Green Gadget - World’s greenest business card?

I came across the Traffic & Marketing Design website today which is marketing and selling “world’s greenest business cards” as one of the products. It uses 100% post consumer paper and is produced in Canada. The ink is vegetable based. I like the idea and I think companies should consider these green business card options. However, I’m not convinced with some of the envirnemental benifits claimed as shown in the table below. The references included there were not useful in convincing me. I agree that no new trees are cut to make these business cards, but the water and energy savings as well as emission and waste reduction need to be further verified. Recycling paper is quite an energy intensive process which requires a lot of water and chemical; further, not all paper is recyclable and I would think that there is still solid waste associated with paper recycling process. Furthermore, the process energy and solid waste would all results in emissions. It would be more realistic and environmentally responsible for such comparison. Just my thought… what do you think?

1 FriendsOfTrees.org: http://www.FriendsOfTrees.org/
2 H2Ouse.org: http://www.H2Ouse.org/tour/details/
3 EPA.gov: http://www.EPA.gov/cleanenergy/powerprofiler.htm
http://www.EPA.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html
4 Montgomery.gov: http://www.MontgomeryCountyMD.gov/

LoLee Green

Can we shop our way to sustainability?