Notebooks don’t need to cost the Earth. From tree-free paper to recycled covers and plastic-free bindings, these brands are rethinking how journals are made. Whether you’re a student, a writer, or just someone who loves good stationery, the sustainable notebooks and journals below offer better materials, less waste, and more purpose behind every page.
1. Dingbats Notebooks
Website: dingbats-notebooks.com
Certifications: EU V-Label (Certified Vegan) – first notebook brand with this label, FSC Certified
Price Range: £10–£20 (≈$12–$25 USD)
Location: United Kingdom (design in UK; made in EU/Lebanon)
Dingbats produces premium eco-friendly notebooks that are 100% vegan, right down to the adhesives. They eschew the animal-derived glues historically used in bookbinding (made by boiling collagen from hides and bones) in favor of plant-based alternatives. This cruelty-free approach earned them the first-ever V-Label vegan certification for a notebook. Inside, the notebooks feature FSC-certified paper, meaning every page comes from sustainably managed forests where harvested trees are replanted or naturally regenerated.
2. Decomposition Book (Michael Roger)
Website: decomposition.com
Certifications: 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper (locally verified), Soy Ink Printing (low-VOC, plant-based)
Price Range: $8–$15 USD per notebook
Location: United States (New York, USA)
Decomposition Books (by Michael Roger) turn trash into treasure, each notebook is made from 100% post-consumer-waste recycled paper and printed with soy-based inks. By using reclaimed paper fibers instead of virgin pulp, this brand supports an eco-friendly cycle that has “saved untold thousands of acres of forest [and] prevented the release of millions of additional tons of CO2”.
In other words, buying a Decomposition notebook helps conserve forests (and the wildlife habitats and carbon storage they provide) that would otherwise be sacrificed for new paper production. The chlorine-free, recycled pages also spare water and energy in manufacturing. Additionally, Decomposition’s use of soy inks (made from soybeans) avoids the petroleum solvents in conventional inks, cutting down on volatile organic compound emissions.
3. Karst Stone Paper
Website: karstgoods.com
Certifications: Certified B Corporation (meets high social/environmental standards), Cradle to Cradle Silver (material health & recyclability)
Price Range: $10–$30 USD
Location: Australia (Sydney, NSW)
Karst notebooks are made from stone paper, a tree-free paper alternative produced from recycled limestone rock and a small amount of non-toxic resin. This innovative approach eliminates wood pulp and the heavy resource use that comes with it. In fact, the stone paper production process requires no water, no acids or bleaches, and is powered by renewable energy. Their sustainability ethos is verified by their B Corp certification and a Cradle-to-Cradle Silver rating, which together affirm the notebooks’ reduced footprint across their lifecycle.
4. Vent for Change
Website: ventforchange.co.uk
Certifications: FSC-Certified Sustainable Paper, Supports Global Education Projects (5% of sales donated)
Price Range: £5–£15 (≈$6–$20 USD)
Location: United Kingdom (Bristol, UK)
VENT for Change creates stylish notebooks and journals with an emphasis on circular materials. Many of their covers and pages are made from reclaimed or recycled substances – for example, the brand’s “Sucseed” collection blends farm by-products (like coffee bean husks, kiwi fruit peels, and lavender) into recycled paper. From covers made of recycled leather and wool to pencils made from recycled plastic, each VENT product demonstrates how creative reuse of resources can lighten the ecological load.
5. Earth Greetings
Website: earthgreetings.com.au
Certifications: Carbon Neutral Certified (100% of operations and products offset), FSC Certified Paper, Certified B Corporation
Price Range: AUD $5–$27 (≈$4–$20 USD)
Location: Australia (Adelaide, SA)
Earth Greetings is an Australian brand proving that beautiful stationery can be made with zero harm to the planet. All products, from greeting cards to journals, use 100% post-consumer recycled paper and are printed with vegetable-based inks. These plant-based inks avoid the toxic volatile organic compounds released by petroleum-based inks, resulting in cleaner air and waterways.
In fact, the company has been certified carbon neutral since 2007, balancing out 1,500+ tons of CO₂ to date. They also shun plastic, so the notebooks and their wrapping are fully compostable or recyclable. Earth Greetings “go the extra eco-mile” by donating over 10% of profits to wildlife habitat restoration and by planting a tree for every order (via Trees For Life).
6. Wisdom Supply Co.
Website: wisdomsupplyco.com
Certifications: Certified B Corporation, Plastic Pollution Coalition Member
Price Range: $10–$25 USD
Location: United States (California, USA)
Calling waste a “design flaw,” Wisdom Supply Co. is on a mission to eradicate single-use plastics from schools and offices. Their zero-waste notebooks, binders, and planners contain no plastic components, no PVC covers, no plastic coils – in order to break the cycle of disposable stationery contributing to the plastic pollution crisis. This is a serious issue, an estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the oceans each year, much of it from single-use items.
Wisdom Supply tackles this problem by designing products that use metal, cloth, and recycled cardboards which can be reused or easily recycled, rather than “forever” plastics that persist in landfills and marine environments. For example, their refillable Zero-Waste Binder uses a sturdy recycled fiberboard cover with metal rings, eliminating the typical plastic vinyl binder destined for the trash.
7. Paper On The Rocks
Website: paperontherocks.com
Certifications: Certified B Corporation (social & environmental performance), Climate Neutral Company (pledged Net Zero by 2030)
Price Range: €10–€18 (≈$12–$20 USD)
Location: Netherlands (Utrecht, NL)
Paper on the Rocks makes elegant notebooks using tree-free paper to directly address deforestation. Instead of wood pulp, they source paper from construction rubble and agricultural waste, converting things like limestone offcuts and plant fibers into smooth, high-quality pages. This innovation means that every Rocks notebook saves trees, a critical benefit given that the pulp and paper industry still consumes up to 40% of all industrial wood harvested globally.
8. Notely
Website: notely.com.au
Certifications: FSC Certified Paper (FSC Mix credit), Carbon Neutral Printing (local print program)
Price Range: AUD $10–$20 (≈$7–$14 USD)
Location: Australia (Brisbane, QLD)
All Notely journals are made in Australia using 100% recycled paper… specifically, post-consumer waste fibers with no virgin tree pulp at all. The paper and printing process are chlorine-free and acid-free, ensuring no toxic byproducts. What really sets Notely apart is their use of upcycled organic waste to add both texture and eco-impact to their paper. For example, Notely’s limited-edition “Citrus Crush” notebooks incorporate about 15% reclaimed citrus fruit peels into the paper pulp. Notely also prints with vegetable-based inks and uses compostable or recycled packaging for shipping.