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Is Paper Shoot Camera An Eco-Friendly Company?

Eco-friendliness and sustainability are quickly becoming exponentially important to consumers. In a movement that's absolutely necessary to ensure our resources and protect our earth and its communities, it's not enough to just sell a product anymore. There's a dialogue that must follow in regard to a company's contributions to a growing market of sustainable and ethical products. We want to be open and honest in that dialogue as we don't believe in making sustainability claims to turn a profit without backing them up. 

To begin with, we want to state that Paper Shoot Cameras are not a sustainable replacement for your phone cameras. We will never claim this and never have! They are, however, eco-friendly alternatives to disposables and film cameras, which have been growing in popularity in recent years specifically because people want breaks from their phones. The impact of phones and social media on our mental health is a WHOLE other blog post!

For a business to be considered green, sustainable, or eco-friendly, they generally need to show innovation and progress in the categories of environmentalism, community, and ethics. We have and continue to make strides in each level of our supply chain and plan to do so much more in the future! 

Let's break down our efforts by category.

Our Environmentalism Mission

Our founder, George Lin, created the Paper Shoot camera in 2013 as an avid admirer of analog photography for his entire life, though he could never afford it when he was younger. He wanted to create a camera that was simple enough to be accessible to everyone, more cost-effective than analog photography, and gentler on our earth. That's when he came up with the Paper Shoot!

Paper Shoot Materials

Every part of the Paper Shoot Camera is made from recycled, repurposed, or biodegradable materials. When someone is done with their Paper Shoot, or it reaches the end of its life, we take back the camera and recycle it into a new one as opposed to letting it waste away in a landfill. Many of our parts are repurposed parts from larger tech companies that were on their way to landfills. We developed what would've been trash into these incredible little cameras!

The Paper Shoot is also digital. It is more cost-effective and eco-friendly as it eliminates the need for printing and developing, a process that relies on harsh chemicals and creates unnecessary waste!

Our Technology

Beginning with our camera boards, we manufacture them ourselves through a small team in Taiwan, where George lives. Our team makes each camera to order - this process, while not the most time-efficient or cost-effective means of production, eliminates mass factory production, mass chemical run-off, and the exploitation of labor. Paper Shoot also has its ROHS compliance, meaning that we've eliminated a laundry list of toxic and environmentally damaging chemicals from every level of our supply chain.

What Are Paper Shoot Camera Cases Made From?

When it comes to our cases, each material is 100% vegan and recycled. Our most popular style, the Paper Camera, is made from a material called Stone Paper, which is pressed inorganic limestone that is water-resistant and drop-proof. It uses no trees and no water to create, and the resin which binds it together is biodegradable. If you ever get tired of your Paper Shoot case, it will dissolve after a year of constant exposure to the elements, similar to eggshells. Some of our B2B models can even include plant seeds, so your case will turn into a plant once discarded! Aside from our Paper Camera model, our wooden cases are recycled, and our clear cases are composed of recycled fiberglass material. Our brass frames and screws are made from recycled brass, which also happens to be an infinitely recyclable material.

Paper Shoot's packaging is also recycled, and some parts are biodegradable. 

Longevity

At its core purpose, Paper Shoot was created to replace single-use, disposable products. Both disposables and film require the near-constant generation of waste to function. Because Paper Shoot is digital, there is no waste associated with the use of the camera! The same camera can be used and recharged over and over and over again. 

Paper Shoot Cameras are also built to last. Many question the sincerity of our sustainability as our batteries are removable, but Paper Shoot requires rechargeable batteries to function! By allowing them to be removed, we improve the camera's shelf-life; most companies have patented, built-in batteries that require extra money and a completely patented process to fix any battery-associated issues. We have removed both the power source and storage component from the camera so that any issues caused by either battery or storage can be resolved simply by replacing the battery or SD card. 

For more information on troubleshooting, please refer to our troubleshooting page. 

Community

Paper Shoot wants to give back and cares deeply about its communities. Growing up in Taiwan, George's family could never afford cameras and has very few photos of his grandparents and his brother, who have since passed away. When he became an innovator and developed a passion for the environment, he wanted to create a camera simple enough that it could be accessible to everyone - even those who live in small villages with no electricity. This is another reason Paper Shoot takes batteries instead of having a built-in charger. Even those who don't have access to electricity can still enjoy the cameras and capture memories. 

Each sale from Paper Shoot goes towards donating a camera to a child who couldn't otherwise afford one. So far, we've donated over 10,000 cameras. We also have started our charity camera line, where each sale from the collection goes to our associated charities.

Ethics & Work Standards

Paper Shoot believes in fairly compensating our workers, and we want to assure them of their immense value to our company. By opting to keep workers in the supply chain instead of replacing our production lines with mass factory production robots, we can provide jobs and stability for the Taiwanese community. At every level of the company, all workers make living wages, and each employee is treated with the gratitude, respect, and kindness that they deserve. Our warehouses meet global standards for ethical production in regard to our wages, safety, cleanliness, discrimination, working hours, and child labor: we do not employ any person under 18 years of age at any level of our company worldwide.

So, Is Paper Shoot Camera Eco-Friendly?

Paper Shoot is an incredible eco-friendly and ethically produced alternative to disposable, digital, and film cameras that can help you focus more on your life, get off your phone, and live in the moment! If you are happy with your phone or another camera, then by all means - keep it! Whatever you already have is the most sustainable. We aren't interested in tricking or manipulating our customers and followers into believing that our cameras are the last man standing between environmental destruction and salvation. But, if you struggle with phone addiction/anxiety, are a film photographer or someone interested in film who's looking to cut their costs and reduce their waste emissions, or sometimes take a disposable with you on a night out, the Paper Shoot is a great eco-friendly choice!

No company is perfect. We will never claim to be, and given the nature of the world that we live in, we can't be. We will, however, always promise to try and will continue to develop policies and means of production and distribution that will further protect our planet and its communities.