(RE)INTRODUCING WISDOM NO-WASTE NOTEBOOKS *now co-branded with our new partners at Bulrushed Books.
What will be different:
Interior Paper: Now made with Bulrushed Paper™ Book Paper 100% Post Consumer Recycled (prior versions: 30% PCW). Not only is the paper 100% recycled, it is made with recycled textbooks.
The new "Book Paper" contains salvaged paper from the books and textbooks that Bulrushed collects, de-spines, and recycles. Books otherwise destined for landfills (where most discarded books end up).
For the paper in a book to be recycled, the entire spine of the book must be removed. Bulrushed removes the covers of discarded books and textbooks ONE BY ONE, using the paper from those books to make their own mix of recycled paper that they then turn into the paper we now use for our notebooks.
Interior Paper Weight: Original: 70#, New: 45# Change in weight is due to the 70% increase in 100% Post-Consumer content. Ink does not bleed through For comparison, the paper weight of a Mead Composition Notebook is 15#, sometimes 20# (our new Bulrushed notebook paper is 45#) but it is not the extra thick, bright-white 70# paper we originally used.
Why we design our own line of notebooks: There are many notebooks out there, but few designed to be curbside recyclable, and fewer still with an intentionally low page count.
"Intentionally low page count"? The overwhelming majority of school comp/notebooks are only partially used, which results in an inexcusable amount of never-used paper, routinely discarded to recycling or landfill. Not only is it senseless to landfill unused paper, it is equally senseless from a production/energy standpoint, to manufacture and ship materials that will never be used.
*Anything spiral bound is landfill, as are comp/notebooks with poly, laminated, or non-paper covers.
100% Recycled Cover 100% Post-Consumer Waste Paper 100% Recyclable Made in U.S. 44 Pages Each Perfect Bound 8" x 10" 45# Paper
Bulrushed also offers a line of 5" x 8" saddle-stitched (staple bound) notebooks that can be found here.
Sorting through thousands of discarded notebooks during our annual Locker Clean Out Events (aka waste audits) taught us some things:
We're making a big mistake instructing students to purchase disposable plastic, vinyl, spiral-bound, and wasteful supplies every year in the name of "education" - the irony is painful.
Example: Classroom of 20 students
4 comp books/student/year
Avg # of unused sheets/notebook: 50
4000 sheets/classroom = 1/3 of a tree
= A giant carbon footprint for no good reason.
Goal: Set an example for students to waste less, for the good of everything.
High page count comp/notebooks
Notebooks with poly-covers, laminated covers, glittery, or metallic covers.
Place used notebook in the paper recycling bin.
If so inclined, you can go the extra mile and tear off the front and back covers and place everything in the paper recycling bin - this makes it easier for recycling haulers to access the white (interior) paper that most often has a higher recycling value $$.
