Corporate Responsibility. To many this seems like something that vanished - or maybe never existed. There are a few companies that stand out.
One of our favorites is Patagonia. Started in a shed making climbing gear, Patagonia evolved into a large company keeping the dreams of the founder, Yvon Chouinard firmly in the corporate fabric. They support many environmental causes and started 1% for the Planet, a way of encouraging other companies to do the same. They are up front with the footprint of their clothes in traveling and construction.
Corporate responsibility extends to the social, ethical and environmental views and actions of the company.
At Naked Binder we are trying to do our part.
Our 3-ring binders and folders are made paying fair wages and we offer health care. They are made in Des Moines, IA where our parent company, Library Binding Service has been since the 1930s.
We support the local schools (and some less local), donating 3-ring binders for kids who need them. We had so many requests last year, we donated pallets of binders out at a time.
Naked Binder was formed with the intention of making the best, most sustainable 3-ring binder on the planet. We constantly strive to find ways to cut waste and the footprint of our binders. We've switched to an FSC certified 100% post consumer waste board, simplified our process. We are constantly striving to do better.
Our passions are in the outdoors. Climbing, hiking, paddling, running, walking and restoring. Naked Binder has tasked itself to work toward leaving no trace. We are cutting down our footprint and offering others a way to cut theirs. While not entirely without trace, compared to vinyl binders, our recycled and recyclable 3-ring binders are a walk in the park.
Sustainable Purchasing Policy and Solid Waste Management Policy.
If you are a LEED certified building, you have to have a Sustainable Purchasing Policy put in place to "To reduce the environmental and air quality impacts of the materials acquired for use in the operations and maintenance of buildings."and "To facilitate the reduction of ongoing waste and toxins generated by building occupants and building operations that are hauled to and disposed of in landfills or incineration facilities."
For Sustainable Purchasing Policy for ongoing consumables the guidelines are
- Purchases contain at least 10% postconsumer and/or 20% postindustrial material.
- Purchases contain at least 50% rapidly renewable materials.
- Purchases contain at least 50% materials harvested and processed or extracted and processed within 500 miles of the project. (map)
- Purchases consist of at least 50% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)–certified paper products.
- Batteries are rechargeable.
Your Solid waste management policy has to cover ongoing consumables. The guidelines that pertain to Naked Binder are:
- Reuse, recycle or compost 50% of the ongoing consumables waste stream (by weight or volume).
Naked Binders makes FSC certified bare board 3-ring binders and folders which are 97-100% Post Consumer Waste and 100% recycled, We are based in Des Moines IA and manufacture here. Naked Binder is a 100% recyclable 3-ring binder. Easily recyclable in about 9 seconds.
Each purchase can receive credit for each sustainable criterion met (i.e., a $100 purchase that contains both 10% post consumer recycled content and 50% FSC certified counts twice in the calculation, for a total of $200 of sustainable purchasing). Your Naked Binder purchases can count twice or three times to your LEED Certification.
If you are using vinyl binders, they do not count towards these credits and you are jeapardizing the air quality of your building.
It is estimated that 40-60 million vinyl 3-ring binders are sold in the US every year. That is a lot of binders, and a lot of vinyl. Assume that each binder weighs 1 pound. For ease of numbers lets assume the vinyl accounts for 1/8 of that.
Of the 40-60 million pounds of waste these binders create (created to be disposable, they just don't last), that leaves about 5-7 million pounds of vinyl, something that will not break down in nature. Luckily, we are informed it is recyclable otherwise we would have one big and growing problem.
non) Recycling
The multitudes of additives required to make PVC useful make large scale post consumer recycling nearly impossible for most products and interfere with the recycling of other plastics. Of an estimated 7 billion pounds of PVC thrown away in the US, only 14 million - less than 1/2 of 1 percent - is recycled. The Association of Post Consumer Plastics Recyclers declared efforts to recycle PVC a failure and labeled it a contaminant in 1998.
Although vinyl is in theory recyclable, there are currently no vinyl recycling programs available. The vast majority of PVCs end up in landfill or incinerated - and both are environmentally hazardous. Currently 0.1% to 3% of vinyl is recycled (mostly industrial waste) of the PVC that is discarded in the US every year.
Oops. Well hopefully it won't burn because that would release a lot of toxic fumes...
Fire dangers
PVC poses a great risk in building fires, as it releases deadly gases long before it ignites, such as hydrogen chloride which turns to hydrochloric acid when inhaled. As it burns, whether accidentally or in waste incineration, it releases yet more toxic dioxins. PVC burning in landfill fires may now be the single largest source of dioxin releases to the environment. If you see the former entry about recycling, with the approximately 8400 landfill fires every year in the US, this is an issue.
All of a sudden the price you are really paying for that $4 binder is pretty high in municipal costs, fire-fighters and health care for those affected by the fumes, creation and wastes of the industry.
You have options. Naked Binder is one of those options. Naked Binder offers a series of 100% post-consumer waste binders board, eco friendly 3-ring binders that last for years (buy less) and are fully recyclable (no landfill). We use no toxins, no vinyl and no plastics. You can have a healthier office and environment, not to mention a much better working and looking 3-ring binder.
Don't settle for a cheap binder that costs you a lot in other ways, save money and have a recycled and recyclable 3-ring binder that is also the strongest 3-ring binder on the planet.
