Paperless Way of Life Made Simple

Going paperless is an exceptional way to be free of clutter and to even be more organized. Yet, there are some legal considerations to check into before you begin.

For example:

ONE
Tax Record Retention Requirements are beyond the scope of this lens. Consult with your tax advisor to find out what records you need to keep and how long you need to keep them. The regulations tend to change depending on individual location and financial activities so be certain you ask a lot of questions before you distroy any financial documents.

TWO
Legal paperwork (marriage, birth, immunizations, health, etc.) may also need to be retained.

THREE
Be certain that what you want to shred and recycle is not something that you will need to have physical records of. After you scan, file, and backup your papers, you can still read and print them out...but, any legal documentation may require originals.

That said...
The rest of it has a scanner waiting.

Shredders are used to cut a piece of paper.
Ranges of cuts can be as much as 3,770 bits per sheet. The mid-range shredder uses the cross-cut (aka confetti cut) type of shred, which cuts a piece of paper into 300 pieces. The "average" strip cut shredder cuts a piece of paper into 34 strips which often allow for an easier reassembly.

Choosing the type of shred cut should be based on security needs as well as the process you are using to recycle. In other words, how sensitive is the information on the paperwork you are shredding and where will the shredded paper be in the next stage after shredding.
Will your shredded paper be put into a dumpster or will it be placed into a supervised composting area? On the other hand, will your shredded paper be handed over to an outsourcing company who specializes in disposal of sensitive documents?

Wikipedia says this about shredder cut types:

*Strip-cut shredders, the least secure, use rotating knives to cut narrow strips as long as the original sheet of paper. Such strips can be reassembled by a determined and patient investigator or adversary, as the product (the destroyed information) of this type of shredder is the least randomized. It also creates the highest volume of waste inasmuch as the chad has the largest surface area and is not compressed.

*Cross-cut or confetti-cut shredders use two contra-rotating drums to cut rectangular, parallelogram, or diamond-shaped (or lozenge) shreds.

*Particle-cut shredders create tiny square or circular pieces.

* Disintegrators and granulators repeatedly cut the paper at random until the particles are small enough to pass through a mesh.

* Hammermills pound the paper through a screen.

*Pierce and Tear Rotating blades pierce the paper and then tear it apart.

*Grinders A rotating shaft with cutting blades grinds the paper until it is small enough to fall through a screen.

The shredded remains of a National Lottery play slip.
There are numerous standards for the security levels of paper shredders, including:
DIN 32757 [6]
Level 1 = 12 mm strips
Level 2 = 6 mm strips
Level 3 = 2 mm strips (Confidential)
Level 4 = 2 x 15 mm particles (Commercially Sensitive)
Level 5 = 0.8 x 12 mm particles (Top Secret or Classified)
Level 6 = 0.8 x 4 mm particles (Top Secret or Classified) (unofficial extension of the DIN 32757-1 standard)
***end Wikipedia excerpt***

*Choose a shredder which meets your security needs as well as the process you are using to dispose of your documents.

All Photos and Content Credit to : Ecopaper.com

About EcoPaper.com

Regarding environmental degradation, the 20 century has been the worst in history. The effects are only comparable to the disaster that caused the extinction of dinosaurs. The causes are, amongst others, the industrial and technological progress, the exponential growth of the world population, lack of legislation and commitment by individuals and institutions. It is expected that for the 21'st century, the world population will be eleven million people.

Globalization and the ever growing demand for food have increased the impact of human activity over the environment. The impact on rivers, the land, seas, and forests and in all ecosystems in general, will be greater. It is important to remember that our planet is a very sensitive and vulnerable system and all that happens in one part of the world has a severe impact in another part.
Awareness of this situation should make us compromise in a personal way and induce us to shift away from consumption habits that affect the environment so strongly. If we all collaborate, we can implement a system of sustainable development which will allow us to inherit our children and grand-children the chance to a good quality life, with satisfaction no lesser that we have had.

We are obliged to at least allow future generations to enjoy rivers and seas that are clean, pure air, abundant forests and the company of species that are in threat of extinction, such as whales, manatees, tigers and parrots.

If it doesn't have the Ecopaper or Costa Rica Natural Logo its not certified Banana Paper. We are the only one's with the rights to use the term "Banana Paper'. Please be aware of imitations.

Traditional Paper Industry

The paper industry represents two percent of the world commerce and the demand increases every day. Paper still is the main form of communication among people, especially in the education field. It also has an infinite number of industrial uses, amongst which we can mention those related with packing and health care.


The cellulose and paper industry uses around one third of total production of wood and this proportion is increasing. Two thirds of the fiber used to make paper comes from virgin fiber and the rest comes from waste fibers. Between 5 and 10% of the derivatives of the cellulose is produced based on fibers that do not come from wood.


