Over the last five years we have established papermaking centers as cottage industries using indigenous plant fibers in Minnesota; Kingston, Jamaica; and Cairo, Egypt. This year we are doing further research in St. Lucia, in the Caribbean. In the summer of 1992 we began a contract to research a group of fibers derived from both the waste of various Minnesota agricultural products and agricultural pest weeds. The sponsoring organization, the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (A.U.R.I.), funded both privately and by the state of Minnesota, was created in 1989 to develop new uses for and improve the value of Minnesota agricultural commodities, by identifying or creating new markets for them. We were asked to identify and evaluate fibers which could be used for paper, not only at the cottage industry level, but also as alternative fibers for the paper industry. A.U.R.I. also sponsored our training workshops, presented around the state to prospective groups and individuals who expressed an interest in papermaking as a cottage industry. While this research has been more technical than artistic, it has proven to be very exciting. A.U.R.I. chose fifteen agricultural plant fibers, both virgin and waste, for us to evaluate. The results culminated in a boxed book which includes an 8 1/2" x 11" sample sheet of each paper, descriptions of individual processing, original drawings of each plant, and the complete record of all testing. The complete results were published in September 1994 by Maralex Studios (our research and design firm) in an edition of six copies. Most of the fibers which we tested, some of which have a history of use for paper, cloth, or cordage, confirm the expectations of the researchers and of A.U.R.I. We examined the grass, bast, stalk, and/or husk fibers of: alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) "Bonilla" big bluestem grass (Andropogon-gerardii Vitman) cattail (Typha latifolia L.) corn (Zea mais) reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) seed flax (Linum usitatissimum) sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) velvet leaf (Abutilon Mill. Theophrasti Medic) wheat straw (Triticum - vulgare) wild rice (Zizania palustris L.) In addition, we made paper from sunflower hulls, wild rice hulls, corn leaves, and combined bleached corn fibers, separate from stalks and husks. Due to a change in agricultural techniques, there is an abundance of corn refuse now available in Minnesota which A.U.R.I. is eager to examine as a value-added commodity. Our literature search indicated that intensive research was conducted at Iowa State University on the use of corn stalks and cobs for papermaking as early as the 1920s. Lionel K. Arnold reported several processing methods, yields, and various TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry) tests administered comparatively.1 He cites corn plant based paper used in industry as early as 1828-29, over a century and a half ago. Isenberg also reports that corn was pulped for board purposes in the United States.2 Pioneer research performed early in our project has resulted in a group of Minnesota businessmen receiving funding for the construction of a thirty million dollar facility expressly for converting corn stalks into paper pulp as an alternative fiber source destined for industry. Both wheat straw and wild rice straw proved to have excellent papermaking properties. Both have histories of use for papermaking in countries where wood is scarce and tree-based pulp costly to import. For example, in 1993, the United Kingdom used 125,000 metric tons of straw for paper; Denmark, 51,000 tons; Egypt, 67,000 tons; and India, 284,000 tons. The 1995 projection for China is 8,700,000 tons of straw to be used for paper.3 In the U.S., Weyerhauser is one company examining the use of adding rye straw to board furnish they produce.4 Seed flax, cattail, sunflower stalks, and velvet leaf all have a history of use for paper or cordage. Sunflower stalks produced a satisfactory paper, but the processing was longer and required more steps than some of the grasses. Wild rice hulls and sunflower hulls were both unexplored entities. We made paper from each and tested them. However, the processing was longer, particularly for the sunflower hulls, and both yielded papers of limited use. Velvet leaf was brought to the Carolinas in the 1700s as a fiber source and grows throughout the world. It is sometimes called "button weed" or "China jute" and is cultivated in China for cordage, paper, cloth, and sails. In the United States it is now considered a tenacious pest in corn and soybean fields and is usually the first plant mentioned in herbicide advertisements. Velvet leaf seeds are known to have germinated after lying dormant for over fifty years and this was one of the first plants to sprout after the Midwest floods of 1993. Importantly, this "weed" can be grown as a crop, unlike some other weeds that cannot be grown alone. While we found little or no literature on papermaking using plants such as switchgrass, "Bonilla" big bluestem grass, and reed canary grass (all members of the Graminae family), the processing of these fibers proved to require minimal effort and the final papers were of good quality.5 Alfalfa, a very valuable plant for forage, was another plant with no information in the literature specific to papermaking use, although it is in the Leguminosae family, which includes several species used for cordage and paper. The processing was very similar to the straws and grasses. All fibers were processed by a soda pulping method and then subjected to the Reina beater for a minimal amount of time. All papers are acid free, and most contain 100% natural fibers without chemicals or other fibers added. The papers produced from the various fibers were tested at the University of Minnesota Forest Products Paper Testing Laboratory using standard TAPPI equipment. The purpose of testing these papers was to offer general information about the technical quality of the papers. While the results may be useful, they should not be considered definitive, but rather an entrance point for further testing. We did not make the papers on a handsheet machine, which