Photo Expo and Picturehouse NY 2009

Posted on October 23, 2009 by itees

“The camera doesn’t take the photo, you do. Use your eye and your heart…” This is what I heard from one of the instructors at the Photo Expo at the Javits Center, yesterday. This event every October is quite overwhelming. As you walk in and see the multiple aisles, most are drawn to either their favorite vendor, to try out new cameras & amazing lenses, to see all sorts of new techniques and equipment, or to the print companies who are showing the quality of their printers. It’s also a gallery, since the best way to show how great the printers and papers are, is to display work. They’re showing famous celebrities or amazing scenics from around the world, taken by well respected photographers. There are also instructors giving free technique lessons in Photoshop for those interested at various company areas.

photo-expo-javits

photo-expo-nikon-cameras

One thing that I noticed this year was that Hewlett Packard was distributing a small pamphlet “Green IT for Dummies” (not for sale) created by Wiley. They also handed out a sell sheet featuring recycling information for large format banners, and had on display an example of what happens to ink cartridges when we recycle them, the process of how they are broken down, and eventually can be made back into cartridges again. To read more about what HP is doing, visit: http://www.hp.com/recycle

I then walked over to the company area for Epson printers and since I use these, always like to see what’s new as far as paper and equipment. I asked one of the employees about what Epson was doing to recycle catrtridges, paper, equipment and whether they are creating any recycled paper. He informed me that they didn’t have any literature about it, and that I should remember that their paper is part plastic, but to look at their site about their commitment to the future, which I did. Here’s what I found on the Epson corporate site:

Environmental Vision 2050:

Epson is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% across the lifecycle of all products and services by the year 2050. At the same time, as a member of the ecosystem Epson will continue to work towards restoring and protecting biodiversity*2 together with local communities.

Epson has set the following four key conditions in order to work towards achieving Environmental Vision 2050:

1.Reduction of CO2 emissions by 90% across the entire product life cycle.

2.Inclusion of all products in the resource reuse and recycling loop*3.

3.Reduction of direct CO2 emissions by 90%, and elimination of global warming gas emissions other than CO2.

4.Restoration and preservation of biodiversity as a member of the ecosystem, together with local communities.

“…Epson is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% across the lifecycle of all products and services by the year 2050. At the same time, as a member of the ecosystem Epson will continue to work towards restoring and protecting biodiversity together with local communities.

Epson has set the following four key conditions in order to work towards achieving Environmental Vision 2050:
1.Reduction of CO2 emissions by 90% across the entire product life cycle.
2.Inclusion of all products in the resource reuse and recycling loop.
3.Reduction of direct CO2 emissions by 90%, and elimination of global warming gas emissions other than CO2.
4.Restoration and preservation of biodiversity as a member of the ecosystem, together with local communities.

________________________________________

Picturehouse NY

Last week I attended Picturehouse NY, and this is always a favorite event of mine. All the photo stock agencies in one place and they are all so friendly and welcoming. Maybe it’s because we all do business through the internet and sometimes it’s nice to meet the people we work with, in person. It’s also nice to meet stock agencies that are just starting out and see what they’re offering. In some cases, I met the actual photographers in their booths. One of the agencies, Bridgeman, Art, Culture, History, had huge blow-ups of famous paintings with small cut-outs, and took our photograph with our face in place of the actual face, that was so funny and then they slipped the printed picture into a mousepad which I’m now using.

If you’ve never been to either of these FREE events, I highly recommend marking your calendar for next year. For anyone reading this today, Photo Expo at the Javits Center is still on, go now!

Sugar Paper, a sweet idea for tree lovers

Posted on October 9, 2009 by itees

In reading about alternatives to paper made from trees, I’ve come across paper made from sugar fibrous residue which remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice, known as Bagasse pulp. It is currently used as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials.

Sugar paper is susceptible to humidity for paper, and heat for cups and utensils (heat can cause them to stick together).

From Wikipedia:

“Around 5%-10% of paper production worldwide is produced from agricultural crops, valuing agricultural paper production at between $5 billion and $10 billion. The most notable of these agricultural crops are wheat straw and bagasse. Paper production is the second largest revenue stream from bagasse after electricity cogeneration; higher than ethanol. Using agriculatural crops rather than wood has the advantage of reducing deforestation. Bagasse has the added advantage in that it requires fewer greenhouse gases to collect, compared to harvesting of wood chips, as the fibre has already been transported to the factory for extracting the sugar. Due to the ease with which bagasse can be chemically pulped, bagasse requires less bleaching chemicals than wood pulp to achieve a bright, white sheet of paper. The fibers vary in length depending on the country and cane variety but are typically about 1.3mm to 1.7 mm long. Bagasse fibers are well suited for tissue, corrugating medium, newsprint, and writing paper.

Bagasse pulp and paper mills tend to be smaller than wood based mills although many world-scale factories exist, notably TNPL (Tamil Nadu, India) Century Pulp and Paper (India) and Ledesma Paper (Argentina).

