On the matboard side of things Larson-Juhl is actively working to provide certified matboard. More at http://www.larsonjuhl.com/certifications.aspx.
But that doesn't really address the OP's question about paper. Sorry
Neil
"RagMat meets museum conservation standards as set by F.A.T.G."
The conservation they are referring to is the archival for of conservation. In other words, they want to make sure your work lasts for hundreds of years through the concientious use of acid free materials and practices. Unfortunatly, its not environmental concervation. I am not saying that the company is bad or trying to discredit them, just trying to clarify the term.
My concern isn't really about the acidity or archival stability of the product, but the sustainability of the components of the products I use. What environmental cost is associated with cotton art products? Where was everything sourced?
"Larson-Juhl is honored to have earned certifications from three of the world's most respected third-party certification organizations!"
This sounds good at first, but notice that it only mentions forestry, and I am in no way condemning this which is a great step forward. However cotton is not a forest product, and its not like cutting a tree down, so you don't miss anything or see a stump. If you want to know what the big deal about organic cotton is you can go here and develop your own opinion:
http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=2077The article doesn't mention that it almost bankrup the company and they had to let almost every one go while they recouperated the expense of the conversion. And Yvonne Chounard still did it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/24/patagonia-ethical-outdoor-clothing-interviewhttp://www.ota.com/organic/environment/cotton_environment.htmlIt wouldn't suprise me if rags were some sort of reused industrial product, but I'm not sure about canvas and am pretty sure that certain matte boards use virgin cotton fiber which would not be waste from another industrial process.
For the record, I have written Moab asking the same question and havn't heard back. If this is important to you, I recomend asking your paper provider to answer those questions and post the answers here. I will be calling Moab.
If this should matter to anybody, it should be people here with artists that love the world enough to spend a lot of money in the persuit of showing it to other people. I understand that there are a lot of things that are not environmentaly friendly about photography (I'm referring to digital and am not even going to touch traditional). Green doesn't have to happen overnight, but things can and should change when there are other available resources.
Most of all, I believe that parts of capitalism still work, and if there is a desire for these products we will get them. If I made paper, I think I would be running to cross that finishline first, and very publicly.
Maybe I'm wrong and the cotton is ethical, I just want someone to let me know.