Green Options

A www.greenprinteronline.com dispatch.

Here and there in 2007, I saw the idea of the ’share economy’ pop up.  In 2009, car sharing, bike sharing, vacation sharing and even, clothing sharing seem to have more clout as tidalwave trends as opposed to mere passing trends.

From conference keynote titles like “Is the Share Economy the New New Economy?” at the May 5-7 Next09 Conference to the hit $40 annual fee Smart Bike Program in Washington, D.C., sharing is on the rise amongst even ‘mainstream’ consumers.

Sure, when times were high, the idea of car-pooling with the guy next door who grows petunias seemed like a nuisance best avoided (”I have to get to my superimportantmeetingnow!”).

This post was originally published on Eco-Libris’ blog on February 26.

How green is your toilet paper? Not sure? Here’s the guide that will give you the answers: Greenpeace has just released on Monday its latest Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide.

The report is providing customers with important information about tissue products and toilet paper using 3 criteria: usage of 100% recycled paper, at least 50% post consumer recycled paper and bleached without toxic chlorine compounds.

Each category includes ranking of brands, where products that meet 3 criteria are recommended, products that meet 2 criteria are defined as “can do better” and products that meet only one or no criteria at all are “to be avoided”.

Let’s focus for a minute on toilet paper, the most popular product among the ones reviewed in this report. The brand in the first place is Green Forest, which uses 100 percent recycled and 90 percent post-consumer content, as well as chlorine-free manufacturing processes. Other brands that are also recommended are: 365, Natural Value and Seventh Generation.

And who’s to be avoided? Well, when it comes to toilet paper you will find there few familiar names: Scott, Target, Wal-Mart, Kleenex Cottonelle, Chramin, Quilted Northern and Angel Soft. According to the report they all use zero recycled paper (and of course zero post consumer content) and are bleached with chlorine compounds [just take into consideration the follwoing comment from Greenpeace: In the few cases where companies did not respond to our request for verification of recycled content percentages and whitening processes used, we assumed 0% overall recycled, 0% post-consumer recycled and ECF bleaching.]

Don’t get me wrong. It’s great we have so much paperless information at our fingertips. At some point I had to just do it… I gently tried to direct my customers to recycled paper and non-toxic inks for their print jobs and it actually worked in a number of cases…

Die Cuts With A View (DCWV) has just released the Green Stack collection made from 70% post-consumer recycled paper that is also acid-free and lignin-free.  The debut Green Stack paper pad features 24 woodland designs complete with squirrels, owls, and a little faux bois.  The collection also includes a matching Green Stack Chipboard Set with 105 shapes and letters made from 70% post-consumer recycled paper.

The DCWV website has a great idea gallery with sample pages from each collection, like the Guess Who sample page shown here which features the Green Stack collection. Check out the other awesome Green Stack sample pages after the jump.

A special guest by Michelle Galley of Mighty Pixel Productions.

I applaud each and every company and person that makes an effort to “Go Green“. I personally feel that if you contribute in any way, you are helping out! I also believe that there are a lot of companies who don’t realize the little things do help. I have compiled a list of ten ways that almost every company can contribute to, by making these small but significant changes.

1. BE A PART OF THE GREEN COMMUNITY
Support green communities online. It is a great way to market your company as well as getting involved. Join associations or charities. Some of my favourites…

♦ Design Can Change
♦ Green Energy Act
♦ Ontario Environmental Directory

It is certainly a challenge crafting a green scrapbook, but K & Company has kept sustainability in mind by introducing two eco-friendly scrapbook collections.  Each collection is printed with soy-based inks, on recycled paper, with recycled and reusable packaging.  The Lotus Collection features the hypnotic floral designs of Amy Butler, while the ReMake Collection meets basic needs for colored paper and chipboard embellishments.

If you love Amy Butler’s fabric designs you will swoon over her paper line.  The Lotus Collection, by the famed fabric and surface designer, is printed with soy-based inks on post-consumer waste recycled paper.  Lotus products come in recycled pakaging made from 95% post-consumer waste.  What’s more is the packaging is reusable.  The back card stock of the paper pads is printed with cut-outs that can be used as embellishments.  

Most expectant parents plan to send out some type of birth announcement to introduce their new one to the world.   And who can blame them?  Babies are precious and a joy to be shared!

Being mindful parents, we want to make sure that everything we do (including those birth announcements) are kinder to our great planet.  The announcement which resides in your childs memory book will also serve as a reminder to them over the years about your commitment to raise them green.

The best way is to avoid phyiscal announcements altogether and set up a Baby Blog.  Blogs are FREE and online, so no products are used to create them.  You can change the look and update daily with new baby happenings and photos.  Another bonus to an online blog is the ability to share details of the pregnancy and instant news of baby’s arrival. Spread the word about your baby blog via email.

“My name is Greg Barber and I specialize in environmental printing. ” This is the first line on the homepage of Greg Barber Company, an eco-friendly printer and also the printer that prints Eco-Libris’ stickers and flyers.

A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat.

The eco-holiday tips are beginning to pour in everywhere. Al Gore was on Oprah last week discussing the impacts of global warming and giving advice on how people can help the environment and save some cash this holiday. And, Obama is certainly doing his part with his plans to green the White House.

If you are an early bird ecopreneurist who wants to distinguish your business this holiday season or are at odds on what to give your customers, staff or business partners, one thing you can do is get a CarbonFree® Product Certification from the non-profit, Carbonfund.org. With CF, with the click of a mouse, you can give the gift of carbon neutrality. 

A post by contributing guest writer Melissa Chungfat.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Thomas Friedman on the tube talking about his book Hot, Flat, and Crowded. The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner is getting a lot of buzz stressing the necessity of a green global industry. Ecopreneurs are key in developing innovative solutions to deal with the tremendous global environmental problems.

The book title refers to the convergence of global warming, the rise of the middle class, and the exponential population growth. These factors drive the following five trends over their tipping point:

• Energy and resource
• Petro dictatorship
• Biodiversity loss
• Climate change
• Energy poverty

In our culture of convenience, so many people want to help the environment – if they can keep all of their luxuries; they want to green their habits – if it’s convenient enough; they want to buy green products – if it’s easy enough to find. But this attitude won’t fly anymore with the problems we are facing.

A post by contributing writer Melissa Chungfat.

When Barack Obama delivered his speech on November 4, 2008, he mentioned the challenges of a planet in peril and the worst financial crisis in a century. In the spirit of collaboration, he called upon all Americans to “join in the work of remaking this nation.” You can now check out the Clean Tech for Obama website. Cleantech and Green Business for Obama (CT4-O) is a self organized, volunteer based constituency group supporting the Obama campaign.