Has anyone ever heard of material to make badges out of that is

organic, environmentally neutral, or recycled..

One of our customers is inquiring.

If they are worried about using wood because of cutting down trees, another choice might be 100% recycled fiberboard, such as Homasote, which is made from recycled paper.

I've never tried to engrave it though, so don't know how it would look.

According to the MSDS on the Homasote site it contains "celulose" products (that's what wood and paper are) and 1%-2% paraffin wax, plus less than 0.1% copper based pestiside. It claims "The product contains no known hazardous or carcinogenic components."

It says the fumes created when burning include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and paraffin wax fumes. CO and CO2 are created with many materials that are lasered or burned.

Of course, like any material that you laser, you would want your fume extractor to remove all fumes from the building.

My guess is that it's less toxic to laser than MDF and maybe even plywood.

I made 45 nametags for a local nursery club... they brought me the materials to laser their logo and names onto. Trunk Base of rody plants cut at an angle which produced an oval. Apply pin to back and you have a recycled name tag.
:-)