Simple, elemental and 97% post consumer waste, Naked Pocket Folders will show your sense of design, economy and environment.

Easily customized for proposals, around the office or at design school, these pocket folders are strong, beautiful and eco friendly.  The 100% recycled 97% post consumer waste paper board folders and cd packages have a smooth clean look with a paper not available anywhere else.

Whether you are a LEED certified company working to maintain your points, a company fulfiling your CSR, or a person who just cares about design and the environment, Naked pocket folders will not disapoint.

LEED buildings have strict guidelines as to air quality, To keep your certification current, your building need to pass certain requirements - each gaining you points towards your LEED certification.

Naked Binder can help.  Our recycled sustainable 3-ring binders can be part of a number of credits. Today, we are going to talk about just two - but which add up to 10 points which is huge - that can be 12-25% of your certification depending on which one you are shooting for.

1> 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."

Naked Binder offers FSC certified 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, so if you are within 500 miles of our plant, the regional product clause also works.

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.

Your Solid waste management policy has to cover ongoing consumables.  If you are using vinyl binders, this stream is much higher (they fall apart quickly) and much more toxic.

2>Solid Waste Management Policy

This is put in place to "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 LEED they want you to "Reuse, recycle or compost 50% of the ongoing consumables waste stream"

Naked Binder is a 100% recyclable 3-ring binder. Easily recyclable in about 9 seconds.

If you are on the committee for a LEED building, it is important to look at all the details. Especially if you have a high paper storage on site (law firm, architectural, accounting or bank...), Naked Binder can help you maintain the high standards of your business that help you stand out.

Being 'Green' is an interesting experience.  On one side you have the facts of climate change, species extinction, water shortages and air pollution. On the other side you have the feeling that it is the right thing to do - be it a spiritual connection to the earth or a simpler emotional response to the issue.

This seems to be one reason environmentalism is so disjointed. Those who stick to the science think the emotional members are clouding the issue and giving the movement a granola/crunchy easily dismissed name. 

Those with stronger emotional/spiritual focus think the science folks are a bit uptight and repressed and need to get out more.

The question is which one better represents the world as we know it?

The way I see it, The linear, absolute, truth aka facts the basis for sustained and lasting action.  By understanding the problems and causes we can start to, and hopefully succeed, in reversing or mitigating the effects mankind has had on the planet. 

It also makes a case for those whose have little emotional attachment to the earth: Money. While it will cost us a lot to address the years of dumping, tossing and polluting, it will cost more not to.  The 5 trillion dollar expected price tag to the US eastern seaboard alone if sea levels rise even a fraction of the predictions should motivate.  The health, food and water issues predicted will cost even more. So unless you believe that you are going to shuffle off your mortal coil soon and don't care what happens to your kids - this too can be a motivating argument.

On the other side are the arguments your kids bring to you and lets face it, they are right.  It is not fair. It is unjust.  It sucks.  The earth is this amazing, creative interconnected eco-system and we are ruining it.  How come they are never going to see a glacier in Glacier National Park? (will they change the name?)  The feeling of being connected to the earth is often lost in the rat race.  For those who stay connected to the beauty, power and wonder of nature, it is an overwhelming argument for doing everything in our power to save it. 

For those on the extreme sides of these arguments, they may never meet and perhaps will continue to annoy each other for ever.

As an avid back country enthusiast, I straddle these worlds.  I think it sucks that I stumble onto areas that were clear cut and not even logged.  Pollution, disregard for animals, plants, fish, and everything between is not a valid exchange for a few dollars.  I feel at home and connected in the high country in a way I never feel in the city. On the other hand I understand both the bottom line and the scientific arguments and directions.

Both of these views are right.  They frustrate each other, but think how they annoy the hell out of the non-believers who, lets face it, are burying their heads in the sand.  The science, the spiritual and the emotional arguments are all justifiable.  The science is clear enough to push business and government (or should be) and the emotional connection to the earth and the future should help convince others.

So now we all believe, get out and start doing something about it. Call the congress people and senators. Call the President, lobby businesses you frequent, clean up your own act.  No one can do this for you, so lets get our emotionally rationalist butts in gear.

If you want to know what goes into your 3-ring binder, you need to take a close look. A really close look.

Naked Binder is using a 100% post consumer waste board in their 3-ring binders.  This board is made up of curbside waste, office waste and other papers picked up in the recycling truck.  There is no virgin fiber in this board, and it is FSC certified.

First take a look at the binders. The board is clean gray, and unbleached. It has a richness in it that is not identifiable at first glance.

So we should look closer:

we start to see so specks of color and the texture of the board which gives it a nice feel in the hand.  The board is clean enough for the 100% recycled symbol to be sharp and read even at 5/8" of an inch.