From the site, WorldCentric.org:
(http://worldcentric.org/sustainability/manufacturing/bagasse)

From this site: Propal, S.A.(www.propal.com.co) If you need the text of this site translated into English, google has a great translation tool. (google translator)

Paper made from sugar cane fiber is listed internationally as “Friends of Nature” as its raw material, sugar cane bagasse, a byproduct of the sugar industry, rolling over short periods of time. Through the process of developing this fiber paper reduces solid waste and produces a fine paper, biodegradable and recyclable. For the quality of the papers and the environmental benefits obtained, the sugarcane fiber alternative source is the increased demand in the world.

PROPAL corporate policy involves the preservation of the environment, meeting at its plants 1 and 2 with the control parameters set by the Ministry of Environment, the Regional Autonomous Corporations and other relevant administrative bodies, making good use and reuse of natural resources.

“Paper made from sugar cane fiber is listed internationally as “Friends of Nature” as its raw material, sugar cane bagasse, a byproduct of the sugar industry, rolling over short periods of time. Through the process of developing this fiber paper reduces solid waste and produces a fine paper, biodegradable and recyclable. For the quality of the papers and the environmental benefits obtained, the sugarcane fiber alternative source is the increased demand in the world.”

Sample product using Bagasse:

Green, Eco-Friendly Paper Manufacturers

Posted on September 27, 2009 by itees

Here’s the latest on a few paper manufacturers that have some of the best post-consumer fiber, environmentally responsible products

Appleton Coated – Green Zone – (Wonderfully designed and informative website.)

From their site: “A well-managed forest” means:
• Trees do not come from rain forests or ancient timbers
• Forestry practices do not contribute to habitat loss
• Indigenous people are not displaced as a result of forestry practices

Utopia Green
FSC-Certification – Appleton Coated secured the Forest Stewardship Council certification in 2007. They were the first coated paper mill to secure this certification.
Post-Consumer Recycled Fiber – From 10% to 30% PCW

_____________________________________________

Cougar (Making Paper Fun) - Domtar EarthChoice®
EarthChoice family of products, FSC-certified and endorse by Rainforest Alliance.
(Fun design and informative website)

Domtar marks milestone with sale of millionth ton of FSC-certified paper

MONTREAL, Sept 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — Domtar Corporation (NYSE/TSX: UFS) announced today that it has marked a significant milestone with the sale of its millionth ton of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. This achievement is a direct result of the commitment Domtar made nearly a decade ago to pursue FSC certification for all of its forests and facilities.

Since the company’s first FSC-certified ton was manufactured in 2002, Domtar’s offering has evolved from one product to a full line of environmentally and socially responsible papers, known collectively as Domtar EarthChoice(R). Today, the EarthChoice family includes a wide range of products for a variety of end uses, including copying, printing, mailing, publishing and more.

From PRNewwire-FirstCall via COMTEX:

Domtar marks milestone with sale of millionth ton of FSC-certified paper

MONTREAL, Sept 23, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — Domtar Corporation (NYSE/TSX: UFS) announced today that it has marked a significant milestone with the sale of its millionth ton of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. This achievement is a direct result of the commitment Domtar made nearly a decade ago to pursue FSC certification for all of its forests and facilities…”

From their website: “Certifications and Collaborations”
Sharing the responsibility
“Domtar is committed to meeting the highest standards for forest, environmental and quality management. After all, in order to make our pulp and paper products, we rely on the forest. So it’s easy to recognize the importance of managing these precious resources — and protecting the environment…”

_____________________________________________

Cascades – Green By Nature TM
(Visit their informative website and read/download their report)

Here are some details from their 2008 Report on Sustainable Development:
• During 2008, Cascades used 2.2 million short tons of recycled fibres.
• The company is the 1st paper collector in Canada.
• These recycled fibres make up 73% of the raw material used to manufacture our products.

_____________________________________________

Finch – (Finchpaper.com) – They have earned the responsible forestry certification of both the world’s most respected third-party certification groups—FSC and SFI
Two of their papers and there are many more which can be seen on this page of their site.
Finch Premium Blend – 30% post-consumer recycled fiber
Finch Casa Opaque – 30% post-consumer recycled paper

_____________________________________________

Wausau Paper – wausaupaper.com
(Read about these papers in their Consumer Paper & Products section) Exact Eco 100 – Copier, Inkjet & Laser paper – Environmentally responsible paper, made with 100% recycled post-consumer fiber. Acid-free, lignin-free.
From their site:
In paper products using the Forest Stewardship Council certified label; Wausau Paper Corp. is committed to implement its best purchasing efforts to avoid trading and sourcing wood or wood fiber from:
• Illegally harvested wood.
• Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights.
• Wood harvested in forests in which high conservation values are threatened by management activities.
• Wood harvested in forests being converted to plantations or non-forest use.
• Wood from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted.