‘Tis The Season For Sustainability

It’s often said that if you’re seeking something but can’t find it, the best option is to create it yourself. Libby Hampel followed that advice when founding MASU, a company that reflects her passion for design and the environment in a line of gift-wrapping paper that’s made in America, 100% recyclable, and bold in design.

Hampel, a Columbia, Missouri resident, began her design journey studying and experimenting with surface pattern designs like fabric and wallpaper and eventually transitioned into textile design. She spent many years developing her trademark design style and sense of color that, coupled with an eco-friendly profile, has won the MASU brand a devoted following.

In keeping with Hampel’s personal ethics and principles, MASU sources only recyclable and sustainable materials throughout every facet of the production process – from packaging and shipping containers to the paper itself. For its key element, MASU relies upon the New Hampshire-based and family-owned Monadnock Paper Mills. The over 200-year-old mill is the oldest continuously operating paper mill in the U.S., a longevity matched by the company’s deep commitment to sustainability. Monadnock’s Astrolite 100 PC Velvet coated paper is made of 100% PCW recycled content and is ideal for coated fine text and cover applications. Hampel found that the ink doesn’t absorb into the high-quality coating of the paper, making her designs and colors really pop.

MASU’s core values are reflected in all facets of the company’s operation, including its name. In Japanese there are two words for giving: agemasu and kuremasu. Agemasu is used when you are giving to someone, while kuremasu is used when someone is giving to you. True to Hampel’s vision, MASU embodies all forms of giving, and the result is wrapping paper that looks good, feels good, and does good.

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As the world’s first 100% carbon-neutral travel company, Natural Habitat Adventures (“Nat Hab”) takes its mission of conservation through exploration seriously. Nat Hab facilitates intimate encounters with the Earth’s wildest places – and aims to be the most meaningful travel company on the planet while doing so.

Based in Boulder, Colorado (after being founded in New Jersey in 1985), Nat Hab creates life-enhancing nature and wildlife experiences for small groups of passionate explorers. The company’s innovative approach to travel, personal attention to detail, and industry-leading sustainability practices have made it the official travel partner of the World Wildlife Fund and one of Travel + Leisure’s Best Global Tour Operators. Nat Hab’s conservation ethos is as wide as it is deep, comprising carbon-neutral travel, waste reduction, local community support, and traveler inspiration—all aimed at delivering premium adventures while influencing the entire travel industry.

For Nat Hab, the sustainable adventure begins well before travelers embark on a journey. The company’s sustainable supply chain commitments include the choice of paper supplier for its annual catalog, which encompasses 192 pages of globe-spanning adventures from the Galapagos Islands to African safaris to Antarctica and the Arctic Circle. Nat Hab’s 2024/2025 catalog, World’s Greatest Nature Journeys, will be distributed to a record 170,000 recipients, a list carefully curated to promote the company’s travel offerings and provide inspiration for other companies to follow in its forward-thinking footsteps.

For the past four years, the catalog’s cover has been printed on Monadnock Paper Mills Astrolite PC 100® Velvet. Monadnock, based in Bennington New Hampshire, is the oldest continuously operating paper mill in the United States and has built sustainability into the DNA of its business. The company’s focus on premium quality, performance, and sustainability guides the portfolio development of award-winning and sustainably-advantaged fine printing, packaging, and technical papers.  All Monadnock printing and packaging papers are FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) certified (FSC C018866), and manufactured carbon neutral.

Like Monadnock, Nat Hab has its own internal Green Team continuously working to raise the bar on eco-friendly operations, including materials sourcing and recycling. Choosing 100% post-consumer waste recycled papers results in meaningful and quantifiable impact reductions. 

Many travelers’ Nat Hab experience begins at the mailbox with a beautifully designed catalog that showcases the environmental sustainability commitments at the core of our mission.

Nick Grossman, director of marketing production at Nat Hab

“Our new catalog cover delivers that ‘wow’ factor with Monadnock’s Astrolite PC 100 Velvet paper,” Grossman explained. Astrolite PC 100 Velvet is part of the company’s line of fine printing papers, coated on both sides and made with 100% post-consumer waste recycled fiber. It is the only premium-coated 100% recycled sheet made in the U.S.

“We love being on this journey with Nat Hab,” said Julie Brannen, Director of Sustainability Solutions, Monadnock. “Supporting its admirable mission makes our job very rewarding. It’s an adventure to work collaboratively with Nat Hab and support their mission to provide equally rewarding adventures for their clients.”

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