Notice the fibers and the color specks.  Those overlapping fibers add strength to the board- holding together so that we can flex the board 250,000 times and it won't fail.  The color adds a richness that enhances the board even when you are standing farther away - subtle but very real.

The board we use in the Naked Binder not only enhances the sustainability of binder through being 100% post consumer waste, but adds a beauty and strength to our binders. 

If you want a truly sustainable 3-ring binder, recycled and recyclable and non toxic, this is the binder for you.

We could go on and on and on and on and on. We make the best binders.  Greener, stronger, better designed and with a  range of colors and styles that will fit anywhere from punk clubs, the finest architecture office, schools and banks.  Here are a few of our reasons we think you will be truely happy with our binders.

1.  Quality. 

• Stronger: We had an independent lab flex our Naked Binder 250,000 time to see if it would fail. Apparently, we didn't go far enough. You could use this binder 20 times a day for 34 years and still have a working binder.
• Well Crafted: We have been in bookbinding since the 1850's and making binders for over 25 years. While Naked Binder is the new kid at LBS, the knowledge, craft and attention to detail we offer is unparalleled.
• Dishwasher safe.  Wait what?  OK we don't recommend it, but we washed them in a dishwasher with soap and the dry cycle. Let them dry flat overnight and start using them again. Not good for your contents, but fun around the office.

2.  Materials.

• Most of our products are FSC certified (soon all will be).
• We use 100% recycled board which is 97-100% post consumer waste.  We have speced the cleanest and best made board in the industry. We use a 110pt board - which is one reason they are not disposable like other binders.
• 100% cotton book cloth:  Just like your books on the shelf, this book cloth is strong and 100% cotton. We are working towards less insecticide intensive sources - we will let you know as soon as we find the quality we demand.
• FSC and Green Seal certified papers. Our papers are held to the same standards as our board. Sustainable and high quality.
• Stainless steel rings: We use the best rings possible, especially in the larger sizes where you might have 550 sheets of paper in the binder.

3.  Made in the USA. 

• Less travel means less emmisions in transport, fair wages and health care for the people making the binders. We care about our people as well as the envirnment.

4. Environmentally Friendly

• Naked Binders are 100% recycled and 100% recyclable. Using recycled paper reduces water and energy use and reduces air pollution. 
• Less waste. Being easily recyclable means you won't be caught with a warehouse full of toxic vinyl you can't get rid of and you cut down on waste hauling costs and landfill costs.
• Members of 1% for the Planet - donating to preserve wilderness and wildspaces.

5. Guaranteed.

• If they don't work for you send them back. It is that simple.

6. Really Good Looking.

Try us on.

Update:  UPS is running so packages are getting out on time.  While there may be minor delays, it looks as if we are good to go.

It is Wednesday January 20th and the midwest is having a lovely and severe ice storm today.

If you need an order overnighted today, be warned that there is a possibility that UPS will not be able to get it there.  The roads are like ice - wait! they are iced!  I couldn't even get out of my (altogether too steep) driveway today.

We will post photos for those of you in warmer or drier climes to enjoy, but can't guarantee that packages will get out on their regular schedules.

Please call if you absolutely need it and we will see what we can do to help.

Thanks!

Naked Binder, the strongest binder in the world, is also the best looking most versitile binder also.  These new shots by King Au show just how beautiful a recycled eco friendly 3-ring binder can be.

The Elemental Bare Board Binder - Naked Binder

Eco Friendly 11 x 17 Architect Binder

Eco Friendly and colorful Project Binder

Elegant FSC certified Classic Binders

Sustainable and Adaptable Wrapped Binder

It has been established that the air in your office contains up to 10 times more VOCs than the outside air.  If you are in a LEED certified building, someone already spent a lot of time insuring that isn't so high, but for those of you (and us) who are not so lucky, reducing VOCs around the office is still possible.

First, what am I talking about? Volatile Organic Compounds. from the EPA:

"Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors.  VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household products. Paints, varnishes, and wax all contain organic solvents, as do many cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, degreasing, and hobby products. Fuels are made up of organic chemicals. All of these products can release organic compounds while you are using them, and, to some degree, when they are stored."

We have heard tell of LEED certified buildings failing their VOC test because of all the new office supplies brought in and unwrapped in the new building. Plastic pens, vinyl binders, markers... they add up.

Why should you worry? More from the EPA:

"Health Effects: Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some organics can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.  Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include conjunctival irritation, nose and throat discomfort, headache, allergic skin reaction, dyspnea, declines in serum cholinesterase levels, nausea, emesis, epistaxis, fatigue, dizziness.

