Sunday, April 15, 2012

Shoplet.com Review: Roaring Spring Paper Products

Oooooh paper notebooks! These office supplies were sent by Shoplet for review! This super duper parcel included the following items:
Roaring Spring Products
I've picked three of these products to review in detail, and they're going to be fun ones!

3 Subject Notebook
What Do I Like?
3 Subject Notebook
I love colors. I love that each subject has its own color - easy to identify which subject you're looking for (or writing in). This notebook is perfect for note taking at school. I love poly covers as well because they are sturdy and easy to clean. Furthermore, this notebook is made with recycled paper!

I was rather surprised that this paper tolerated fountain pen ink so well. Of course, a very wet writing fountain pen will bleed through the paper, but given that it's recycled paper, it holds up quite well to ink. Gel ink and ballpoints are no problem of course. 
3 Subject Writing Sample
What Don't I Like?
The colors of the pages are a tiny bit too dark, and they certainly limit what color of pens/pencils/highlighters, etc, that you can use while note taking. Of course, if you only use black ink, you'll have no problem.

Sugarcane Paper Notebook
What Do I Like?
This is new to me - sugarcane paper. I know sugarcane is very fibrous and pulpy (I have several stalks planted in the backyard and my dad has had me eating it since I was little), and it seems so obvious to make paper out of the pulp! Sugarcane is a more sustainable source than trees - it grows faster, takes up less space, and we get sugar out of the cane itself! This paper is made out of the waste material from the sugarcane refining processes.

I was even more surprised that the sugarcane paper tolerated fountain pen ink - even more so than with the wire bound notebook! Somehow I expected the sugarcane paper to be very thin which would lead to a lot of bleed through of ink but as you can see, only a little bit of ink bled through. Once again, gel inks and ballpoint pens were no problem.
Cane Paper Writing Sample
What Don't I Like?
Nothing! I'm very pleased with this product. It performed beyond my expectations.

PooPoo Paper Notebook
What Do I Like?
Oh my god. This list could go on and on. I was so excited to get this product to try - PooPoo paper! I am so pleased to see paper notebooks expanding to include more sustainable sources, and what's more sustainable than a steaming pile of elephant poopoo?! I absolutely love the theme of this pad, and the fact that it's recycled and odorless (yes. I don't really want to write on a pile of paper that smells like elephant dung). The fibers are removed from actual animal poo to produce these papers.

As this paper is very fibrous, it doesn't hold up well to fountain pens (nor should fountain pens be used on very fibrous paper as it can clog the nib), and pencils also catch the fibers and tear the paper. Gel pens scratched at the fibers as well and the paper sucked the ink out of the gel ink pen and made it write rather dry. The best choice for this paper is ballpoint pens. 
PooPoo Paper Writing Sample
Whoa. Check out the orange bleed through from a Pelikan M1005 fountain pen with a fine nib. 
What Don't I Like?
This notebook arrived individually poly wrapped. I'm not sure what the need is for individual wrapping. It is recyclable plastic, but it still takes energy to make, and then to re-recycle, right?

Overall
I am so happy to see a company really put effort into making sustainably sourced paper notebooks. Kudos to Roaring Spring for coming up with such fun and practical paper notebooks and note pads. I am trying to learn calligraphy and art of sorts so lately, I have been using up a lot of paper and although I recycle as much as I can, I'm still constantly worried about how much paper I am going through. I definitely feel better using sustainably sourced paper notebooks as opposed to knowing trees are being cut down for me to draw and write butcher and destroy both art and calligraphy. Remember, every little bit we do can as individuals and companies will make a difference in the long run! Go PooPoo!

Disclaimer and reminder: These office supplies were sent for review by Shoplet. I was not paid to write this review, but I do get to keep these cool products.

1 comments:

Shangching CH said...

I have been interested in Poo Poo paper for a while.  It is just such a fun concept.  Did the insert described the production process?  I bet it would be an interesting read.
Years ago, I remembered seeing Banana Paper in college bookstore.  The pages appeared as regular recycle paper, too bad I have never tried it out.  The sugarcane one is very interesting, maybe I should do some more market research before I obtain my next batch of notebook/ paper...

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