ever have to take. Here are some examples:
–wearing scarves and coats inside
–living in a single room of a house in an effort to contain the heat
–staying in bed all day long
–going to a public library to escape the horrid cold
The last portion of graphic points out that deaths as a result of the cold have been on the rise since 2007. 31,000 people over 65 died due to the cold weather in Britain in 2009, and winter deaths among people age 65 or older have soared by almost 50% since 2007. Ok, button up. It’s time for us to hand out our letter grades.
Design: B+
A good effort on the part of the creators. Despite not using many colors, this graphic still draws the audience in and holds your attention all the way through.
Content: A-
Many facts are brought to the reader’s attention in delightfully disturbing detail. Now that I know the terror it’s brought to people, I’ll probably never look at horribly cold weather the same way again.
This infographic has been provided by Egaheat, a leading provider of boilers across Britain.
Filed under: All Infographics, Environment Infographics | 1 Comment »
Turn off your house lights much? If you don’t, maybe you should. This graphic shows the dangers of C02 emissions and how much is being produced by your light bulbs. Warning: the facts in this infographic will scare you, and I think that’s the point. Ok, ready? Brace for impact. Here we go.
That little light bulb you have in the living room is killing the planet. It does not matter if it’s an LED, a CFL, or an incandescent. No matter what it it is, as the graphic shows, it is harming the planet. The reason for this is because, as the popular 80′s band Depeche Mode once declared, everything counts in large amounts. The total yearly amount of CO2 produced by a household with incandescents is a whopping 4.825 tons. Over 35 years, the use of your bulbs will release a great deal of toxic Mercury into the air. The CFLs will release a monstrous 42 mg of toxic mercury into landfills.
The graphic does not go into a whole lot of depth in terms of how much pollution is being created: it mostly cuts to the chase and doesn’t bog down into details. In order to stop global warming, the world must cut carbon emissions by 70%, and they must do it by 2050 or the planet will become uninhabitable. But what can we do? The graphic presents solutions. About 20% of the world’s energy use comes from lighting. That can be reduced to 4% by something very simple. Making use of an LED light bulb, instead of a different kind.
Ok, are you ready for the grading section? Hold on to your hats–er light bulbs.
Design: B
I would say this graphic is average from a design standpoint. One thing that stands out about this graphic compared to our other graphics is the fact that its very brief. I found myself wanting to see more designs.
Content: B
To be honest, I think a B is a kind grade. There isn’t much here. Stock stats and not much commentary. The graphic could use some more meat. Fleshing out graphics is the key to receiving high marks here at the infographic showcase. I will say that this graphic did a good job of convincing me to to use only LED lights from now on, so kudos to Elemental LED for that! They were quite persuasive.
Graphic provided by Elemental LED
If you’re going green, make sure you choose a green printer like Conquest Graphics Printing Company.
Filed under: All Infographics, Environment Infographics | 3 Comments »
Ah, the color green. So many meanings. Many famous items and places in history and fiction revolve around the color green, so I can certainly understand the creator’s desire to make an infographic that examines this color in detail. The purpose of this graphic is to show how green has shaped our lives throughout history, and then tie that into recycling. The interesting thing about the facts in this graphic is that, apparently, the first recycling efforts happened in 400 B.C. I bet you were not aware of that one?
Several hundred years after that a fellow by the name of John Heywood suggested that the moon was made out of cheese, green cheese to be exact. And the people in that day actually believed him. A hodgepodge of other facts are also displayed in the graphic, such as the fact that 76% of Americans call themselves environmentalists according to a 1990 poll. Here’s another statistic relevant to today: in 1979, Alan Freeman constructed the first solar powered car. These days, electric cars like Tesla and the Chevy Volt are all the rage, so it’s interesting to see that 30 years ago, Americans were briefly enamored by the concept of a solar car. It’s too bad it never got off the ground.
At the bottom of the graphic, San Diego State plugs its environmental efforts and then reminds people of its third annual green event (which happened at the end of August), Blue is the New Green: Water in the Built Environment.
Design: A-
This graphic does everything that a graphic should: it catches your eye right away and draws you in. The chronological order of events is displayed in a way that flows, so the graphic is well-done. This is a very pleasant graphic to look at.
Content: C+
This graphic has some potential theme issues, meaning, it’s unclear what the specific theme of the graphic is. Is it about the color green? Is it about the environment? With a graphic title like “Green through the ages,” someone who sees the graphic at first glance might not have any idea. That’s a potential problem, and not one that the creator of this graphic should take lightly. But the problem runs deeper. The green timeline stops after 1990. Why? 1990 was 20 years ago. Surely the history of green, especially as it relates to the environment, had some events occur over the past 20 years of note. Didn’t it?
Overall, a nice effort on this graphic.
[source]
Conquest is a printing company with an environmentally friendly aim, choose green printing.