The ability of organic chemicals to cause health effects varies greatly from those that are highly toxic, to those with no known health effect. As with other pollutants, the extent and nature of the health effect will depend on many factors including level of exposure and length of time exposed. Eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment are among the immediate symptoms that some people have experienced soon after exposure to some organics. At present, not much is known about what health effects occur from the levels of organics usually found in homes. Many organic compounds are known to cause cancer in animals; some are suspected of causing, or are known to cause, cancer in humans."

So what can you do? 

Look around your office. See the wall of vinyl binders?  Check the buckets of markers, pens, high liters and the placement of copiers, printers. 

If you can move the copiers and other machines to a better ventilated area away from most people that would help.

And we are going to say it even though it seems to be a shameless plug.  Get rid of the vinyl binder wall.  If you must use them until they fall apart (which shouldn't be long), put them in a well ventilated closed off room.  You have other options, options that will not out-gas and cause a list of health effects as long as your arm. Check us out here if you are looking to replace vinyl for an eco-friendly, recycled and recyclable binder that will last.

Be careful about your environment.  You do matter.

Issuing a Corporate Social Responsibility statement is the easy part.  Once the ink has dried attention wanders, the worry about the bottom line wanders back into the mix and people gravitate to what they have always done.

So how do you keep the momentum going and stick to your ideals?

Make it easy. Do the research once and have one person working on a single project.  Many times a few people with search the same sites and vendors.  This wastes valuable time needed for more important things.  Find trusted vendors, sources and the best products. Get samples. Compare.  Go with the best. You can reassess every year to see you happy you are with product and service.

Set it up.  Set up an account.  This way you can call or email and order in and get billed later. One payment for multiple orders, easy tracking

Talk to the vendors.  There is often flexibility in how things are handled. Want to drop ship? Need special numbers on the tracking?  Often things are as easy as asking.

Insure they are on the level.  There is a lot of green-washing.  This does not help you meet your CSR, it holds you back.  In your initial research find out - are they certified? By whom? Does that cool symbol mean something or is is something they made up?

Lets get an example here.

Naked Binder is dedicated to exceeding expectations in service, in product and in our Corporate Social Responsibility. Our binders are FSC certified as are our folders.  They are constructed with 100% post consumer waste board and are the strongest binders on the planet. We had them flexed by an independent lab 250,000 times and they don't fail. We've run them through dishwashers and still use them.

We have corporate accounts as well as the ability to order on-line and avoid any process.

Our binders look great, which is good since they last so long.  You are going to have them for a long time. Following a long tradition of book binding, our binders are well crafted, well designed and a pleasure to use.

We guarantee.  That hinge will not fail in normal use.  Ever.

We give back. We are part of 1% for the Planet, giving 1% of our sales to preserving wilderness and wild spaces.  We also donate to schools, teachers and needy organizations. Call us crazy, but we actually care.

Economical.  Longer lasting, better made and better looking and well priced. We have discounts for quantities, but have no restrictions on how many you want.  Get one.  Get 10,000.  It is up to you. Either way, we will help you acheive your goals.

The ABA (American Bar Association) has a great program called the WasteWise Program.

We all know that Law Firms generate a lot of paper. This results in a large carbon footprint as well as a lot of waste. Their site says. "The life-cycle of one ton of office paper, from production to recycling, results in the release of about nine tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)–equivalent gases, which contribute to global climate change; as well as other air and water pollutants."

They are encouraging Law firms to print double sided, use at least 30% post consumer waste papers, and to recycle waste papers.  

Considering the amount of paper generated in the Legal industry, this could potentially reduce carbon outputs, save a lot of forest and even reduce costs for firms.

Win win win.

Naked Binder would like to suggest one more step.  These same firms use a lot of binders, A LOT of binders.  Traditionally these are vinyl ( what else was there a few years ago?).  By switching to a recycled and recyclable binder, eliminating the toxic vinyl and getting a much stronger longer lasting product, Law Firms could save even more.

On top of saving money and the environment, you will be the envy of all you lawyer friends.  These binders are not only the strongest binders in the world, and the most sustainable binders, but well designed and good looking FSC certified binders.

Today as we were purusing the internet we stumbled on a review of 'Slow Death By Rubber Duck' a book by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie.

I was reading the Interior Design Magazine site Design Green (which I would recommend) when I stubled on this.

This book involves the writers doing everyday things, eating tuna, microwaving plastics, using normal household products and raising their internal chemicals. In an insanly short time the chemicals in their bloodstream spike to dangerous levels (the 'Supersize Me' of chemicals). Here is a Washington Post review of it also

This is what we and Naked Binder have been concerned about.  If you suround yourself with bad chemicals you are going to absorb them. Now the the vinyl binder.  Vinyl is a toxic product - you have issues with out gassing when you store them, toxic to make and recycle if you tke the time to disect the binder. Especially if you are surrounded by binders (law firms, students, architects, designers, people who store photos or negatives....) you are breathing the chemicals they put out.

