Cafe Cartolina

Happy Earth Day!

It's Earth Day. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about what we do here at Cartolina to protect the world we live in. It's my belief that if you are in the paper industry you are obligated to take responsibility for the environment in whatever ways you can. When we first started out we researched our options until we came up with a product and a process that we felt good about. We chose a recycled paper to print all our products on and we jumped through the hoops that enabled us to use the FSC logo on all our products. You've probably seen the FSC logo - it represents products produced from well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood. You can't automatically slap that logo on your products they have to be approved - the paper and the printing process have to meet all the requirements of the FSC before they can qualify. When we chose a printer it was important to us that we could develop a relationship with a company that cares about the environment as much as we do. Our printer has been named the most environmental printer in Canada for 5 years in a row - they run a carbon neutral plant - and strict recycling program.

Our decision to stop packaging all our cards in clear plastic sleeves has proved to be one of best decisions yet - clear sleeves are produced in China(a country with less than stellar human rights records - and on Earth Day it's not just all about the trees.) We have always been proud to be a domestic product - thus reducing our carbon footprint and supporting local business. Retailers have been thrilled with sleeveless cards and sales have gone up. Waste has been reduced which is very important to us.

It's great to be connected to other business that care like Modern Paper Goods who are our sole online retailer in the US - for every 10 cards you buy at Modern Paper Goods their partner, Ecolibris, will plant a tree on your behalf! They have already planted a thousand trees - we think that's very cool!

On a personal note - Doug and I chose to flee the big city 16 years ago and move to a quieter lifestyle in the country where we can be closer to nature. Living and working surrounded by such beauty makes you very aware of how fragile the world around you is every day, not just Earth Day, I am grateful to be so lucky to live and work here. Yesterday, as if on queue, Doug was out picking up a huge shipment of envelopes - he was crossing the bridge over the wetlands near Creston and noticed a Painted Turtle crossing the road. With cars whizzing past - he stopped the truck, got out and rescued the turtle from it's inevitable demise - here's a picture . . . . it's beautiful thing . . .

[Top photo is the view from our studio]