Interesting Ecosystem Stats @ecosystemlife

The wonderful folks at Ecosystem sent along several of their limited edition geometry journals to review, and while I was looking over the back cover I saw the following:

ecosystem notebooks have saved the following resources from 2009 to 2011 by using New Leaf paper made from 100% post consumer waste:

• 10,892 fully grown trees
• 4,987,549 gallons of water
• 3,451 million BTU's
• 302,815 pounds of solid waste
• 1,035,575 pounds of greenhouse gases

In addition, they've saved millions of people from having to write in an unattractive journal.

Ecosystem at the NSS

Some of the new Ecosystem notebooks coming out soon, large and small hard and softcover dots.

More new notebooks, with trompe l'oeil covers. These seem to be softcover only, if I'm getting that right.

Finally, some of the specialty notebooks Ecosystem has made for clients. Yahoo! in grape, and the one of the right is for John Mayer (Dreaming With a Broken Heart).

Ecosystem 2011 Planner

While I already have a planner for work, and the iPad keeps my days coordinated as well, I love having something with me to write down quick notes and things. It makes no sense unless you're a paper junkie, and Ecosystem very kindly supplied me with a fantastic Grape fix.

This picture of the 2011 Ecosystem Planner doesn't really capture the beautiful dark grape outside color, something very similar to a cross between J. Herbin's Violette Pensee and Bleu Nuit inks. Its flexible (which I've gotten to like) and has a very thick cotton elastic band to keep it closed. The medium-sized Planner is 8.25 by 5.25 and pretty thin, so it's not too bulky to fit in my bag. Inside is a cotton, non-elastic band for keeping track of the current week. Both are 100% organic cotton, with 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper, while the cover is dyed with vegetable-based ink. Green Grape, as it were.


So what's inside the Planner? Lots and lots of great information, superb writing paper, and a 52 week organizer with lots of memo space. The front of the planner contains:

A personal information page
Two-page 2011 calendar
Six-page 2011 to-do list style calendar
Two-page 2012 calendar
Six-page 2012 to-do list style calendar
Tw0-page travel record
Two-page US time zone map
Two-page toll free numbers and web sites (airlines, hotels, etc.)
Two-page international time zone map
International dialing codes
US and Canada area codes
A measurement, temperature, and speed conversion chart
A web site log

After all that, we finally get to the weekly calendar, as pictured above. The paper is really very good quality, and I actually had to wait for my fountain pen ink to dry to close the journal. That's what makes this such a pleasure to write on.

This is a shot of the web site log page, which is very handy. I'm not sure how I'll feel when I have to copy all that over to another planner, but maybe I won't have to. Which leads to an interesting observation: there's no address book in this planner, something I find refreshing. I always hate the waste of paper in my Day Timer, and am really glad Ecosystem didn't bother with that function.

And like the other Ecosystem paper products, this one has an envelope at the back for receipts, notes, whatever, and an ID number in case you want to log it in at the web site.

All in all, from color to paper to use the Ecosystem Planner is exceptional. If you haven't gotten one yet, they likely will be available at Barnes and Noble (and possibly on sale, as well). Check this out if you're around, or on line.

Guest Review Ecosystem Large Sketchbook

(When the very kind folks handling Ecosystem saw my review of the hard back blank journal, they offered to send some additional goodies for me to try. Among them was a large Onyx Sketchbook with some incredible blank paper that I wanted to keep for myself. But having no artistic talent, I did want and artist with tons of talent to spare to try it out. And it just so happens that the marvelous Mia of Jadecow fits this description perfectly. So let me turn this post over to her, with many thanks on my part.)

I'm always on the lookout for a great sketchbook. I can never get enough of them, so when Diane at Pocket Blonde offered me the large Ecosystem Artist Journal to review, I jumped at the chance. (Thank you, Diane!)

If you've never heard of Ecosystem before, you'll be pleasantly surprised at their two-fold mission: to maintain a low carbon footprint in creating high-quality recycled journals, notebooks, and planners while fostering local manufacturing in the U.S. You can find out more about Ecosystem here at their website.

Now, just a bit more of boring history. I bought the medium-size Artist Journal last year, and I was disappointed with the results. The paper, though bright and recycled, was very thin and had no coating whatsoever. (See this photo and this photo.) As I like to work in watercolor and fountain pen, the paper wasn't really suited to me. But it was smooth and bright enough for pencil, ballpoint pens, and gel pens.

With this shiny new version of the Artist Journal, I was excited to see significant changes.

Appearance and Performance

The sketchbook I received was the large hardcover Onyx (7 3/8" wide by 9 7/8" high), constructed with the classic style popularized by Moleskine: leatherette materials, rounded corners, a ribbon bookmark, back pocket, and elastic band to keep the precious contents...uh, contained.