Naked Binder offers a product that is not filled with toxic chemicals.  A recycled pressed board with a cotton fabric, or FSC certified papers on it will not out gas.  If you have a room full of Naked Binders, there will be no oder, no chemical stew, no reason to test your blood for high levels of...whatever.

Read the book. Look around you and start eliminating toxins from your life.  It can be as easy as switching to a better looking, better working, longer lasting and more sustainable binder.

Whether you are creating LEED certified buildings, showing artwork, building a website or working on a construction site, Naked Binder offers you a stronger, better choice for a 11x17 binder.

The problem with binders in use on the work site or in a gallery is that they fall apart.  Usually the hinge tears first, and then the rest of the binder follows quickly.

With Naked Binder's Architect Binder you get an 11 x 17 format binder that not only looks great, it is guaranteed not to fall apart. 

We sent some Naked Binders out to be tested in an independent laboratory.  They flexed the hinge 250,000 times and it did not fail.  That is the equivalent of using a binder 20 times a day for 34+ years. Most binders, especially vinyl, don't last 6 months with constant usage.

Not only will you save money on replacement binders, but the upfront cost is the same or less in many cases.

Available in three colors

1" or 1.5" rings

100% Recycled, 97-100% post consumer waste

Easily recyclable

The most eco friendly 11x17 tabloid binder on the planet

Naked Binder has raised the bar for sustainable binders again.

We define a sustainable product as one that is energy, resource and water efficient to create, works well and for longer, and is easily returned into the recycle stream to become a new product.

It is also true that a product with these traits that no one needs or wants is not going to work for us.  People use binders. In the US alone it is estimated that between 40 and 60 million binders a year are bought. Most of these are cheap vinyl - toxic to make, use and recycle (if you spend the time to dissect it).

So how does Naked Binder make the most eco-friendly, recycled sustainable 3-ring binders?

We use the best materials:

Our board is 97-100% post consumer waste and 100% recycled. No virgin wood. Most of products are FSC certified also.  Recycled paper takes less water, energy and generates less air pollution than using virgin wood products. It also takes pressure off of our forests, wild lands and wildlife leaving everyone beautiful places to go and enjoy nature undisturbed.

Our binders last:

Naked Binder does not laminate or use plastics, vinyl or other toxic methods on our binders.  The perception is that a bare board binder is not as strong.  Turns out, that is a myth.  We have had the Naked Binder flexed 250,000 times without fail. In fact, it still works fine.  In order to test them for water problems we ran them through dishwashers - and they are still in use also. No other binder, eco friendly or toxic, can make these claims.

An eco friendly binder that looks phenomenal:

If you are going to have a binder for the next ten plus years, it should be something you want to have around, so we designed five styles of Naked Binder - from elemental to eye popping color - all eco friendly, recycled and 100% recyclable.

Recyclable, absolutely, completely, easily:

Every piece of our binders is recyclable.  With a flat head screwdriver, it takes about 5 seconds to pop the rings from a binder and then recycle the pieces.  We have video! Contrast with the 5+ minutes it takes to dissect a vinyl binder (and much more time to find out if anyone in your state will recycle vinyl).  Even at the low estimate of 40 million vinyl binders sold every year this alone saves 137,499 DAYS (24 hours a day, every minute counted) of labor.

The report just came in.  After 250,000 flexes of the Naked Binder it still does not fail.  We won't lie, the outer layer of the hinge cracked. Not failed, not shredded, not ripped or broke...cracked. And only the outer layer - after a quarter million flexes. That binder is still a working binder - it just has a slight cosmetic feature now.

We tested a 2" bare board Naked Binder - 100% recycled, 100% post consumer waste. This binder has no extras, no cotton spine wrap to help increase its longevity, no vinyl, plastics, spinach or any other strength enhancing addatives to help this last longer.  This 100% post consumer waste FSC certified board is the basis for all of the Naked Binder line.

What does a quarter of a million flexes mean to you? 

20 uses a day for 34+ years

100 uses a day for almost 7 years.

What it really means is that unlike your vinyl binder, you won't be taping the spine together on a Naked Binder.  A sustainable binder is one that lasts - Naked Binder is not a disposable product. It is a well crafted asset to your home, office, school, scrapbook or proposal.

Naked Binder - The Strongest Binder is the World!!  It survives the dishwasher, 250,000 flexes!  The naked binder team is now dreaming up new tests to see how much a really well made recycled, eco friendly binder can take.