We're green with pride

Balance is proud to announce we have been accepted into the organization Greener Photography!

Many of you know us, so you know our commitment to be eco-friendly in every way we can, both personally and professionally.

Our history in this movement goes back far in our lives. Nathaniel's parents are both environmental engineers (as is his bro) and they run an environmental engineering firm. Additionally, he grew up on a family farm -- in a preserved 200 year old frontier cabin, surrounded by acres and acres of farmland and forests. He's second generation green. Far from just buying recycled office paper or using CFLs, Nathaniel truly has lived the life of a conservationist from day one.

Though my tale is not so eco-fabulous as his, I started the environmental club at my high school before it was chic. Me and my dedicated group of 7 or so teen-ecologists used to literally sort thru all the cafeteria trash every few days and pull out all the recycling - glass, cans, plastics - and take them to the county recycling center. Shortly after, the school district implemented a recycling program that exists to this day. It was one of my proudest moments as a teen-ager.

Moving forward almost two decades from high school (yikes!), we are both still dedicated to preservation, recycling, reuse and conservation. Seriously, what photographer could truly say they don't love nature, don't love natural light, don't appreciate the beauty of the Earth? Even the most die-hard studio shooter has got to admit it... they occasionally take pleasure in capturing spring flowers, majestic trees, a perfect beach scape.

We were really excited to be accepted into GP and are 100% behind the principles the organization is built on, directly from their website:

Preservation

Preservation conserves all of the resources that go into creating photographic images. It is the single best thing we can do to reduce the impact of our photographs.

Reduction

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. While we are trying to produce the most archival products in our industry, we will do so while using the least energy-intensive products available.

Local Production

Shipping and transport are some of the biggest sources of pollution. Anything that can be produced, manufactured and assembled locally will have a significantly lower environmental impact than components manufactured overseas.

Cruelty-Free

Animals and people are as much part of the eco-system as water, air, and trees. We do not see a difference between environmentally harmful products and those produced in harmful working conditions.

At balance, we are constantly trying to find ways to be greener, local and sustainable. We offer green albums to our customers ~ both local, resourced and recycled (ask us-- they're too cool!), Giclee prints made on watercolor cotton rag paper and in 2009, we are going to expand our press-printed products to include more recycled paper options!

Go green!
~ Rissa

PS To all you Apple computer fans... you need to check out their new, greener laptop! This one I'm typing on is fine, but, um, as soon as I need a new one ~ the new Macbook is made of recyclable materials, runs on 1/4 the energy of a lightbulb and contains no mercury! Go Mac!