Green Tuesdays: Smock Paper

I recently found Smock Paper and swoon! I am in love. I have always had a love for letterpress - there is something about the words being deeply cushioned into the paper...

Since I prefer sustainable products when possible, I am always on the lookout for eco-conscious wedding vendors and sustainable wedding products such as 'green' wedding invitations. And so, I found Smock. These are not your typical "handmade paper with a twig through them" type of green wedding invitations. Smock uses stunning bamboo paper combined with a letterpress technology that is extremely green, using only vegetable-oil based and low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) inks and low-VOC and citrus-based solvents. Even their packaging is biodegradable, tree-free, and petroleum-free. Their green office and employee programs are amazing, and something any company should strive to even do a small percentage of - to read more check out their efforts here.

Why Bamboo? Smock's fabulous website says it best: "Bamboo is a truly sustainable and renewable resource. It's the fastest growing plant on this planet; it grows without pesticides or fertilizers; and it requires very little water to grow. In addition to not requiring pesticides or fertilizers, bamboo reaches its mature harvestable height in 3 to 5 years (versus 10-20 years for most softwoods). Bamboo generates up to 35% more oxygen than hardwood trees, and absorbs four times as much carbon as hardwood. Bamboo can detoxify wastewater (due to its high nitrogen consumption) and improve soil quality. If that wasn't enough, bamboo also has natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties too."

I was lucky to get some samples of Smock's invitations at the Special Event Conference last month in San Diego and found it absolutely yummy - thick, yet yielding to the touch, very soft, and perfect for letterpress.

How fabulous to get the luxury of letterpress on sustainably created paper form a company whose mission is to make the planet a better place for all of us, one wedding at a time? Thank you, Smock Paper!

Daniela