COMMUNITY FAIR TRADE PAPER BOXES & BAGS
This Christmas, positive change starts with a gift. That’s why every box, bag, bottle and tub is a celebration of our Changemaking Community Fair Trade partnerships around the world.
Each time you buy a gift this festive season, you’re not only sharing the wonder of natural origin ingredients, but you’re also supporting the artisans, farmers and producers across the globe who handpick and handcraft them.
Our gift packaging is made with recycled paper and designed by our Community Fair Trade Partners Get Paper Industry in Nepal. These artisans use expert techniques to craft the high quality, handwoven basket that’s filled with body-
loving goodies. The Changemakers at GPI have invested in welfare and developmental activities to bring positive change to themselves and their wider community with the support of our long-term trade partnership.
It is all environmentally friendly! Our paper is made from up-cycled cotton off-cuts from textile factories and other eco-friendly raw materials like cotton rags and waste paper. They come all the way from Kathmandu, Nepal where Artisans meticulously hand craft gift boxes, wrapping paper and packaging paper. To top it off, our paper is FSC certified.
Raw materials, such as cotton off-cuts are collected in a pulping machine. Water is added and then it is mixed. Once a thick paste-like pulp is formed, it is placed in individual paper making tanks. Artisans dip woven silk screens into
the tanks and sway them from side to side to help the pulp evenly distribute across the screen.
Then, the even layer of pulp is placed between silk sheets and transferred to a wooden plate where a giant press
squeezes out all the water. Once pressed, the paper is peeled of the plate and placed on metal sheets to dry outside.
Last but certainly not least, the dried paper is taken to the production rooms where it’s dyed, cut and assembled into different products like our gift boxes!
Get Paper Industry have adopted a recycled paper-making policy, creating FSC certified paper from eco-friendly raw materials. They use everything from cotton rags, to banana tree stems and water hyacinth. Trust us, you can really feel great about our paper!
In 1993, Get Paper Industry formed its own NGO, the General Welfare Pratisthan (GWP), which coordinates and funds many projects. GWP offer education and training through The Anti Girl Trafficking Programme, raising awareness in villages across Nepal. It also supports 7 different schools, from buying furniture to providing scholarships and teachers’ salaries. Through these schools, over 700 children receive a much-needed education every year. Traditionally in Nepal, mainly boys go to school. That’s why GWP funds a “Send Our Daughters to School” campaign sponsoring over 150 girls to attend local schools every year.
In addition to creating sustainable paper, the cooperative is committed to planting trees. In 2012, they planted over 2,600 trees in their local community!
Bina Sunwar is one of Get Paper Industry's Artisan's. Bina faced difficulties after her husband left her and their three children. Bina is from the lower caste as per Nepalese social standards and she has never been to school. In Nepal, lower caste women are considered “untouchable” and face a lot of discrimination. In 1994, Bina joined Get Paper Industry and was able to send her two daughters to school through the “Send Our Daughters to School” campaign.
