Prosaic Paradise

This weekend I set about getting ink all over some “Eco” paper of two different stripes. I have heard, over and over again, tales of the Staples Eco-Friendly paper. I learned about how they make the paper from the remnants from sugar cane production (“80% sugar cane waste”), the pros and cons of that. Around the same time, I was gifted with some swag from my office in the form of a Leeds Eco Recycled Owl Journal. I don’t have all the details on that, but Leeds describes the paper as being made from “100% post consumer waste recycled sheets”. I am not the best conscious consumer, but this seemed like a good opportunity to point out that there are greener options – and they are good and affordable. For the most part I think the pictures speak for themselves and I got out the P&S (since I don’t have a macro lens for the DSLR yet) and took some macros so you could see really fine detail of the ink behaviour this time.

There is an immediate upside and a downside to the Leeds paper when you look at it: 1) it has a cute owl watermark on every page, front and back but 2) it’s really thin and where it’s bound at the top, you can see buckling. I felt like that might be a fault of the binding, but it’s a real & practical issue and will be a turn-off for lots of paper users. In terms of accessibility, I happened to luck into this product at my workplace, so getting your hands on some might be hard.

There was slightly more feathering on this paper than the bagasse, but so much less than I expected. I expected fountain pen ink to tear right through it, and there was no problem at all. I did notice that on a second pass with the ink, the paper started to get “nubby”; I note this for fountain pen users  because with wide or scratchy nibs with watery inks I think you might notice some disintegration.

The bagasse paper performed much as the glowing reviews predicted. It took the fountain pen inks well, whether in the Fine Sailor nib or the Medium A.G. Spalding nib. It was fine to write on, maybe not the buttery smooth sensation that Rhodia offers, but we’re not talking about the same league here. The paper isn’t so thin as to torpedo your confidence (acceptability of thinness seems highly subjective, though), and I will note that it ripped off cleanly at the perforations without any fussing. At less than a buck a pad (at least on the website), unless we find out they are creating this in an elaborate ritual involving virgin sacrifice and that’s why it’s so affordable, I can confirm all the reports: thumbs up on the bagasse. It also comes in spiral, journal and loose leaf formats – though I have read that the way the notebooks are packaged you get some rippling in the paper.

The clear punisher in these tests (apart from the obvious challenges that Sharpies pose to any paper in terms of bleedthrough) was the Pilot G-2 1.0mm. That ink is all over the place. It feathered on both of the papers and never dried and etc. etc. So for worst case scenarios, it’s great. Finally, here’s your gauge of whether you could get both-side use out of these papers.

Bonus: you get to see my kicky casual weekend footwear because I forgot to crop. Yes, on Sundays at home I wear green socks with my green birks. (Who am I kidding? I’ve worn that to work.)

Tags: paper, Pens, Stationery

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