In the late 2000s, Bangalore, historically known as the Garden City, was in the midst of a massive population explosion, the result of a thriving international business and technology sector. While Bangaloreans gained a global perspective on their city, trees were disappearing from the streets to accommodate the flood of residents arriving from all over India and beyond.

“How can we help save trees?” was on the minds of many, including MPS’ journals team. While trees continued to fall on the streets of Bangalore, the team looked at the bigger picture and asked themselves how they could make a difference for the planet. They decided to do some research, perform an internal review, and see what they could do to help.

The team began with the assumption that an average tree supplies about 0.5 tons of wood, which can be converted into pulp and then paper. This translates into about 60 reams of A4-size white paper.

At the end of 2007, the team’s annual paper consumption was determined to be the equivalent of about 300 trees per annum. This surprising realization led to an initiative focused on the development and implementation of paper-saving workflows throughout the production process.

Specific initiatives included the implementation of dual monitors and "PDF Compare," which moved proofing onscreen so that fewer pages were printed using laser printers. This, in turn, reduced toner and electricity consumption.

Environmentally inspired improvements in workflows also meant that quality went up and rework cycles came down, leading to a reduction in the need for printing. Across 2008, the MPS journals team averaged a consumption of 12.25 trees per month. By 2009, the average was 8.76 trees a month, a reduction of about 28%.