On the front cover, running along the vertical foredge in lowercase letters, is the word "sketchbook" in varnish. This can pose a potential problem for those of us who like to work en plein air and incognito, as this one word can effectively reveal our true purpose to our targets, I mean, subjects. Hiding it is a simple solution, but I prefer not to announce to the world what kind of book I have or expend the energy to hide the cover of a large book, especially since it's hard enough to remain incognito and ninja-like while sketching random strangers.

The book lies flat thanks to sewn binding and good construction that is characteristic of Ecosystem Journals (I regularly buy their small Author notebooks to use as a daily to-do, and let me tell you, those puppies are sturdy).

The paper is 80lb text weight, "acid-free super-bright." There are no perforations on the pages, which is wonderful for folks who like to work across the gutter and work on a spread of a book.

Pencils, Fountain Pens, Pitts, Copics

Using Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils in the B range (B, 3B, 10B) was delightful on this buttery-smooth paper, which was able to take layers of cross-hatching and blending as well as repeated erasing using both a kneaded eraser and a plastic eraser. There was hardly a noticeable disintegration in the erasures, but when I draw I don't press hard unless necessary, preferring to build darks in layers instead.

Next I used a fountain pen, a Sailor Regulus with a fine nib and filled with Platinum Carbon ink (my favorite waterproof ink). Again, the paper was smooth and a joy to work with. The lightest touch was the only requirement to render a faithful line. There was no feathering or bleed-through from the fine-nibbed fountain pen, or the double-broad stub Nakaya loaded with Sailor's Limited Edition Doyou ink (for those of you who like to use blank sketchbooks as their primary writing notebook).

The same goes for the Pentel Pocket Brushpen, one of my favorite tools for sketching on-the-go. Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pens simply pop on the bright white paper with just the barest hint of see-through on the reverse side of the page. Copic markers, as expected, bled through the page but did blend nicely. (Not a lot of papers take Copics well, so this wasn't a surprise.) I don't use markers often, and when I do it's usually in a painterly manner.

Watercolors

I love working with watercolors. This is a requirement that usually ends up making or breaking my decision to keep a sketchbook. Some are hits, a few are misses, but a large portion of the sketchbooks I've tried have fallen somewhere in-between. The Ecosystem Artist Journal falls in this last category.

While the Ecosystem Artist Journal definitely takes watercolor a lot better than the first version, it doesn't hold up well to heavy or repeated layers of washes and eventually seeps through the page. The wax-like coating on the paper beads the water in a similar way to the Moleskine sketchbook and buckles the paper.

Final thoughts

The Ecosystem Artist Journal is a wonderful value for a sketchbook: at $19.95, the book is well-constructed, its smooth paper takes a good variety of commonly-available materials, and the "super-bright" whiteness of the paper will make your colors sing. I wouldn't recommend using charcoal or pastel on this paper -- it's simply too smooth and these dry media prefer a toothier material to hold on to. For light washes of watercolor, they're okay, but not something I'd recommend for a serious enthusiast.

This is a great sketchbook with many fine qualities that make it worth the price to me. And while it doesn't take watercolors as I'd like, it's not something I have to work hard to work around. With any sketchbooks there are limitations to its performance, but that's just the way it goes. I applaud Ecosystem's commitment to the environment and support for local American manufacturers, and the company's responsiveness to customer feedback. I'm happy to see the Artist Journal revised and upgraded into a true contender in the art materials arena.

all photos here and artwork here

Ecosystem Medium Blank Journal

After seeing the Ecosystem booth at the National Stationery Show back in May I was really interested in their journals, and kept reminding myself to get over to Barnes and Noble to check them out again. But as I tend to buy online at B&N for the MyPoints credit, Ecosystem took a back seat to other things. A few weeks ago I did get to the bricks and mortar store, and checked out all the Ecosystem journals available. What I wanted was a large Grape line journal, or a medium Clementine hard cover blank journal, neither of which seem to exist. So I decided to go with boring-but-dependable, and chose an Onyx medium hard cover blank journal.


What's interesting about the Ecosystem medium journal is that in terms of size it is right between the Moleskine blank journal and Rhodia's Webbie (as shown literally in the above pic: l-r, Moleskine, Ecosystem, Rhodia). The Ecosystem cover is not as glossy as the Moleskine or as leather-like as the Webbie, and it will pick up dings and dirt from being carried around in various bags.


In terms of paper, Ecosystem's 100% post-consumer recycled paper is amazingly bright. Granted I don't really have many blank journals with white paper, but the above gives a good idea of just how the Moleskine and Rhodia stack up against white: Rhodia is definitely a darker ivory, while the Moleskine has a lighter ivory shade. So if you're looking for bright white paper, it's Ecosystem FTW (for the win).

