environmentally friendly

Recycled Paper and PCW

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How is recycled paper made?

Introduction to PCW

Recycled paper is created through a multi-step process that is similar to the creation of brand new paper. If you look back at our previous posts on The History of Paper and Paper, Papyrus, and Parchment, you would know that paper is created from the pulp of fibrous materials.

So instead of creating new paper pulp from wood, recycled paper pulp is created from post consumer waste. Post consumer waste, or more popularly known by its abbreviations PCW, is waste that is left after a product has served its use. Similarly, pre-consumer waste is industrial waste that is generated from production and manufacturing before a product goes to market.

Recycled Paper Pulp and Processing

Recycled paper is collected, sorted, and broken down into pulp by mixing it with water and chemicals. After the recycled paper has been turned into pulp, it gets strained (much like straining pasta) to remove staples, glue, and other non-paper materials. It is then de-inked and bleached to remove all previous printing and any color. After the pulp has been cleaned, it is often mixed with new wood fibers. After the pulp is mixed with new wood fibers, it is spread across a screen so the water can drain out of the pulp mixture. Then it is rolled so that the water is pushed out of the mixture. This process can be repeated several times until the paper fibers become so small that they are filtered out during the straining process. At this point, the paper is ready to be coated and rolled to become recycled paper for the market.

How does CatPrint get involved?

We do our part in protecting the environment by providing several paper options containing various amounts of post consumer waste. Our Heavy Card Stock Cream, Kraft Card Stock, and Light Card Stock Cream, are all 100% PCW. The majority of our other stocks contain at least 10% PCW. For a complete list of our paper and card stocks, click here.

Green Printing on 100% Cotton?

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CatPrint: Guilty of Being Green

You already know that at CatPrint, we are known for committing the crime of printing as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. We are guilty for making sure you receive high quality prints while also being green!

green cat hugging napping in tree

Environmentally Friendly Cat

Here’s something we bet you didn’t know:

Two of our stocks are 100% cotton.

Yes, that’s right. They are not made from trees, but cotton! Cotton, as in the fabric you wear, whether it’s your shirts, sweaters, or socks! When you order your prints on Heavy Cardstock Cotton or Heavy Cardstock Cream Cotton, you aren’t printing on paper made from trees; they’re made from the cotton plant.

kitten in cotton sock

Did you say cotton?

CatPrint’s Recommendations for Printing:

These two textured heavy cardstock made from cotton are best recommended for high quality printing for your business cards, artwork, or invitations!

Try it out the next time you print with CatPrint. You just might not even be able to tell the difference between paper made from trees or paper made from cotton.

Sustainable vs Recycled Paper: Do You Know the Difference?

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If you are a green consumer, you may sometimes check for labels and seals on product packaging in order to purchase paper products that come from “sustainable” and/or “recycled” resources. But what does all of that even mean?

Never fear! CatPrint is here!

…To make it as easy as possible for you to understand.

Sustainable Paper

Sustainable practice means that as humans, we take the responsibility in trying as best we can to put back what we take from the environment. The idea is that we maintain harmony with nature, so for which ever resource we take, we have to replace it back in the environment in order to continue the balance.

A variety of much more environmentally friendly practices have developed throughout the years as a response to sustainability and better practices in harvesting trees for paper.

One practice is that in order to fell a tree sustainably, tree cutters will do their best to make sure that the seedlings from the trees fall onto the ground so that new trees will grow from them.

Another practice is that once an area is cleared of trees, new trees will be planted in place of them, and that area of trees will not be touched for many years until it is deemed ready to be harvested again.

These practices are sustainable because we are putting back as much as we can for what we have taken, which is completely different from clearing a forest and putting back absolutely nothing.

Recycled Paper

Recycled paper products means exactly what it sounds like: the product was made from previous paper products. If you read our previous posts on the history of paper and how paper is made, you would know that paper is made from fibers. So if you take paper fibers from paper products, mash it together into pulps, then smash them into thin layers and lay them out to dry, you would have recycled paper!

What does this all mean as a CatPrint consumer?

At CatPrint, we are committed to do our very best to provide you with environmentally friendly paper products.

So guess what?

All of our paper stocks are FSC certified!

FSC is the Forestry Stewardship Council which is a non-profit organization that does its best to ensure responsible forestry management internationally. This means ALL of our papers come from sustainable forests, which means you’re printing from CatPrint, you’re doing your part for the environment just as well! Click here for a listing of our paper stock, or click here for a sample request of all of our paper stock!

We are also a White Badge Partner with TerraPass. Click here to find out more!