WomanCraft, a green Chicago business, creates artisan and transitional jobs for women who face barriers to employment.

Employees of WomanCraft in turn create beautiful, handcrafted products using recycled paper from local offices, enabling them to “earn income, improve job skills, build a work history and increase economic self-sufficiency.”

As both a socially and environmentally conscious business, WomanCraft has borrowed an equation from Conservatree to calculate their recycling impact: the paper equivalent of about 48 trees per year.  That’s 1,500 pounds of paper kept out of incinerators and landfills annually!  As a small sustainable company, WomanCraft should be proud of this contribution.

They should also be proud of their unique, artistic papers.  You can order one of their classic creations like this set of ten starry night notes priced @ $15, but perhaps what makes WomanCraft really special are their custom creations, which give you the option of bringing in your own fresh or dried bouquet of flowers from a special occasion to be preserved into cards, memory books, frames, invitations, and more.

If you’re planning a wedding, be sure to stop by their site; they reclaim botanical elements and of course recycled paper to create beautiful invitations, menus, programs, and guest favors.  You can even have your custom order laced with flower seeds – a lovely gift that can be planted into the ground and blossom in time.

WomanCraft papers are made by hand, not a machine, so each creation is unique in its own sustainable way.

If you like what you find, go ahead and become their fan on Facebook.