Angelenos know how tough it can be to get eco-friendly stuff locally. If you’re concerned about the local economy, you’re prolly not a huge fan of always ordering stuff over the internet — so you’re left with a tough choice: Local? Or Sustainable?

I posed this question to Brad of Sustainable Group, a lil Seattle company that makes eco-friendly office supplies. Their products — the Rebinder, made of recycled corrugated cardboard, and Repockets, made of recycled chipboard — avoid toxic vinyl like the plague.

This company takes local and sustainable seriously. Not only is the stuff made in Washington state, but the Rebinders are also assembled through the Back to Work Program at Goodwill.

So as you can imagine, Brad and others at the company thought about these issues — even before making the product: “We looked at everything from where the material comes from to using boxes that don’t require additional packing material to prevent moving around and extra waste. In looking at the current market, where most products are manufactured overseas or Mexico using toxic materials, low cost labor and then imported into our country, we knew we were doing the right thing.”

Can Angelenos get Rebinders at a local store? Not yet. Staples considered the stuff, but passed. Says Brad: “The big box companies (Staples, Office Depot and Office Max) don’t understand the concept of our product. To them it’s all about price and being indestructible with no disregard for the environmental impact.”

Still, Brad’s optimistic. So far, a half dozen small retailers in Cali are carrying Rebinders and Repockets. “The more people that can see and touch our product the more they will see that it’s a better alternative to vinyl which has a life far beyond its intended use.”

So — All new binders in green LA girl’s house will be Rebinders. The deal was sealed when I saw saw that Sustainable Group actually offers replacement Rebinder covers, complete with a how-to guide, so that those metal 3-ring thingies don’t end up in landfills.

And I’ll send Brad names of some green office supply places in the LA area. Hopefully, by the time I need to replace by Rebinder cover, I’ll be able to buy a new one locally :)

Update, 4/17/06: For Californians who wanna find ReBinders — You can get it at: Environgentle.com in Encinitas, Aha Yes! in Mt. View, Waldeck Office Supply in San Francisco, Green Earth Office Supply in Los Gatos, and Piedmont Stationers in Oakland.

Sustainable Group. Seattle, Wash. 206.706.0966.

Tags: recycle, binder, cardboard

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