Like the others, the Ecosystem Journal has an elastic band to keep it closed and a back pocket for papers and other stuff. There's also a registration number, if you want to fill out the form in order to log in you journal should it go missing and some kind soul wants to get it back to you (or blackmail the dickens out of you, should you be so inclined as to write down everything).

But unless your journal is really a status symbol (here's looking at you, Hermes), it's main purpose is to be written in and not shown around. Ecosystem's paper makes for a really interactive writing experience, one that I hadn't thought about until I used this journal. I definitely liked using the Ecosystem blank journal, and it does a fairly good job of laying flat on a surface which I appreciated. There are some quirks that make it, for me, a more engaging experience--a word I hadn't thought to use for a paper journal, but which seems quite apt now that I think about it.

The bright white paper is fairly thick, but not in the Rhodia/Clairefontaine league. One very nice touch is that the paper is perforated, so if you want to remove a sheet you don't have a jagged, ripped edge to deal with later, which I do like. This recycled paper is quite thirsty, and it has a tendency to absorb a lot of ink and then bleed through on the other side. However, with some fountain pens and certain inks the paper was extremely well-behaved while some rollerball gel inks bled straight through and onto the following sheet.

For the most part, my Onyx likes an extra fine or fine point fountain pen and a drier ink such as the Pelikan 4001. Medium and up nibs are use at your own risk, depending upon the manufacturer. In these two pictures, the first pen was a Pelikan M205 Yellow Demonstrator with an extra fine nib using Pelikan 4001 ink, and there was no excessive ink absorption or bleed through on the other side. The Pilot Namiki 823 medium nib with Sheaffer ink also worked very well, but my Waterman Laureat with Diamine Syrah had a lot of ink absorption and bled through the paper. The Pilot Namiki Custom 74 with a fine point nib using Noodler's V-Mail GI Green had a lot of bleed through, the writing was extremely difficult as the paper was absorbing too much ink, and there were small blotches of ink on the following page.

Gel ink pens were not without problems either. My Parker Vacumatic Retrofit using a Monteverde gel ink refill definitely had a lot of bleedthrough, but the Pilot Hi-Tecs I used didn't even dent the white paper much less drink up lots of the ink. So some gel inks are very usable on this paper, some are not.

What I've learned is that the Ecosystem Journal is somewhat temperamental, and really does respond to the type of pen and ink that's used on the paper. That to me is more intriguing than frustrating, as it demands that I think about what I'm writing with when I pick up this journal. And I've started keeping a written diary of the different pen and ink experiences, which is also something I hadn't thought to do before.

Now, about the choices. Guys, can't you make a medium hard cover journal in Clementine? And a large hard cover in any color would be excellent (any type of paper would be fine, but blank and lined are my first choices).

As for buying it, for some reason Barnes and Noble at Union Square North near 14th Street in Manhattan decided to either get rid of Ecosystem or just hide their journals as they were nowhere to be found a few weeks ago when I went back for another look. So I may have to go online if I want to get another one, which isn't as fun as picking it up and using it right away.

Ecosystem's New Products at the National Stationery Show

Ecosystem was easy to find at the National Stationery Show, just read the signs as you go through the doors at the Javits Convention Center.


Or, after you registered, if you wanted to see the newest products and the top picks of 2009 at the Entrance display, there was Ecosystem front and center. Before taking this picture I posed the purple notebook in the front center as it is their newest color: Grape! To celebrate, Ecosystem reps were handing out grape bead necklaces and grape soda at their booth to announce this addition to their color line.


In addition to the great Grape color, I got to see (and take a few pics) of their newest products coming out in the Fall. First, on the right of the above pic, are their new Reporter-style notepads in four sizes (these are the green/black and blue/watermelon notepads above). They are flexible reporter notepads for taking notes, doodling, whatever, and they have a recycled cotton elastic closure at the bottom so the notebook doesn't suddenly open up. This is a great addition to the Ecosystem lineup, and with four different sizes and all the different colors you could spend hours trying to decide which one is right for you.

To the left are the new Sketchbooks (starting with the watermelon/purple combination and moving to the left with the blue and clementine). These are sketchbooks with white blank 80gsm paper; like the reporter-style, the Sketchbook also has a recycled cotton elastic closure on the side. Rhodia quality paper with a Moleskine band, I'm thinking these will be perfect for fountain pens as well as graphite. There were medium and large sketchbooks on view, so again there will be lots of colors and sizes to choose from when they hit the stores. The roll out time is the Fall, and I plan on keeping a close eye on the Ecosystem display at my Union Square Barnes and Noble (as well as their Twitter account, @ecosystemlife) for the notebook's arrival.

I think of all the booths I stopped by at the NSS, this was one of my favorites. I'm really excited by these Reporter and Sketchbook additions to the Ecosystem line, and the new great Grape notebook color.