Stacks of colored construction paper at the mom and pop copy/fax center on the corner. Bk,Ny.
Pretty? Yes. But sustainable? No.
Yesterday I met Liz Conover, a designer for Design & Source, a global packaging design company based out of New York. From bags, to displays, to containers, to boxes, D&S will custom make anything you need to creatively package your wares. Retailers today have a myriad of options when deciding to step in line with a design firm. What D&S sells that no one else can is their superior sustainability. From their 100% windpowered headquarters in the city, to their Best Green Business Award from The New York Enterprise Report, they not only talk the talk, but walk the walk.
What I am most impressed with is their commitment to the rather new paper source TerraSkin. TerraSkin is a paper made without the use of trees or water. Yes, really. A huge, brilliant leap forward in being better friends with our ecosystem, and towards maintaining what we have left of it.
How do you make paper with no trees or water? You use stone. Powder to be exact. For instance, when a counter top is made, and a hole is cut out for the sink, the powder created from grinding out that space is what comprises 75% of the paper. The other 25% is a non toxic resin. Even nicer, is that there are more than eco advantages to TerraSkin. It is more durable than regular paper, less ink is needed to make quality prints, and images are crisper, as there is no bleeding like regular paper. Click here for an interesting side by side comparison.
To put a cherry on top, when this paper is left out in the sun for 3-9 months, it degrades back into its mineral powder form. There is virtually no footprint to its production and use, and on top of that, it is easily recycled.
There is no catch. Only opportunity. So spread the word.