Here we are on April 22nd celebrating our planet!  Caring for our environment is a matter that is very close to our hearts - of course!  Even as we strive to make our own efforts, we are constantly impressed with and excited by the green movements around us.  The green efforts made by the stationery industry absorb a lot of our attention, naturally...but we are always interested in bettering our lives and the lives of our loved ones through cleaner living.  We are pleased to do our part every day. 

In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to share some fun facts about what makes our stationery green.  With the internet taking over main stream communications, why use paper?  Here's some interesting tid bits that you should know!

You say cotton paper isn't eco-friendly and we say au contraire!
Cotton papers are actually made from Cotton Linter.  This distinction means something big for the green effort.  Cotton linter is actually a waste product of the cotton clothing industry.  Cotton farming is actually intended for clothing.  After the crop is harvested, the cotton is combed and the scraps are made into sheets of paper.  If this waste was not made into paper, where would it go?  You guessed it, junked in our landfills. 
Plus letterpress loves cotton paper, so it was a green match made in heaven.  Here's a picture of the cotton plant and cotton linter, just for a fun visual!

 

Cotton isn't the only raw material that makes beautiful paper.  How about Bamboo?  Bamboo is considered a renewable resource because it just grows so fast!  We just sampled some new bamboo paper in the studio and it's gorgeous!  The supple texture on the paper is a stationer's dream. 

How about recycled papers?  Pre-consumer (waste recycled prior to use) or Post-consumer (waste recycled after use) are the 2 main categories, but both mean green.  The ultimate in recycled paper?  Our t-shirt paper!  This paper is made from recycled clothing and post-consumer waste.  Lets look at the recycled chain there - cotton is farmed, made into clothes, we wear the clothes, the mill collects the old clothes, they dissolve it and blend it, they make it into paper, you write on it, hopefully it's recycled again...Come on, that's just cool. 

No matter the content, it's also important to pay attention to the how the paper is made and the treatment of the paper.  When the paper is made, what powers the mill?  Water and wind are huge energy forces in the paper industry. 
Chlorine-free is a must!  It means we sacrifice the brightest of white papers, but it's cleaner for our waters.  Chlorine is used to bleach paper and of course that has run-off.... you get the point.  We can also talk about being carbon neutral and the various certifications like FSC, Green Seal, etc.  But we could really go on and on! 

Instead, I'll leave you with some pretty detail pictures of our papers - printed with soy ink!