Papyrus supports long-term environmental sustainability.

Papyrus is committed to protecting and preserving the environment and to conserving the world’s natural resources. Papyrus supports the paper manufacturers whose environmental management and procurement practices promote sustainability, and result in long-term environmental benefit. We promote and encourage the use of paper products made responsibly from our natural resources. Our environmental goal is to become carbon balanced and to create products that use post consumer waste and biodegradable packaging materials.

Papyrus is striving to educate our employees, suppliers, and customers to our commitment to the environment and promotes awareness and accountability on environmental issues.

We care about our environment, including our forests and the paper products made from our forests. It is our commitment to promote sustainable forestry, to strive to use Post Consumer Waste paper, and to source improved biodegradable packaging in order to lessen our impact on the environment. Using Post Consumer Waste paper reuses paper that could potentially be put into a landfill, and is a genuine recycled fiber source.

We recognize the environmental leadership of the Forest Stewardship Council. The FSC supports shifting the market to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous people and violence against people and wildlife that often accompanies logging. In order to be FSC Certified paper must come from well-managed forests adhering to strict environmental and socio-economic standards.

We now offer for sale more than 3,400 products which are environmentally friendly across our counter card, stationery, and wrap categories…which is 38% of the these departments total products. Our green paper products use either paper stock that is FSC Certified or uses at least 30% Post Consumer Waste with vegetable or soy based inks, or is made with sustainable eco-friendly methods or materials.

Starting in April 2008, Papyrus will be launching a collection of eighty-four Green counter cards which are printed on FSC Certified 100% Post Consumer Waste paper, use vegetable inks, and use 100% recycled paper envelopes. Eighteen of the eighty-four Green counter cards will be produced in collaboration with the Earth Share organization, and 5% of the proceeds (10 cents per card) will be donated to Earth Share.

We have also developed a Green collection of eight boxed Christmas designs. The Green boxed notes are printed using 100% Post Consumer Waste paper stocks for cards and envelopes, vegetable inks, and recycled kraft paper packaging materials.

In our wrapping paper category, 170 of our bulk wrap designs are tree-free and are handmade using cotton fibers from India.

We are debuting eight Nepalese Eco Friendly journals in bright colors which are made using local raw materials, simple technology, and ancient skills that protect the fragile ecological balance of Nepal’s forests. In the foothills of the Himalayas, the Daphne “Lokta” tree grows in abundance at an altitude of over 6,500 feet. The beneficial method of only removing the bark from the Lokta tree promotes new growth and ensures sustainable future harvesting.

We continue to support Ethical Trade policies with our vendors including sustainable harvests and fair wages, and trading practices that benefit the people and areas that produce our paper. We are also working to increase the use of environmentally friendly and FSC Certified paper, and biodegradable or recycled packaging materials for our products.