After finishing my schooling, I continued a July to June academic planner system. Odd, perhaps, but I found something that worked for me, and I stuck with it. Plus I developed a vaguely superstitious preference against weighing myself down with the burden of New Years’ expectations. Now, of course, I’m questioning every new decision I make with “could this be more sustainable?” Six months ago, nearing my new planner deadline, I began looking for other options.
If you google “sustainable planner,” you find a bunch of compilations and lists from sustainably-themed blogs, just like this one, although perhaps a touch more professional. These lists boast dates like “2019,” most of the links are defunct, and if you search the brands themselves, a number of them are, too. Some brands have moved away from print planners, which isn’t a surprise; I keep track of a lot digitally, too. I bookmarked a couple cute sustainable stationary companies, although my daydreams of being a letter-writer far outweigh my reality. Regardless, I think 2022 is due time for an updated sustainable planner list.
Daily planners don’t work for me; I can’t get things done on specific dates without very strict deadlines. I also LOVE the calendar pages. Since college, I’ve used those calendar pages as a daily diary. I write anything and everything I’ve been up to on a given day. This has left me with a years’-long record of which friend I hung out with when; what event I attended; what movie I watched. Anything going on in my life. Therefore, I brought the following criteria to my planner search: a weekly planner, with a week at a time, featuring large, monthly calendar pages.
How do you feel about goal-oriented pages in planners? I can’t make up my mind. Sometimes I feel starry-eyed when I imagine their possibilities. Other times, I remember that the goal-achieving version of myself will only appear if I build her, over time, through lots of growing and learning how to break big projects into small, doable chunks. I’ve hesitated to buy planners that delve deeply into goal-focused exercises because I don’t want to let myself down.
With that said, here’s the planner I bought 6 months ago. The Karst planner only comes in Jan-Dec format, either daily or weekly. Its cover is smooth to the touch, sleek and attractive. The layout of its weekly pages also comes closest to the academic planners I’ve been relying on for the past few years, with separate lines for each day. This planner touches on these goal-oriented formats by setting aside space for a daily “goal of the day” and including a weekly reflection. They also feature a page of reflection questions monthly, but I found that the planner did not push me to read or write about those things, so I didn’t utilize those much.
I really enjoyed Karst’s planner layout; I found it easy to navigate, very useful for some division of day-to-day lists, and a very comfortable book to carry around. I never got into the habit of utilizing the “goal of the day” section, but as a method of tracking tasks, it was excellent. My only complaint would be the lack of note pages at the back of the planner (there’s only one).
Karst claims to be sustainable by using “stone paper,” an invention that converts construction and industrial waste into paper by grinding stone super fine and holding it together with resin. This makes the paper super smooth, tear-proof, and waterproof. I had been using an ink pen in my planners, but I found the ink struggled to permeate this stone paper, so I switched to a regular ballpoint pen to avoid smudges.
Karst’s method avoids chopping down trees, pulping them, and generating all the water and carbon dioxide waste that goes into normal paper production. This CNN article details how this process works. I was particularly confused how a synthetic resin could be sustainable, but the CNN article claims that the resin used is “HDPE (high-density polyethylene) resin, which is compostable or photodegradable, meaning it decomposes over time from sunlight, leaving only calcium carbonate behind.” While I don’t intend to ever dispose of my planners (hello, diary pages), I find it reassuring that my great-grandchildren could stick this out in the sun and turn it back into stone powder.
In the sustainability section of Karst’s website, they highlight being a Certified B Corporation, a sustainability designation I always seek out. They mention being 100% carbon neutral, which I love. Karst also claims their paper generates a “60% smaller carbon footprint” (smaller than equivalent amounts of tree pulp paper, I assume?) and they “plant a tree with every purchase” in partnership with One Tree Planted. While it’s always a struggle to determine a product’s sustainability from a sleek website, I feel very confident that Karst is an ethical company making a good product, and I’m very pleased with my purchase.
