Paper is one everyday item that most people take for granted in their everyday lives. However, paper has a fascinating history spanning multiple continents and several thousand years.
Written languages existed long before the concept of paper was conceived. Before paper, words and symbols were transcribed onto materials such as tree bark, clay, and animal skins.
It is believed that papers’ origins can be traced back to the year 105 AD in an area of China called Lei-Yang. There, a court official named Ts’ai Lun made the first known type of paper. To do this, he mixed water, tree bark, hemp, and cloth rags, mashed them into a pulp, pressed out the liquid, and hung the remaining thin mat in the sun to dry. This invention proved popular, and paper soon spread throughout China, where less than 200 years later, paper was being widely used for making books.
By 700 AD, paper had spread throughout the Middle East, where its use flourished for 500 years before papermaking made its way to Europe. The first papermills were created in Spain, and soon after, mills spread throughout Europe. Paper was widely used for printing important books, bibles, and legal documents.
The first papermill in America was created in 1690, which made paper using a technique and materials quite similar to the original Chinese papermaking technique. Over time, as demand for paper grew throughout the colonies, papermills shifted to using wood to make paper, as trees were a far more abundant resource to use for raw materials.
Today, paper is made from trees grown in sustainably managed forests and from recycled paper. At Cascade Print Media, we are proud that 100% of the paper we use for printing comes from recycled materials. Additionally, 100% of our paper waste is recycled into new paper.
Contact us today to partner with a local organization that makes sustainability and conservation a priority!
