Your brand, a danger to the environment?

Business cards are one of the most common ways to exchange contact and promote business

among people. The most common form of a business card is printed. Approximately, 27 million

business cards are printed daily around the world (Pinnelli, 2017). Most of the time, these

business cards are thrown away. However, have you considered how can your business card

affect the environment?

Here are some facts about business cards and their environmental effects:

Printing business cards can have many environmental impacts during the production process as

well as the post-production stage.

• The most fundamental part of business cards is the usage of paper and printers. Paper production requires the cutting down of trees which means deforestation. Approximately, 10,000 trees are cut down to produce 1 ton of paper. Deforestation has impacts on both the land and on the different organisms occupying that land. When these trees are cut down, we are destroying the habitat of many different species, which in the long-term can cause them to go extinct.

• In addition to the effects of paper production, the printing process itself has many environmental impacts. Printing requires electricity and energy to function. Printing also requires the usage of ink, which contains many toxic chemicals, such as VOCs (Volatile organic compounds), which is harmful to the environment and to organisms. Additionally, high amounts of water are consumed during the printing process.

• Printed business cards are often thrown away and not used. This means that there is a high amount of paper waste that is produced, and most likely, these papers are not being recycled.

• Another issue with printed business cards is that updating information requires the production of new business cards and therefore, more paper produced and more environmental effects.

What is the alternative of a traditional business card?

Popl can provide the same benefits of business cards with less environmental impacts. With

Popl, we are reducing the amount of paper printed to zero. Therefore, there is no usage of

printers and no impacts linked to printing or paper.

In addition to that, Popl can provide the option of having the same business cards for many years, as you can easily update your information from the application while using the same card.

With Popl devices, you can integrate your information through the application. Popl can also

provide you business cards in many forms, whether it is a digital card, a watch or a keychain.

At Semicolon, we offer Popl devices. To learn more about Popl, Reach out or visit our Popl Product Page and get your first Popl order!

By: Basma Ghannam

Sustainability officer

Nov 11, 2022