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Karen Kempf and the rain barrel

LGNO recently sat down with Karen Kempf, founder of Paper-NOLA, and our choice for local, handmade 100% recycled paper products. Karen started Paper-NOLA as a side business back in 2004 after opening her favorite Christmas gift: a paper-making kit.

She started her recycled paper career making journals and selling at local markets like Lafayette Square and Freret Street, then quickly evolved into custom work and invitations, making Paper-NOLA Karen’s full-time business since May 2009.

LGNO:  One of the comments every time I hand someone my business card is “WOW! What a cool card ~ a REAL recycled card! Who did these?”  And it just makes me smile, as it was quite the search when we launched earlier this year, trying to find someone to print on REAL recycled paper.

KK: Yeah, thank you!  That’s always good to hear.  When I started Paper-NOLA, my challenge was and still is to stay as pure as possible. My core belief is to reduce, reuse, and recycle ~ I even have it tattooed on my neck, see?

LGNO: Tell me, without giving away all your secrets, how do you go about making paper? Is there a recipe?

KK: Well, yes, actually! I start out with used office paper: shredded bills, construction paper, tissue paper, brown paper bags, newspaper, packaging wrap, and natural botanicals from my yard–

LGNO: Botanicals?!

Paper-NOLA pulp

KK: Sure! I add grass, ferns, and certain kinds of flowers.  I then add natural rainwater collected from my rain barrels and put them in a blender–

LGNO: That must be some blender!

KK: (laughs)–I’ve tested quite a few before finding one that does the job, it was rather pricey, but it serves me well.

LGNO: Okay, so why rainwater?

KK: Have you read New Orleans’ water report? Rainwater provides a much cleaner process. Our tap water has chlorine bleach, among other chemicals, and my challenge is always to stay as pure as possible with my paper products. Collecting rain to use is also a good way to help conserve water, even though people may believe we have plenty because it is all around us. Using rain water is less wasteful than using tap water. We’re blessed with lots of rain down here, and so I could see no reason to use chemically treated tap water, which takes a lot of energy and resources to bring to my faucet, when I can get it free, cleaner and with out waste from the sky. With majority of my business from wedding and special event invitations, that attention to quality and detail is really important.

LGNO: Well, it definitely shows! Do you teach paper-making classes? It seems that would be a great birthday party idea for kids, and adults, if you can also drink organic wines….

KK: I do have paper-making classes for kids 8years or older, and up to 10 students per class.  Its about a 2-to-3 hour session and some of my students have produced some beautiful recycled paper.

LGNO: Can adults come take a class with a bottle of wine? Just kidding, sorta.

KK: I’ll have to think about how to make that work.

It is New Orleans, after all. If you’re looking for the REAL sustainable, green, recycled paper products handmade here in New Orleans, then Paper-NOLA is your choice.  Click HERE to view her website.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 12:03 am and is filed under Green Growth, Live Green Picks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.