This past weekend at BKLYN Designs, we were excited to discover Kiel Mead and Michael Cummings of Hi-Five’s simple but stunning Apt chairs, and were pleased to find out they are made from Richlite, a resin-impregnated paper product that we’ve praised on several occasions before. The Apt Chairs also boast snazzy upholstery thanks to ModPod’s organic cotton fabric line.
Initially I thought the same thing about Paperstone and Richlite. However, after learning more and sticking some samples in water – and watching the paperstone only to slowly grow (scary), I figured I was being green washed by Paperstone and not Richlite. Also, it begs the question…cashew nut skins and water are holding the papers together – that doesn’t make sense. What percent of cashews are in the resin – Paperstone never would answer my question. Hmm? Water-based resin? Water holds this product together?…they aren’t telling me something. Paperstone looks good…only on paper. Anybody ever read William McDonough & Michael Braungart’s “cradle to cradle” – they would clasify Paperstone as slow motion waste.
there’s nothing very green in combining synthetic materials with biodegradable ingredients. you take the two green properties (recycleability and biodegradability) and toss ‘em out the window leaving an end-of-life product with no responsible disposal option. the antithesis of cradle2cradle.
this is another reason i find the scrapile eco-praise a little overdone. granted the peices are intended for long-term use, but what happens with that ‘pile’ of wood and glue when you’re done with it? that is A LOT of glue added to what could otherwise become bio-nutrients.
This is a puzzling post, as the replies to the Inhabitat (10/01/06) article comparing Richlite with PaperStone were unflattering towards Richlite. Apparently, Richlite is made from a petro-chemical (oil based) resin, and doesn’t use 100% recycled paper. PaperStone, on the other hand, uses a resin made from cashw nut skins, 100% recycled paper, and does not show water stains and scratches from normal use as Richlite does. So it would appear that Richite is definitely NOT green… but it somehow has managed to be included inproductsbeing shown at ‘HauteGreen’. Is this ‘green washing’ or what ?
Also, the designers who had their concrete table featured in Inhabitat a few days ago would do well to consider fabrucating their table from PaperStone, as it would probably weigh a lot less… and as a result, sell a lot more !