Touching and Feeling

When thinking of bamboo, it is not likely that snow covered stalks rising 50 feet up into the cold air of Pennsylvania sky is the first thought that comes to mind. But it does exist. I took these photographs this past week while trekking through the snow in New Hope, PA. Serene, peaceful, calm, elegant - nice moment quickly Gone with the Wind as snow blows off the stalks and directly onto my face!

Of course, when I think of bamboo my thoughts are drawn to its uses as paper - what else! One of Orrganics' beautiful letterpress lines - Smock - uses bamboo paper from bamboo harvested in Thailand by local growers. Not only is the paper beautiful, luxurious, thick and soft but it also has environmental benefits. To hear it directly from Smock:

"We consider bamboo to be a true wonder plant. In addition to not requiring pesticides or fertilizer to grow, 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.

The bamboo for Smocks paper is harvested in Thailand without use of pesticides or fertilizer. The bamboo used in our paper is not genetically modified. Our bamboo is supplied by local farmers and is not harvested from areas where traditional or civil rights are violated, nor does it come from natural forests that have been converted to plantations."

Orrganics has used bamboo letterpress for bar mitzvah invitations (see one above) and for personal/social stationery. And, as we are approaching Valentine's Day, I am thinking there might be some touching and feeling going on in the days to come... with Smock's bamboo wedding invitations of course!

Smock bamboo paper letterpress invite featured above in InStyle Weddings magazine.