eco-friendly spiral notebook journals

Goal setting, mind dumps, to-do-lists, schedules, habit tracking, quote collections, book reading notes, affirmations, and creative musings all need a place to be recorded. Although there are now a multitude of ways to record things digitally, sometimes good old fashion paper is needed.

Maybe I’m just showing my gen x age by living one foot in digital bliss (hooray for scheduled birthday alerts) and one foot in paper nostalgia (hello Ocean Conservancy calendar on the side of my fridge). As I straddle these two worlds, I still prefer a paper notebook to record and organize new information coming out of my brain.

As a bit of a notebook journal hoarder. I’ve purchased every kind of calendar, planner, organizer, blank bound paper system in the universe. I think someone else’s system sounds amazing and will change my life. I think a sophisticated leather bound beauty will inspire sophisticated thoughts. Nope, none of it happens.

So, I’ve come to appreciate the simple spiral notebook. They are so much easier to use than bound notebooks as you don’t have to hold the pages down. Spiral notebooks also (usually) have more space to write and are (usually) less expensive than other notebook styles.

Additionally, I’ve realized that I like to be the boss. Always. Boss of my brother when we were kids, boss of building my house, and boss of how to organize my journal. I don’t like calendar systems with times and dates because it feels confining and it feels like I am telling myself what to do and I don’t like it. The spiral notebook lets me be the boss. Always. I can change things up, create something new, reinvent my system, add information. Spiral notebooks are non-judgemental hugs for my mind.

Of course, I want to find the most eco-friendly spiral notebook because, why not?! I can spend my money on more stuff I don’t need or I can spend my money on the kindest version of the things that bring joy to my life. My spiral notebook is all kinds of joy for me!

Unfortunately, finding an eco-friendly spiral notebook is not as easy as it sounds.

Once, I bought a “minimalist” notebook that said it was eco-friendly but had a hard plastic cover. Ugh. Other cheap spiral notebooks are made with newly cut trees (dang it!) and a colorful (chemical) shiny (plastic coated) cardboard cover. Sigh.

These are my favorite spiral notebooks:

decomposition book
9.75″ x 7.5″
ruled and dot grid options
72 sheets
100% post-consumer waste recycled pages
soy ink
made in usa
super cool & unique cover graphics

greenroom
10.5″ x 8.5″
college ruled
70 sheets
60-70% recycled fiber
soy ink
made in taiwan
colorful cover graphics
available at Target

environotes
11′ x 9″
college ruled
double pocket
100 sheets
30% post-consumer waste
97% landfill free manufacturing
made in usa

mintra*
11″ x 8.5″
college ruled
100 sheets
sugar cane paper
brown lines
made in egypt
brown kraft paper recycled cover
* This one I just found (thanks to Amazon tracking my every move and suggesting it) but have not actually used. The other notebooks I have used and enjoyed.