HomeNewsNEW: Eco-Friendly Journals and Sketchbooks
NEW: Eco-Friendly Journals and Sketchbooks
by Susan GreenNovember 06, 2018
Eco-friendly sketchbooks and journals bound with recycled, renewable or sustainable natural materials.
Updated June 2020 with new Sketchbooks!
I've been using a pretty plant-based alternative to leather that supports biodiversity, and a luxurious handmade paper produced from fashion industry waste. And with those, I'm launching my new collection of Eco-Friendly Sketchbooks and Journals. Here's the story...
Ethical choices at home and in the studio
This year has seen me on a mission to make more eco-friendly product choices. At home we've ditched the plastic-cartoned supermarket milk in favour of local, organic milk delivered to our doorstop in re-usable glass bottles (you know, like in the old days). We've ordered loo roll from Who Gives A Crap and we've favoured bamboo items over plastic.
When supplies have run low in the studio, I've ordered eco-friendly replacements. My business cards are now 100% recycled cotton that reuse fashion industry waste. Mini Journals are now delivered in recycled and recyclable 'Jiffy Green' padded bags. For larger orders, I re-use bubblewrap and cardboard boxes wherever possible, and I hope you can re-use them, too!
Natural Materials
I already favour natural materials, which goes some way to making my material choices eco-friendly.
Linen - from the flax plant - is one of the most environmentally sustainable fibres and all my books are bound in linen thread. I've introduced unbleached woven linen ribbons to some of my books, too. Every single part of the flax plant is used, so there's no waste. And when grown in its natural environment (mostly Europe), flax doesn't require irrigation or fertilisation and is grown organically without pesticides.
Some time ago I switched my 'standard' paper for Journals and Guest Books to Mohawk Superfine; it's got several eco-credentials FSC certification and is manufactured by non-polluting green electricity produced by windpower.
So far, so good. But I wanted to find more eco-friendly materials. And they had to meet my usual criteria: tactile, finest quality and fit for purpose. I was really pleased to discover two new materials that are eco-friendly, pleasurable to handle and durable, too.
COTTON RAG PAPER
This beautiful paper is made from off-cuts of t-shirt material which would otherwise have gone to landfill as waste from the fashion textile industry. Recycled cotton makes fantastic paper; it's long fibre, strong and incredibly tactile. Because it's made by hand, its genuine deckle edges confer a truly authentic handmade look and feel to the books, and its natural surface variations and texture give an extra dimension to watercolours and calligraphy. I've made two new styles of books with the cotton rag paper; Japanese Stab Stitch Sketchbooks and Wabi Sabi Sketchbooks.
JAPANESE STAB STITCH SKETCHBOOKS
I've been teaching a Japanese Stab Stitch bookbinding course this autumn and had made quite a few samples to show my students. But it wasn't until discovering the cotton rag paper that I decided to bind a Stab Stitch collection to offer my customers. The textured, 210gsm medium-rough paper is ideal for watercolour and ink and they're a good size (A5) to tuck into a bag if you're painting on your travels.
Four traditional Stab Stitch styles.
From behind to top: Simple 4-hole, Tortoiseshell, Noble and Hemp Leaf.
The 'blues' set of Japanese cotton rag stab sketchbooks.
Bound with a smooth version of the same eco-friendly 210gsm cotton rag paper, these new Wabi Sabi Sketchbooks are really exciting. They turn 360 degrees into a full circle, but also lie completely flat on a table. With exposed spine stitching in white linen thread, they're held closed with an unbleached woven linen ribbon.
Wabi Sabi Sketchbooks turn 360 degrees in a full circle - fold back in the hand for easy use, and to display your artwork in a standing book.
Wabi Sabi Sketchbooks are also completely lay-flat.
Unadorned and uncovered, these Sketchbooks evoke a sense of calm simplicity and, thanks to the natural variations of handmade paper, express the Wabi Sabi aesthetic; "beauty that is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete". You can buy Wabi Sabi Sketchbooks here.
CORK TEXTILE
Eco-friendly, tactile and beautiful, cork ticks all the boxes! Cork textile is produced from the bark of the Cork Oak tree, forests of which are found in Portugal and Mediterranean countries. Protected by law for their contribution to the ecosystem, cork forests promote biodiversity and prevent desertification. Harvesting of the bark takes place in a sustainable manner, after which the trees are left to rest and regenerate.
Cork Oaks after harvesting, Alessandro Vecchi 2012. Bosco di querce da sughero dopo l'estrazione nei pressi di Tempio Pausania, Sardegna. Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Cork makes for a brilliant vegan 'faux leather'. It shares some of the same useful properties of leather (durable, tactile, water-resistant) but it's entirely plant-based and is naturally renewable. And unlike many vegan leathers, which are petroleum-laden synthetics, it's eco-friendly, too. Win, win, win!
CORK MINI JOURNALS
Slipped into a Christmas stocking, a homemade cracker or given at the obligatory office Secret Santa, Mini Journals have been popular little gifts ever since I introduced them for Christmas back in 2008. They've always received rave reviews and I love it when customers get in touch to share how they use them: writing down passwords and meditation prompts, to carrying them around in a pocket for impromptu mini sketches.
"These Cork Minis are just darling! The size is even skinny jeans pocket friendly so I can take it with me wherever I go, and use it whenever inspiration strikes." Erica, Poland.
I'm making these 'normal' sized Cork Sketchbooks in a variety of fresh colour combinations, with 140gsm cartridge paper that's made from recycled coffee cups.
The simple but striking Longstitch binding means the pages lay flat so you can write up to the edge. Because they're stitched in linen thread - rather than glued - you don't have to worry about your Sketchbook falling apart with regular use (the magic of handmade over mass-produced).
I hope this blog post and the new collection solves a few sustainable gift-giving dilemmas. Shop the books by using the buttons below or click here for a proper browse. I've put a few links about eco-friendly materials and products down below, too.
The True Cost film - who pays the price for our fashion industry?
Who Gives A Crap - eco-friendly loo roll, 50% of profits donated to help build toilets in developing countries.
Find Me A Milkman - scroll through the search results to find local, independent dairies rather than opting for Milk & More, which is owned by multinational corporation Müller.
Hello friends of the handmade book. I hope you're doing okay. I hope you have all that you need. I'm still here. I'm still making. I'm still delivering orders - directly to your loved ones. Special days and special people can still be celebrated.
Use this Size Guide to check the dimensions of the books you're considering purchasing (dimensions are external and refer to the closed book unless otherwise indicated). If you'd like some guidance with selecting the correct size, feel free to contact Susan the bookbinder: email info@boundbyhand.co.uk or call +44 (0)7748 759371
Leather Memory Books, Wedding Guest Books, Journals and Sketchbooks
Cork Oaks after harvesting, Alessandro Vecchi 2012. Bosco di querce da sughero dopo l'estrazione nei pressi di Tempio Pausania, Sardegna. Source: 
Susan Green
Author