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"People worried about cutting down mountains to make paper. What about..."

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Writing on Stone: ViaStone Paper

Written by Hank Green on 24/08/06

viastoneWe're mostly relying on recycled paper to get us through until the next innovation.  And while we at EcoGeek are very excited about the day when paper is used much less in favor of hi-res hand-held devices (like Sony's forthcoming E-Reader) we're excited to say that there's another alternative out there.

ViaStone is actually making paper out of rocks.  I guess if it was good enough for cavemen...  Anyhow, it's made of limestone, mostly, and a small amount of non-toxic resin to bind the 'mineral substrate' together.  You may have felt pure resin paper, it's very much like thin plastic, but adding large amounts limestone powder allows for a much more paper-like, completely bio-degradable, easily recyclable and chemically benign product. 

Though ViaStone's paper is 'tree-free,' acquiring rocks does generally require some kind of environmental damage (small-scale mining), but I like to have options, and discovering a company that squeezes paper out of stone is the kind of surprise that I can be happy with.

For Sale at The Image Shop

Via TreeHugger

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0
im going to make with god\'s help!
written by a guest, August 25, 2006
this is really good for young parents such as me i need all the help i can get.
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This is GREAT!
written by a guest, August 25, 2006
Stone paper. What a great idea! I hope they come out with more evironmental safe office supplies! Keep working at it!
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Wow I love it!
written by a guest, August 26, 2006
Sounds like a great idea now if they would just make use of all those natural power sources we are on the right track!
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Are you kidding me?
written by a guest, August 26, 2006
Sure, you aren't cutting down trees, but trees are renewable (you can plant and grow more), but you can't grow more rock. How this is green is beyond me.
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written by a guest, August 26, 2006
As a former quarryman I have to agree, this may be neat but it isn't green. First, you clear cut, then you take some dozers and push the over burden (top soil) aside, set up your crushing plant and then you start blasting and bring in the big earth movers. There's no such thing as small scale mining.
0
Worked for the Flintstones
written by a guest, August 29, 2006
Fred and Barney had no problems, but what's next? Concrete notepad? Greeting cards made of boulders? Rubble based napkins?
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\'Eco Friendly\' mining?
written by a guest, September 02, 2006
I am a biologist and have monitored mining actvities, and I would have to agree... not much is green about mining (I would think it is much worse than managed forest harvesting). Im not familiar enough with limestone mining, but I can't see how it would be much different. This seems like one of those products that is really cool and sounds great and 'environmentally friendly' at first glance, but once you scratch the surface it ends up being just as bad or worse than the alternatives.
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good idea
written by bandung, July 23, 2007
stop wasting wood..
0
sure??
written by fridz, November 21, 2007
and what about stop wasting stones and rocks, since people will use huge amount of this stone papers and they'll start cut our mountains...
it means another environmental problem...
not a very brilliant idea... :(
0
ViaStone? same to Rich Mineral Paper ?
written by albert, May 15, 2008
See the above web page, it looks the same...
0
...
written by albert, May 15, 2008
sorry, the web site is here: http://www.ycrp.com/
0
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0
THIS IDEA SUCKS!!
written by bob, February 22, 2009
I really do have to agree doing this is like cutting down mountains, and also you can't renew it. this idea sucks but thanks for trying
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written by Scott, August 07, 2009
Those of you criticizing this paper as not being green have obviously not looked into the process much. It is true that rock has to be mined, but most of the rock used in this kind of paper comes from materials left over from construction sites, rock that would otherwise be wasted. No water is used in making the paper eliminating water pollution. A lot less energy is used in making the paper reducing air pollution. The paper is completely non-toxic, biodegradable and can be recycled. It seems to me that this paper is an excellent replacement for conventional paper except for the fact that it does not last as long. Those who criticize this paper, will you not be happy until we return to living like cavemen? Even cavemen had some degree of negative effect on their environment. As long as humans live on this earth, we will have an effect on the environment. We should do what we can to minimize that effect, but we still have to exist.
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come on
written by rody, February 09, 2010
you people need to think about what your saying. they are using rocks! and your saying in the long run we will use up all the rocks and destroy mountains lololol. please just think about this logically. if people in the world think like most of you...........we are in trouble!
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written by LadysWeb, February 09, 2010
Personally, after using the stone paper, I was absolutely amazed at how wonderful the pen flowed as I wrote! I think it a great item! With saving the trees, water, etc... with reduction of polution... all of that just seems to be an added plus as well!
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written by Glen G, February 14, 2010
I have used this paper already for printing out my photographic work for a mini-portfolio I am constructing, and as far as I can tell, it produces just as good results as any regular photo-paper. I think it's a viable alternative to traditionally produced paper products.
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written by amy, May 21, 2010
I think this is great alternative. I can see the problem...that if demand went up..this alternative may not be able to stay a green source for paper. (right not the multiple construction sites could probably handle the demand). I think that what we need to keep in mind...is staying away from one source for items we use, as in this case paper (but there is also energy, transportation etc)and keep with multiple sources. This way...we are able to keep with sustainability and lower the risk of abusing our planet.
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ms
written by Jenny, October 19, 2010
People worried about cutting down mountains to make paper. What about for hundreds of years, people demonished mountains to find coal, gold,diamond, copper and many minerals. Look at many Asia countries, the mountains disappeared, some of them not because cutting rocks to make paper, is because cutting trees down to make paper and other wooden products. No trees protect mountains. The floood washed soil down, caused more problems. There are a lot more issues and bad effect on our enviroment of using trees to produce paper. I believe using stones to make paper is a much better way. The point is -- is there anything in the world is perfect????

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