Local manufacture, eco-friendly materials, recycling, upcycling, handicraft… how are these principles of sustainable development reflected in our products?
#ecofriendly
When we talk about eco-friendly materials we mean first of all paper from sustainable forests, recycled paper, wood from Czech forests in our pencils or Vega vegan leather made from cellulose. Every piece of paper we use comes from certified sustainable forestry.
#local
Every product we sell can claim to be manufactured locally – most of them are from Central Bohemia, while some are from South and West Bohemian, while the odd piece comes from as far away as Moravia! In short, there is not a single papelote product made outside the Czech Republic.
#upcycled
The concept of upcycling is reflected in our very name. The word papelote comes from Spanish and means, among other things, an unused piece of paper which can be made into something else. Our upcycling practice involves turning offcuts into paper bags and wrapping paper or into our Softblok pads. The covers of these pads come from board left over from the production of our Professio notebooks.
The circularity of material also informs our papelote2 shop in the Pražská tržnice market. This shop is full of upcycled products, sale items, original prototypes and slightly damaged pieces that we cannot offer for sale in our main shop.
#handmade
Even those products that are made in the printworks require a great deal of skilled handicraft. Pads do not bind themselves, envelopes are not glued by robot and the knots at the end of sewn bindings are done by hand. Our fabric and Tyvek products are made in homes in and around the town of Lidice, and some pieces come straight from the papelote workshop.
Fabric products
All of the elastic, zips and bookmarks in our fabric products are made in Bohemia. Many of our fabrics come from the Velveta textile works in Central Bohemia. Our pouches, diaries, elastic pen loops and travel journals are sewn in households in the Kladno district.
Elastic pen loops
Our elastic pen loops are a thoroughly local product. Made from elastic produced in the Bohemian- Moravian Highlands, they are sewn in Central Bohemia. Papelote has an international patent for these products.
Vega
Made from 100% cellulose, sourced from sustainable forestry, vegan leather (also known as washable paper) is a durable material that can even withstand washing.
Pencils
Our pencils are made from South Moravian basswood. The coloured pencils are dipped only in food dye.
Munken
This smooth, naturally white, Cradle to Cradle Certified® paper comes from Arctic Paper’s Swedish paper mill. Water leaving this mill is still so clean that the local fish can continue to live in it.
