Putting Paper on the Map... or the other way around

At the continuing-to-be-anonymous paper emporium I received this e-mail through our website from Mike James at Wesleyan University:

I'm printing my undergraduate thesis in early April. I didn't see anything on the site, but I wonder if you have any recommendations for where I can purchase great laser-printer compatible paper - ideally, I want acid-free and recycled paper that isn't made by children. Any thoughts?

I get about 1 call or e-mail a day from folks looking for recycled products (I am told there are even more inquiries coming in from people who just walk in, especially for printing wedding invitations)- I even got a call from Life and Style Weekly, (a magazine that thinks a humanitarian gesture is publishing a map of the exact location of all Drew Barrymore's tattoos and piercings) they were interested in what eco-friendly products were being sold at the shop.

Ummmm. Not a whole lot... When I produced our company's catalog for the holidays I was really excited to find that our catalog had been produced using paper made from certified sustainable forests,that soy inks had been used and offsets for the energy were purchased to fund wind farms somewhere in California. BUT- I'd love to say we did it on purpose- we didn't, we lucked into it but it made me, and a lot of the folks I work with feel good about the catalog we gave out this year. Oh, and not that we imagined anyone would throw out our work-of-art catalog, but if they did- it was 100% recyclable- except for maybe the staple holding our little book together.

The GREAT news is that a large number of our vendors are leaping onto the eco-friendly bandwagon and taking us along for the ride. Our biggest supplier of gift bags and boxes (HUGE company that supplies a lot of corporations, including the Body Shop with packaging) is going to be offering bamboo-based paper products printed in soy inks. As I have said on Jillian's blog- (www.paperforager.wordpress.com), corporations may not all have a sense of environmental responsibility, but at least in retail, they WILL come along if there is a profit to be had. Ultimately we have the success of companies like Whole Foods and Patagonia and a lot of perhaps, less conscientious companies following suit in the chase for the consumer dollar. No matter WHY they do it- the environment wins- and people like Mike James get nice child-free paper, hopefully in several colors.

BUT- I actually wanted to turn folks on to something cool in the recycled world not YET carried by the anonymous paper store that employs me (I'll push for it here but sometimes getting things arranged takes awhile). There is an innovative company that I read about in Ode magazine (GREAT mag- "for intelligent optimists" who doesn't want to be counted in that group? www.odemagazine.com- go subscribe!) It is called Direkt Recycling (www.direktrecycling.com) They make envelopes (big and small) shopping bags, file folders and note pads out of second hand paper, outdated maps, calendars and printed materials with a few flaws. The idea is- instead of crushing used paper, mixing it with fresh wood fibers, bleaching it and infusing it with binding agents, Direktrecycling refashions discarded papers (as the name implies) directly into all kinds of useful STUFF...It is estimated that 5-10% of waste paper is suitable for direct recycling. Compared to an envelope made from recycled paper, these envelopes save 100% on water, bleach, binding agents and wood fibers, and uses 95% less energy.

So while you can't get them at the nameless paper emporium just yet, I found them online at http://www.startmotions.com/Eco-friendlyCatalog.html . They also have the greatest looking eco-friendly cards, and when you go for the custom card set- it comes with the Direkt recycling envelopes! This site is also interesting in that it supports an eco-friendly animation studio- but you will see when you look at the site.

There WAS one card image I could not resist- it seems when a dung beetle loves another dung beetle... a lump of poo is considered the appropriate expression of said affection. This card, from Start Motion's collection...appealed to me.



I am certainly referencing poop somewhat more often than I might have imagined...I will have to ask Dr. Jeff what this might mean...

:) X