Real earth friendly packaging is very costly. If one does a search for eco packaging on the internet, you will discover that this kind of packaging is almost nonexistent or very costly. It makes switching to earth friendly packaging difficult but certainly not impossible. Creating eco packaging is easy if one has the patience of the creative process and excitement at the finished product to make it happen.

There is no perfect solution to the mounds of garbage we discard each year , but there are some incremental steps that can be taken to phase into a more green packaging environment. The eco challenges that face us need to be tackled in the same manner. We cannot convert to total eco/green status but we can head in that direction and make changes where they can be made.

One of the easiest of these changes is to reuse packaging and even create packaging from recycled goods. I spent years searching for handmade paper on the internet and abroad and recently came to the conclusion that whilst searching far and wide, there is an abundance of paper, inks and other things to embellish handmade paper right in our backyards and that the paper refuse we throw away is one of our greatest resources. So, why not make handmade paper!. On any given day I am innundated with paper packaging on all sides - from old boxes and books to packing paper and old magazines. Creating handmade paper is great for soapmakers because most soapmakers use paper to wrap their soaps. Creating handmade paper is fun, and offers numerous ways to express your creativity, not just in creating a basic sheet of paper but also in the other embellishments that can be added to create a truly luxurious product.

If you have never made paper before then you have to understand that regular paper is made from mostly wood fiber but may contain cotton fibers, silk fibers, recycled paper fibers and other material commonly referred to as inclusions. The basic process to make paper out of old paper is almost the same as creating paper from scratch - the paper is ground or blended so the fibers separate in water and can be sifted through a screen to drain out most of the water and passed between weights to flatten the paper and even ironed flat.

Resources
USA
Leaf Petals Paper Making Kits - Leaf Petals
Arnold Grummer's - The definitive source for paper making instructions and supplies - Arnold Grummer's
Cotton Press sells cotton fibers and paper making kits - A variation of papermaking to create ornaments and molded paper products - Cotton Press
Canada
The paperwright, located in Canada sells paper making kits as well as equipment for the serious paper maker.The Paperwright