produces similar sizes, weights, and calibrations. We formed these papers by hand-lifting the pulp from a vat with a 8 1/2" x 11" mould. Each sheet is unique in calibration and weight, making it impossible to replicate the results. Neither the freeness of the pulp nor the grammage of each sheet were calculated.6 While working on this project, the concept of how the hand papermaker can urge the large industrial papermaking companies to seriously address the use of alternative, non-wood based fibers for their paper machines has become a key motivator for both of us. In 1992 Harold presented a paper "Alternatives to the Forest" to the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) Congress in Budapest, Hungary. In this paper, he addressed the issue that the ever-increasing demand for paper shows no sign of abating. As an illustration of this prodigious growth of paper, in 1948, the first photocopier was produced. Just four and a half decades later, there are more than 19 million photocopiers worldwide, and photocopiers are, of course, only one of the types of machines which use paper. During the period between 1980 and 1988, the worldwide demand for paper increased 25 percent, a 56.6 million ton increase to 226 million tons a year.7 The large paper companies are sorely challenged by this dramatic rise in paper usage. To cope they have installed gargantuan paper machines working around the clock. Unfortunately, while their machines are capable of producing massive amounts of paper from wood, that resource is no longer the inexhaustible commodity it was once considered. The world's ecosystem is in grave danger, as inefficiently managed forestry and clear-cutting have resulted in large areas of devastation that have not been replanted. With few virgin wood-pulp resources in North America remaining, some large paper companies are looking abroad for new sources of wood. Although much of the wood-based paper produced today by the industry is for ephemeral purposes, one advantage of the move toward replacing or supplementing pure wood-based pulp with alternative plant fibers is their greater longevity, strength, and durability. The recent emphasis upon recycling paper is certainly of merit; however, the addition of longer, stronger virgin plant fibers to the recycled pulp would result in a quality paper exhibiting even more concern for the environment. Furthermore, the collection and processing of plant fibers require less water, energy (both man and machine), and chemicals to produce a more natural, non-acidic paper product. Greater yield per acre and a shorter growth period to reach harvesting size are two additional advantages of utilizing alternative plant fibers for paper production. Our research with indigenous plant fibers has proven inspirational to us as artists and educators. We, therefore, challenge all artists and hand papermakers to encourage the paper industry--as well as consumers, government officials, and industry-related representatives--to produce and demand paper and paper-based products made from non-wood, alternative plant fibers. There are many annual plants that can be grown as a crop for paper. These will have a favorable impact on the environment and will provide a constant, renewable supply of papermaking fibers. Harold and I are dedicated to sharing our papermaking research and the potential it offers to others both at home and globally. Perhaps what goes around will come around and more and more machine-made paper will one day soon be made from non-wood plant fibers. Paper made with indigenous plant and waste fibers can be a significant catalyst in the movement to combat global environmental degradation. Endnotes 1. L. K. Arnold, Cornstalks as a Raw Material for Paper Production (dissertation, Iowa State University, September 1930). 2. I. H. Isenberg, "Papermaking Fibers," Economic Botany 10, April/June 1956: 176-191. 3. FAO Pulp, Paper and Paperboard Capacity Survey 1993-1998, (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 1994), 119. 4. This is being done in Weyerhauser's Springfield, Oregon plant. See B. Thomas "Coming Through the Rye," World Paper--US Focus, December 1993: 22-23. 5. Interestingly, under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) designed to protect wetlands and other critical areas, the grasses which have replaced the wheat, barley, and corn stubble have proven to be one of the most important conservation issues of the century. The incredible biomass of switchgrass and big bluestem, for example, not only provides habitat for birds and animals, but builds soil and can rescue erosion-prone lands. In tests at various sites, switchgrass yielded between four and twelve tons of dry matter per acre.
5. Interestingly, under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) designed to protect wetlands and other critical areas, the grasses which have replaced the wheat, barley, and corn stubble have proven to be one of the most important conservation issues of the century. The incredible biomass of switchgrass and big bluestem, for example, not only provides habitat for birds and animals, but builds soil and can rescue erosion-prone lands. In tests at various sites, switchgrass yielded between four and twelve tons of dry matter per acre. 6. The intent was not to make precise comparisons between the fibers; the amount, time, or type of cooking agent; or beating cycles to the final tests--work which would be necessary to meet the guidelines of TAPPI. Such future research will take a considerable amount of time for the fifteen different papers and was not specified in the original purpose of this study.
6. The intent was not to make precise comparisons between the fibers; the amount, time, or type of cooking agent; or beating cycles to the final tests--work which would be necessary to meet the guidelines of TAPPI. Such future research will take a considerable amount of time for the fifteen different papers and was not specified in the original purpose of this study. 7. Heikki J. W. Salonen, "Growth Creates New Challenges," World Pulp and Paper Technology, 1989: 19-21. </div>
7. Heikki J. W. Salonen, "Growth Creates New Challenges," World Pulp and Paper Technology, 1989: 19-21.