However, now that January 2022 has rolled around, I’m feeling a little more inspired to set monthly goals. Instead of re-purchasing Karst, I’m trying Ink+Volt‘s weekly planner. I like the supportive and encouraging look of their organizational and goal-setting structures, which seem to be the main selling point of this design. Their website offers a preview of these page layouts, and features an option for purchasing a digital download, if you’d rather print your own. However, the only sustainability information I could find were two sentences in the planner’s specs: “Soy based inks. Rain forest friendly paper.”
So I emailed them. That’s what customer service is for, isn’t it? Ink+Volt was already bookmarked in my sustainability folder, so I knew there was more to them than that. In the company’s response, the lovely person who promptly emailed me back told me their paper is FSC certified and Rainforest Alliance Certified. They even sent me this link about what Rainforest Alliance Certification is! On top of that, the chipboard is 100% recycled fibers and at least 35% post-consumer waste. (And yes, I am plagiarising their email response.) I’m slightly disappointed this isn’t more overtly listed on their website, but these are still excellent sustainable changes to the typical production process.
Here are some other sustainable planner ideas I’ve come across, through dated blog posts by Shelbizleee and Eco Warrior Princess. As I said, not everything listed in those posts is still available, so I am listing the ones that are. I also came across a 2022 list by Conscious Fashion that only partially overlaps with mine, if you’d like more options.
Wisdom Supply Co.‘s weekly planner features a simplistic, minimalist design that appeals to me: I mostly need a place to write and track my to-do lists. I’m sad it measures 8.5″ x 11.25″, since I’ve been using and loving 5″ x 8″ planners for a few years, now. It also means the calendar pages will be smaller than I want, since they’re each only half of that. However, if I can adjust to the sizes…I really like the division between scheduling versus to-do list; I like having space for the to-do list; I like how easy it is to flip to the current week. They sell both calendar year and academic year planners. When I first looked at Wisdom Supply Co.’s planners, I really thought I was going to buy one.
Wisdom Supply Co. is also a Certified B Corporation, so I am–once again–very excited to see it. They’re also a member of 1% For the Planet, so they donate 1% of their profits to charity. Another thing: their planners are made of 100% recycled materials and are 100% recyclable. If you like getting rid of your planners, you can toss the whole thing in the recycling at the end of the year without worrying about cutting out any plastic pages, or the spiral binding, or…well, any of the usual, non-recyclable components. After flipping through their page layouts, I think Wisdom’s planners are better for people who prefer less structure, or designing their own structure. Here’s a video of a bullet journal layout that seems simple, easy, and perfectly suited to Wisdom Supply Co.’s general layout. If I decide that’s what I want in the future, I’ll give their planner a try.
With Green Dreamer planners’ undated, flexible format, they seem excellent for flexible people. That format is part of why I doubt they’d work for me; I know I’d just end up dating every week sequentially. The planner seems to be made with largely recycled products, including 60% recycled paper pages. Green Dreamer leans more into intentionality and mindfulness in its planner, but it’s a beautiful product and might be the perfect choice for you.
The Australian company Buy Eco Green lists a series of daily and weekly planners on their website. While the included Australian and New Zealand holidays wouldn’t benefit me, these planners’ pages are 100% FSC recycled paper and at least 85% post-consumer waste, according to their website. I couldn’t get a good sense of their layout, but I like their recycled-and-recyclable vibe.
Sasha Kretova‘s planners and journals seem fascinating. They’re custom-made from 100% recycled paper, which means you choose if you want an undated planner, grid paper, lined paper, dotted paper, or blank pages. This is even less structured than the previous two planners I’ve listed! I love the idea of supporting an independent artist and I love the idea of customizing exactly what combination of size and pages I want, so I may purchase a journal from her.
This spiral planner on etsy, from lettercdesign, highlights the breadth of planner options available. You determine the starting month of the planner when you buy. It seems to be made mostly from recycled materials. Who knows how many etsy creators have made their own planners? I appreciated the reminder that anyone and everyone can make their own organizational systems; if this works for you, give it a try!
That’s it! I know there are more planners out there, but that’s what I’ve found. Do you use any of these options? Is there a sustainable planner I missed? What do you think of the one you use?
I’d like to leave you with this WheezyWaiter video about bullet journaling. If one of these structured planners makes you feel pressured, maybe learning some of the fundamental values of bullet journaling will change your perspective. Hello, 2022!
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