Amongst many environmental worries related to the manufacturing of traditional paper, we can mention:

• Biodiversity loss


• Replacement of natural or primary woods by tree plantations


• The insufficient use of waste paper and fibers that do not come from wood


• The domain of large scale mills that have a great political influence


• The continuous use of chlorine as a bleach


• Insufficient research regarding alternative technologies to produce paper in a cleaner way


• High levels of paper use which are not sustainable, specially in rich countries


• Systems of paper recollection and exports of paper impact the way of living of paper collectors in poor countries


• Excessive demand of transport in the commercial cycle of paper


• The hidden subsidies that promote the use of wood fiber rather than alternative fibers.

Banana`s Agro-Industry

Bananas were probably the first fruit cultivated by man. Historically, it is registered before the Christian age. This plant is even cited in the Coran as the fruit of paradise, under the name Musa Paradisiaca, which is the modern name for plantains. It was spread all over the world and brought to the occidental hemisphere in the XVI century by an Spanish monk.

In only 15 countries, the banana agro-industry processes each year 42 million tons of bananas with 2 million hectares planted. This industry generates numerous wastes such as: the plastic that wrap the bananas, plastic cords to tie the wrapping, damaged bananas and the pinzote (stems). An alarming quantity of over 10 million metric tons of pinzote is thrown in landfills or in local rivers.


The pinzote is composed 92% of water, 3% of resins and 2% glucose, the rest is vegetal fiber.This particular composition makes it decompose with the solid component not getting destroyed. This causes a severe impact on the surrounding ecosystems, the detriment of riversand underground waters, also the massive reproduction of flies and nauseous smells.

The Coffee Agricultural Industry

The word coffee comes from the arab "kahwah" (cauá), reaching us through the turkish "kahweh" (cavé), changing in the different languages but keeping itâ%u20AC%u2122s root.
Coffee is native of the equatorial forests of Africa, from the west coast of Uganda and the south f Sudan. Also, from the occidental part of Africa between latitudes 10º North y 10º South, in altitudes varying from sea level to 1000m. It is today, with no doubt, one the most known fruits worldwide. 30 species have been identifies, but the most important in economic terms is the Coffea arabica. It represents 80 to 90% of the world production. Other important varieties are C.canephora and the C.liberica.The leadership belongs to Brazil, with 33% of the world production, Colombia follows with 12%. In the years 1998-99 the total world production was estimated in 6.5 million kilograms. The ripe coffee beans have a thin peel, jelly like flesh, a cover and a silver like peel around the bean, all of this has to be removed before the beans are sent to the market.

The Beginning

In 1989 Harry Johansing took a surf trip to Costa Rica with no idea he would fall for the diverse ecological region, never wanting to part. With years of experience working with Kinko's, he never imagined one day supporting a Costa Rican lifestyle producing tree free papers. What is now a business producing uniquely sustainable and high quality tree free papers, once began as a small time company making colorful pads to sell as souvenirs. While touring the countryside looking for fibers to make his souvenirs, Harry experienced a life changing closeness to the natural environment that would shape his destiny. It was the fascinatingly evolved birds, plants and other animals of the rain forest that made him realize his purpose of creating a tree free paper that would one day preserve the awesome environment that he had fallen in love with.
Just using post consumer paper wasnâ%u20AC%u2122t good enough, there needed to be another source, so Harry began imagining another way. He partnered with Ian Ratowsky. What they created was a specialized method of mixing both post consumer and agricultural waste paper using no chemicals, less water, and inks made from vegetable oil and soy that is less harmful to the environment than their petroleum counterparts. The product is not only friendly to the environment, but superior to other paper with fibrous texture giving unmatched character compared to other papers. Natural coloring is taken from the fruits and beans of the recycled agricultural waste giving the paper a romantic ambiance.

It's not easy to compete with an established market strongly dominated by traditional techniques of mass production. In fact, the road to success has been much like traveling the washed-out roads of Costa Rica. But like the natives using creative and fun modes of transportation such as traveling by horseback, Harry's tenacity was able to forego competitors and create a product that today has revolutionize the way paper is produced.

To come right out with it, the company has created techniques to producing paper that make it possible to never have to cut down another tree again for the construction of paper. It is a suitable way for us to continue enjoying paper while keeping our planet healthy and viable for all species. Ecopaper has been producing Fine Environmental Papers and Paper products derived from natural fibres. Our products excel industry standards, resulting in state of the art banana paper, coffee and other sustainable paper products.

It has also managed an exponential growth as a direct result of its philosophy of conservation and respect for nature, which is shared by more people every day. We MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL PAPER :).

The Raw Materials

Agro-industrial fibres come from the waste of processing common agricultural products. In Ecopaper, we deal specifically with waste from bananas, coffee and tobacco.

Our Research and Development Department is currently involved in studying new fibres from pineapple, orange and palm hearts.


Each industrial process leaves different by-products:


Packing of bananas: as a result of pulling apart the bunches of bananas from the main stem, we have the pinzote left over and it contains 5% of usable fibre to manufacture paper.
Processing coffee: peels, leaves and small beans are separated from the coffee that will be processed, all this are used to manufacture our coffee paper.
By-products of tobacco: the leaves are separated from their veins during the processes involved in the tobacco industry, and they are used to make our tobacco paper.

