Conscious Cow loves recycled paper; it keeps paper out of landfills, and out of incinerators, and keeps our forests intact. But there's still a lot of virgin paper made from trees in the office supply stores. (Conscious Cow hopes the office supply store whose name rhymes with a type of tree will change their ways very soon. On the plus side, OFFICE MAX sells reams of paper made from 100% post-consumer waste!)
If you think post-consumer recycled paper is the ultimate in conscious consumption, Conscious Cow has news for you!
It's true, that recycled paper uses 55% less water than virgin paper. Still, the paper industry is one of the largest water polluters in the world! Tragic, when you consider how many creatures have such limited access to water.
(Conscious Cow's friends in El Porvenir, Nicaragua travel 5-10km by foot or horseback to the nearest farm to get water, when it's available. They transport it back to their village in reused oil drums.)
The good news is; the winds are changing, and while some old-school paper manufacturers wake up, new conscious paper manufacturers are entering the forest.
For example, Living tree paper offers tree-free (made with hemp & flax fibers) and recycled content paper products
An even eco-friendlier choice is Ecopaper made from agro-industrial waste (aka pre-consumer food waste), like coffee pulp and banana plant fibers that would normally be scrapped.
Greenfield Paper provides handmade plantable paper (paper with seeds in it, so you can skip the landfill and the recycling bin and let your words grow into flowers). This is the source for eco-cool note cards, stationary and even gift wrap.
There's more to this story, but for now...
Ciao from the Cow!
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