From Invitesite's inception as Fine Paper Company in 1995, the founders actively sought out suppliers that shared their values and vision for a sustainable future. The practices and policies of our current partners are described below:
Handmade Paper from India.
The Mill: Invitesite works with an experienced hand paper mill in Northern India. We know the family-owners personally, and have worked with them for 15 years. There are no middle people or middle companies involved. Our papers are among the finest handmade papers to be found in India. The sheets are very clean, reasonable consistent, and well-formed. We get very little spoilage. High quality and low spoilage is extremely important, as it cuts down on wasted efforts as well as transportation carbon. It is much more efficient to inspect the sheets at the mill, and re-pulp the substandard paper. Since we fabricate our products from these parent papers here in Pasadena, we are intimately familiar with each sheet we use.
Fair Trade Labor Practices: Hand papermaking is an artisan craft, employees are highly skilled and compensated for their expertise. The company pays their employees living wages and health insurance. This is a larger mill, and inspected by the Indian labor authorities. The mills are clean, with good working conditions. This handmade paper mill also makes papers for many environmental businesses in Europe, with more exacting standards than currently exist in the US.
Handmade Paper from Nepal.
The Mill: Handmade paper from Nepal is NOT made in paper mills. Individual sheets are made in the countryside by farmers in the streams of the high Himalayan Mountains. Sheets are made one by one on the paper mould (screen) and dried in the sun while still on the screen. Truly a "cottage" industry, the paper is made during downtimes in the farmers' growing season, especially during the fall and winter. Profits from papermaking supplement the farmer's sustenance farming. We work with two familes in Nepal. One family makes the paper in one small village area farm, and it is then colored in the family's facility in Katmandu from where it is exported. The other family runs a much smaller production, and we buy paper directly from them in their small village. This paper is natural or uncolored.
Above: Drying handmade paper in Nepal
Fair Trade Labor Practices.
We buy the paper directly from the family who makes it. We know the funds are going directly to the farmer-families. We were introduced to one small papermaking farmer through an American teacher, who was setting up schools in the very isolated area of Northwestern Nepal. We do not buy from middlemen, but directly with the paper producers. This insures that the producers get much higher revenues from their work. This direct connection also affords us good communication about color and quality. Some of the first papers we imported were from Nepal, and from 1997-2000, Driscoll was Secretary for Craftsman Association of Nepal, a non-profit organization that worked to elevate the status of Nepali craftspeople (especially women) in the papermaking and lost wax casting trades.
Machinemade Tree-Free Paper from Thailand.
The Mills: We use papers from two different mills in Thailand. Both prescribe to a Fair Trade agreement, which guarantees workers a fair wage and good working conditions. Both mills are visited by our importer frequently. Both mills continue to refine and upgrade their processes. One of the mills was set up in Thailand almost 20 years ago specifically to implement sustainable practices in terms of using renewable fibers. Both mills make frequent use of post harvest waste, such a bagasse (sugarcane), mango leaves, tamarind leaves, pineapple leaves and fibers, as well as sustainably harvested mulberry fiber from the mulberry bush. Papers from these mills are extremely consistent in terms of quality.