Preparation Of Agricultural Fibre

As previously stated, the base fibre, or the vehicle, as we call it in Ecopaper, is composed with paper that has already been used in some way. It is mostly office paper, tetra pack containers, magazines and news papers. All these papers are collected by specialised collectors and sent to the mill to later be mixed with agricultural fibres. (For bleached and texture propose, we do not use any acid or chemical to bleach)


Once the mill process has begun, the post-consumer pulp is mixed with water in the pulper,which is a huge mixer that dissolves the paper in the water.


Preparation of the mix or commonly called pulping


The agro-industrial fibre and the disintegrated post-consumer fibre are mixed in a 20%-80% proportion respectively to form a suspension in the water. At this moment natural colouring can be added to achieve attractive shades in the paper.

Making Ecological Tree Free and Acid Paper

The mix is thrown through a sprinkling system into an endless band that acts as a sieve, letting the water pass through whilst keeping the pulp in suspension.
Combining adequately the speed of the band and the pressure of the sprinkling system, the thickness of the paper sheet can be regulated, which in an standardised way in Ecopaper can be 60g, 90g, 120g or 250g. From the endless band, the paper is threaded in a set of drums that rotate at a high temperature. Then through another endless band, made from an absorbent material it gets dry as it moves along. At the end of this zigzag of rotating drums, the paper sheet will only keep 3% of water and will be rolled into a big roll.

Editorial and Converting Processes

Our products are the result of a combination of editorial processes that make the final product possible. The combinations are very broad and in order to understand how the products are made, it is important to understand the individual steps:
Rewinding: it is the process that divides a paper roll into smaller width rolls..
Converting: The roll is cut into sheets to make paper reams.
Paper cutting: It is a process that is usually used several times to produce an article. It can be used to make smaller pieces of paper or to clean the edges of reams or products.
Printing press: lithography is the main method of printing used; it allows achieving finishes of one colour with text to photographic quality.
Embossing: It is the process that allows raising a design and making it stand from the surface.
Dies: It is a device for cutting or moulding paper into a particular shape, unlike the paper cutter that can only make straight cuts. This allows the designs to be original and alive.
Binding: this process allows sticking the internal pages to their covers. It can be pasted with silicon for fixed pages or with water based glue to allow the pages to be pulled. There are also ring bound products, which is usually made with a double ring.
Hand crafts: Through the skilled hands of many artisans, we achieve the details that add a touch of magic to each one of our products. The decorative on-lays on the covers, the original labels and the delicate assembly of the writing sets are all made by hand.
There are other hand jobs that require speed and strength like laminating a thin paper to a card board to make the covers or separate the leftovers after cutting products.
Packing: Using strict packing standards, the products are packed to resist transport without getting damaged. We also use bar code identification which simplifies the identification in our warehouse and in our clientâ%u20AC%u2122s warehouses.
A strict quality control makes possible that through all the stated processes we can make available for you a whole variety of Ecopaper products.

Our Beautiful and Useful Products

Due to the design, concept and the environmental philosophy surrounding Ecopaper products, there are much strength worth mentioning.

• It is an attractive product: its beautiful design shows hours of dedication from our designing team. At Ecopaper we all contribute with new ideas to keep refreshing the products, all based in the concept of preservation and harmony with Nature.


• It is an original product


• It is an environmentally friendly product


• It is very good quality and elegant


• It is a new concept

Together with all the attributes mentioned above, there are many opportunities related to the commercialization of our products

• It is a market not yet exploited to its full potential


• There is a growing market for green products


• There is an ever-growing environmentally awareness


• Developed countries show more concern for the environment


• Little competition from similar products

Environmental Issues

Waste paper from your office or home is called post-consumer waste. We assume that recycled paper is made from these wastes. This isn't necessarily so. Many of us feel deceived when we learn that most paper products labeled recycled contains little post-consumer material.

It is important for us as consumers to keep up the demand for this Post Consumer Waste (PCW) now that the recycling of paper is as viable as it has ever been.

Services
Ecopaper offers a variety of business services.

Take Action
Turn your company green. We offer tons of services, some listed here, most your imagination will have to take over. But if it has to do with paper we can do it.

Custom Printing
We offer many custom print services

Custom Artwork
Annual Reports
Book Publishing
Business Cards
Pamphlets
Catalogs
Promotional Items
Benefits
Help the world. Our products:

Save Trees
Remove waste from landfills
Prevents waste from going into rivers
Toxic Free
Chemical Free
Wholesale Inquiries
Looking to become a wholesaler? Please go to our services & wholesale information page.
Be sure to tell them where you heard about them! Thanks so much.

I have wondered...
Why buy a paper towel that works like cloth, when you could buy cloth?

Paper towels, paper plates, paper cups, and numerous other disposible products are causing more clogging of the land fills than you can imagine.

We are a disposible consumerism generation.

Our grandmothers didn't have disposible paper towels or those disposible diapers with plastic liners.

We can reduce waste by tons a day collectively by giving up one or two paper products at a time. Gradually or overnight, the primary focus is on progress.