Actually, Tree Free Printing with Non-Toxic Ink.
Let me start at the beginning. When I was a child, my grandmother would send us a letter from time to time. It was one page. She’d start on one side of the page, then flip the sheet of paper over and write on the other side of the page. Then she’d fill in all the margins on that side of the page. Then she would flip the page back over and fill in all the margins on that side of the page.
When the margins were all filled in, the letter was done.
And, there were no blank lines. We all laughed at how eccentric it was. But, I guess, later in life, I too became eccentric because I started doing the same thing for the same reason – to save paper. However, I didn’t write too many letters that way, because my handwriting is illegible to all but a few, sometimes even to myself.
My next foray into my resolution to save paper was to switch from writing notes on legal pads, to writing notes on Jr Legal Pads, since most of my notes fit on that size paper. We now use mostly scratch paper – receipts and paper that’s been printed on one side. We haven’t resorted to printing notes on envelopes we’ve received in the mail, yet.
A lot of what I print are stories I’ve written for my wife. Some year in the future I’ll sell them, but I haven’t gotten there yet. I save paper when I print these, because they’re really condensed. OK, they’re short, very short, sometimes only one page, but they are complete stories. As my wife says, “I can write a novel in one page.”
Then last year, I made another resolution (or another step in this resolution). I decided to print on Tree-Free paper. My first choice was to purchase a case of 100% Post Consumer Waste (PCW) paper and use only that for printing. I still have a few reams of 30% PCW paper that I haven’t figured out what to do with, without breaking my resolution. OK, perhaps I’m a fanatic. I had tried some Lokta paper before with great results. And, I’m getting great results with the 100% PCW paper.
Lokta is a weed evergreen that grows in Nepal. It is pruned every four years and paper is made from these prunings. Perhaps not totally tree-free, but no trees were killed in making it.
Later last year, I took another step in my resolution and invested in a new printer. I wanted a printer that used non-toxic ink. The choice quickly narrowed down to the Xerox Color Cube printer. These cost more than a printer you’d buy at Office Depot. The Xerox Color Cube is specifically made to print on rougher papers, like you’d find with Lokta and other tree free papers. The Color Cube uses ink “crayons” which are based on plants and are non-toxic.
This year, my resolution widened to offer Tree Free printing services for others. I print on any tree-free paper which is available for printing. These are 100% PCW, Bagasse (Sugar Cane), Mango, Banana, Coffee, Lemon, 100% Cotton (preferably organic), Hemp, Lokta, Straw, and Dung (yes Horse or Elephant dung). I print paper or cardstock. Not all of these options are available for cardstock.
If you want to find out more, please contact Yellow Bear Journeys Printing and Publishing at (360) 918-8121 or at http://www.yellowbearjourneys.com/printing.html