Melcher Media has created a synthetic paper that is both waterproof and recyclable:
DuraBooks are “green” and good for the environment. Made in such a way to be upcyclable, the synthetic “paper” can be melted down and reused in perpetuity, thus sparing trees and reducing toxins in the earth’s ecosystem. DuraBooks™ are also non-toxic and child safety tested.
In Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, one of the first books printed with the new Durabooks technology, the authors:
argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences.
Today, with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect a new spirit. In fact, the authors write, when designers employ the intelligence of natural systems—the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the sun’s energy—they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist.
GreenMoney Journal reviews Cradle to Cradle.
Buy Cradle to Cradle at Powell’s.
Read Free or Die 
Re – Durabooks “The paper used to create DuraBooks is made with synthetics constructed of plastic resins and inorganic fillers. It does not use any wood pulp or cotton fiber. The plastic is extruded and stretched before its surface is treated to enhance printing performance. ” “And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers.”
This product sounds so interesting, but left me with this question? Are we really sure which is more environmentally sustainable – books made from paper or books made from plastics? Obviously the writers of Cradle to Cradle chose the latter on sound principles. But how widespread is polyprop recycling? Calculating all “costs” on the long arm of environmental impact from moving raw materials to evaluating the impact of the by-products of the manufacturing, the real answer seems beyond my ken. Yet, as a librarian, I would be interested in an expert opinion. Why is Massachusetts considering banning plastic bags at the grocery store? [In this case I would be in favor of our just bringing our own canvas bags, but they make it so easy not to remember them.] I would look forward to understanding how AUNE environmental students and faculty answer questions like these that confront us all daily?