100% PCW PAPER

It took some time but I finally chose a 100% Post-consumer waste paper that will HAVE TO work for the book. A lot of printers don't use 100% PCW paper on their high speed printers so I had to purchase the paper myself and deliver to the printer. The previous paper I used on the first edition was Badger's Envirographic 100 in a nice heavy weight.

Well, when I called to order more for the second edition, wouldn't you know the paper company has stopped making the paper. Well, after some research, I chose Boise paper's Aspen 100. It's a lighter weight paper, but I think it will work.

Post-consumer waste paper is paper made from the paper that you (hopefully) recycle at home or office. You know, all that copy paper and junk mail you get and never read. That paper is made into a pulp and made into PCW paper. It's currently more expensive and there are not that much available choices.

Why go through so much work for the more difficult to use, more difficult to get, more expensive 100% PCW paper for the book? Because it needs to be shown that 100% PCW can be used just as well as other papers, even for a book!

Is it better for the environment? Some would argue not. The paper that you so deligently recycle actually gets collected and shipped to CHINA. The paper companies buy their paper from China and then the paper gets shipped BACK to be made into paper. That doesn't seem very energy efficient or clean? But the alternative (at this moment) is to continue to chop down trees to make paper. That doesn't seem right either. I argue, that we should use the paper we have without making new virgin paper. As PCW paper is more readily used, perhaps a paper processing plant will be created in North America. Maybe I should start one? Anyone have $200 million dollars in seed money?