Spring 2023 - 74

SUSTAINABILITY AND ECO-FRIENDLY
TRENDS IN PAPER AND STATIONERY
The zero-waste
Postcard Calendar from
BY LIBBY LLANSO, SEEDLINGS PAPER
Contributing Writer
F
amilies can be such valuable resources in
life and for me, my family has been truly
life changing. My grandfather's passion with
printing began over 40 years ago repurposing hardcover
books into paperback books. Ten years later, along
came my mom and her creative brain. Before she knew
it, she and my dad had started a coaster business using
the leftover old book covers. In a way, sustainability has
always been at the forefront of my family's businesses.
So, it just made sense that the next generation would be
Seedlings - a sprout deeply rooted in sustainability.
I think it's important to be mindful of our practices
and ask ourselves how we can do a little better and be
a little kinder to this planet of ours since it is in fact the
only one we have.
Seedlings started as the next generation of Legacy. We
saw what our parents were doing and thought, " Why
can't we do this, but in our own way? " We had some
of the best brains in the industry to pick, to use their
resources and to start Seedlings. Seedlings started with a
small card line, boxed card sets, coasters (of course) and
a few notebooks. It's grown into calendars, planners,
more than 200 cards in our line, and even into wellness.
COMMITMENT TO DOING BETTER
What I'm most excited about our growth and where
we're going is our commitment to keep learning and
doing better. We want to be cello free, so we're making
it a reality even though the options currently available
don't work with our envelopes. We have been working
on a new way to keep our cards and envelopes together
and will be introducing it at *Noted!
Seedlings is growing and, in that growth, I want the
changes - even the small ones - to be rooted in our
passion for sustainability. Earlier this year, we got rid
of the plastic box for our coasters, and we've created
the concept of a coaster bar where the customer creates
74 SPRING 2023 GIFT SHOP® PLUS
Seedlings has nothing that needs
to be thrown away. Circle 253.
their own assortment and bands the coasters with our
seed paper belly band and seal. Seedlings created a
completely zero-waste Postcard Calendar with a few
things in mind: our signature seed paper still being a
main part; keeping all those gorgeous foil details and
stunning art; and ditching the waste of a normal calendar
product. We obviously LOVE a calendar but hate how
every year it's just thrown away. This product has
nothing that needs to be thrown away. The packaging?
Plantable. The calendar? All can be upcycled. Done with
your month? It's now a postcard. Leftover date grid? It's
full color and foiled art to keep!
SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES TO TREE-BASED PAPER
We only print on our seed paper with an inkjet
because in order to print our beautiful artwork, the heat
of the printer would kill the seeds (the whole point of
the paper!) so this is why you don't see our art printed
on seed paper but rather our packaging!
There are so many cool, sustainable alternatives to
tree-based paper. We've worked with paper made from
grape leaves, and one of my all-time favorites is paper
made from recycled cotton left over from the waste of
the textile industry. Seed paper is, of course, our bread
and butter - it's made from post-consumer waste and
then embedded with seeds. This paper is biodegradable
and eco-friendly, and no trees are harmed in the process
of creating it.
Sustainable or eco-friendly paper can be used for
many things. In our own realm, we've begun looking
at using these resources to create gift tags (this could
be in our future...), wrapping paper, business cards -
anything you do with paper could be replaced with
some eco-friendly paper.
Learn more about our Gift Shop®
page 10.
Plus contributors on
Spring 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spring 2023
