One of the biggest environmental arguments against direct mail and other printed marketing pieces might be losing its bark — literally.

In the past, critics have railed against the impact that direct mail and other printed pieces have on the world’s forests. Too many trees have died, critics contend, so that mailers, catalogs and other printed materials can live. As a result of these ecological worries, some businesses have seriously curtailed their paper usage, including their direct mail efforts.

But recent technological breakthroughs in paper manufacturing are threatening to take the teeth out of this argument. That’s because today companies can make a wide variety of paper products without chopping down a single tree.

A new process pioneered in Asia now allows paper producers to create paper from stone instead of wood pulp, saving trees and forgoing the use of water and toxic chlorine dioxide along the way. Manufactured in Taiwan, treeless paper can be found under an assortment of brand names, including TerraSkin and Ultra Green Film. The stone paper is a high-resolution, tear-resistant substrate with eco-acceptability that surpasses that of most paper made from post-consumer waste. According to Chicago-based Ultra Green Film distributor GPA, when compared to a ton of traditional virgin coated pulp paper, stone substrate saves 20 trees, eliminates 42 pounds of water-borne waste and saves 7,480 gallons of water/waste-water flowage. Stone paper also saves 236 pounds of atmospheric emissions and 25 million BTUs of energy per ton over its pulp competitor.

And while the stone paper is largely being used for packaging right now, paper vendors are excited about its possible direct mail applications and have themselves begun to explore this potential. For instance, Greg Johnson, president of Johnson Paper LP, recently implemented a promotional direct mail campaign to hype TerraSkin. Johnson’s Chicago-based company mailed out more than 500 promotional cards on TerraSkin, targeting clients in more than 30 states, including New York, California, Florida and Wisconsin.

Johnson’s mailing list included major retailers, one of the nation’s largest breweries, a professional football team as well as a collection of ad agencies, graphic designers and professional printers.
Johnson’s mailer — whose header reads “Paper Made Of Stone Lets You Set The Design Tone!” — spoofs glamour-obsessed advertisements of the 1950s, featuring a photo of a comely young homemaker in pearls and effectively aping the breezy vibes of the Eisenhower era. It also drives recipients to his company’s Web site, where they can learn even more about the paper products.

Johnson says response to his TerraSkin mail campaign was “much higher than normal” for his family-owned business, though he declines to give specifics. He says eco-conscious clients have since called on Johnson Paper to supply TerraSkin for packaging, publication covers, maps and more. Arlene Zapata, art director for the Portland Cement Association, was one of the clients wooed by Johnson’s direct mail pitch and his follow-up road show visit. As a result, her company used TerraSkin for a press kit folder and, Zapata says, is planning to use the substrate for future projects. “Portland Cement Association is committed to sustainable practices for all its programs, and TerraSkin fits in with that philosophy,” Zapata says.

But for all the enthusiasm it has inspired among a burgeoning number of suppliers and consumers, stone paper has been slow to catch on with direct mail marketers. “There’s always a challenge when you’re working with something like this,” says Nicole Smith, environmental director at Design & Source, the exclusive US distributor for TerraSkin. “As much as everyone says they want to be the first to do something new and cool, no one really wants to be first. They want to make sure that everyone else has had a good run on it, and that there’s a good supply of material.”

Of course, marketers have other concerns, too. Some worry that the paper’s non-coated surface might be susceptible to excessive smudging. Others worry about cost: Stone paper costs as much as 75 percent more than traditional pulp. “It’s got to be the right job because this paper, in the lighter weights, can get disrupted when processed mechanically through the postal service,” Johnson admits.