Consolidated Printing Company

Consolidated Printing Company was established by Marilyn Jones in the basement of her Chicago home in 1973 with just $5,000. Among her first accounts was a vitamin manufacturer. Through this relationship, Ms. Jones learned that what you breathe and touch affects your health and the health of those around you.

Realizing that the printing process contained many hazardous chemicals, Ms. Jones began the search for safer alternatives. When she found out that they didn’t exist, she began using household products like Crisco and fabric softener in place of toxic chemicals.

Finding Our Voice
As Consolidated grew in size and reputation, Ms. Jones tirelessly found and invented safer products - inks, toners, parts washers, solvents and more. Consolidated transformed its facility into a testing ground for developing these safer alternatives, vendors called Consolidated first when a greener innovation became available to analyze.

Everybody at Consolidated was empowered to find better solutions on their own through trial-and-error. Over the years, through passion, initiative and long hours, Consolidated managed to replace every one of the numerous toxic chemicals used in printing with natural products.

Ms. Jones continues to spread the word about the health risks of conventional printing chemicals. She is a frequent speaker, and Consolidated has won multiple awards for its pioneering ways.

Today
Consolidated's staff continues to work collaboratively with vendors on this one-of-a-kind PrintedGreen™ 360 process, protecting not only the environment but also the health of the printing tradespeople. Tours are regularly given to the public in an effort to educate people about sustainability and to inspire them to innovate for the greater good.