Saving my planet... one scrapbook layout at a time!

Since I've been "greening my cleaning" and other aspects of our home life, I've been feeling slightly guilty about this mondo paper-using hobby I have. I mean, I try to save all of my scraps and use them in smaller projects later. And I have a lot of reusable items like die-cutters, punches, templates, and stamps. Plus, I even use mostly acrylic peel-and-stick stamps, so there's less wood used for the blocks for my stamping addiction.

But, what about all this paper? And what chemical by-products am I contributing to when I buy new stamps or tools? Now, I'm not going to contribute to any landfills by dumping things I already have just because they weren't manufactured in the cleanest manner. However, going forward, I'd like to know I'm buying from more socially and ecologically responsible companies.

So, I was extremely happy and excited not long ago when I got some information on my favorite scrapbook company, Close To My Heart (of course!). I am happy to report that not only does CTMH donate lots of money to Operation Smile , but they are also "green" in a number of ways.

• All Close To My Heart papers including B&T Duos,™ cardstocks, and My Stickease™ are SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) certified. This means the pulp used to create the papers is gathered only from certified sustainable forests, and that every process used to create the papers, from harvesting to final product, is environmentally friendly.
• Close To My Heart uses environmentally conscious vendors. The paper printer utilizes
  wind power in their facilities. The album manufacturer reuses cardboard boxes—they send CTMH albums in boxes, CTMH sends the boxes back, and they reuse them.
• The My Acrylix® stamp-making process uses soap and water soluble chemicals for clean
  up to avoid harming the environment.
• Over 80% of the waste produced at CloseTo My Heart is recyclable.

This bit of information made me feel much better about the products I'm using! Going forward, I plan to research similar information on other brands I buy, as well as the stores where I usually buy them. Let me know if you know of other environmentally friendly scrapbooking and stamping companies, and I'll give them a plug here as well!