Canefields Paper – The Ultimate Sustainable Office Supply

As I predicted, last week’s trip back to the East Coast was an exercise in nonstop learning about sustainable products. As I made my way up from North Carolina and Virginia through Pennsylvania and New York, one of the many highlights was my last stop in Syracuse, to meet the people responsible for importing and selling copier paper – by the container-load – made not from trees, but from the biomass that’s left over when sugar cane is processed.

In my mind, these people’s story contrasts with 99% of the tales of woe one hears about re: green products. Normally you have something  that’s terrific for the environment, but it’s expensive as the devil. Or maybe it sounds good, but the company needs millions of dollars and a few years to bring to the table.

Here’s a product that exists now (Canefields), has higher quality than its replacement, doesn’t cost a single tree, is manufactured with processes that use 100% renewable (wind) energy — and costs almost the exact same as paper from wood. It’s a story one doesn’t hear every day.