As a seasonal stationery business owner I try to keep waste to a minimum, and on a personal note, I don’t like to bin stuff. So when it comes to old stock that is not quite up to standard, or is left unsold at the end of the a season, I needed to make a plan.
I now only use recycled paper stock for all my planners, and where efficacy allows, I use recyclable packaging (the strength of packaging needed to navigate the wild west of the UK Christmas postal system should not be underestimated!). But in terms of waste, I know I can do better.
It began with a string origami stars, made out of one of my 2022 wall planner. Could I find a good use for my old planners?
2022 wall planner repurposed into an origami star garland
Now, origami can be time consuming, and I hear that those stars took some doing, and achey fingers(!) due to the premium thickness of the paper, so perhaps that wasn’t the most productive solution. But fun none-the less!
So then I looked into having my 2023 neon wallplanners pulped, and formed into new paper stock. I worked with Steph, from Pots and Paper in Leicester to produce my very own paper, that had just the right amount of neon flecks in it, so feel recognisably mine. It was a gorgeous process, but without a clear goal, it took a while to work out what to do with that precious, one of a kind paper.
2023 wall planner pulped to create new paper
Next came by business cards! I decided to use the paper for myself - and have it binded to create unique business cards. Working with local, Nottingham-based printers, A14 we created the most stunning business cards - a mix of my bespoke paper, bonded to neon pink stock, with a foiled finish. I loved them! I was very over-protective with them to begun with, not wanting to ‘waste’ any, but I now hand them out with pride, whenever I can!
I also printed onto the A4 bespoke paper directly. I brought it along to an amazing workshop with Fireater, a Leicestershire-based letterpress printer, where I got to experiment with my own abstract shapes and create one-off prints.
I learnt so much out of these artistic processes, about the paper I have my wall planners printed onto. It’s qualities, as much as it’s limitations. They were gorgeous, but perhaps little indulgent as a business owner?
So I reached out to my local network to see if anyone could make better use of my old stock.
And my gosh, they have been re-purposed well! From a pop-up restaurant creating one-off menu’s, to a primary school having fun with shapes, and a women’s centre running mindfulness sessions, it gives me so much joy to know that the life of these planners have been extended with such creativity and purpose!
2025 neon wall planner being used at a local school for playful learning
Old wall planner stock being used at a women’s centre for a mindfulness session.
A local pop-un restaurant created gorgeous one-off menus on the back of old wall planner paper.
Such as treat to spot this one whilst I was there!
As I work towards becoming the most sustainable I can as a business owner, reducing waste is at the top of my list - I am looking into a pre-order model, but I realise that with so many of my sales coming in the new year, many people just aren’t ready to think about planning for the coming year in the Autumn. So for now it’s about managing my waste, making sure that I do my best to sell all of my stock, and that any wall calendars left over still find a home, and avoid heading into the recycling bin.
If you have any projects that could benefit from some premium A1 paper get in touch and I’d love to chat about supporting you with any spare stock in 2027