Ways to Use Stationery More Sustainably

February 4, 2025 Becky Woolley

A key characteristic of a sustainable product - "product is made from renewable resources, it does not deplete natural resources"

Using stationery brings many of us joy and connection. It enables us to creatively express ourselves, make lists, write letters to family and friends and send love or congratulations in card form.

However many of us also worry about our environmental impact and want to consume and shop as sustainably as possible.

So here are a few ways to use your stationery more sustainably.

Choose your paper carefully - Use recycled writing paper or paper that can go on to be recycled.

You can generally tell if a paper can be recycled by doing the “scrunch test” where you scrunch the paper in your hand and if it doesn’t quickly rebound out of that shape then it is probably fine to recycle. However if it returns to its previous shape quickly then it probably contains some plastic as well as paper and won’t be able to be recycled.

Paper that has glitter or foil on it usually can’t be recycled either so when you buy wrapping paper or cards then it is best to stick to sheets made from plain or recycled paper/card. Any ink used in the paper can be removed chemically during the recycling process so isn’t a block to recycling.

Look for paper that is sustainably sourced such as FSC certified. FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certification ensures that these paper products have been responsibly sourced.

Useful link -

https://uk.fsc.org/what-is-fsc

Seed paper, bamboo or papers made from other recycled or otherwise wasted products are also a good alternative.

Use a pencil or a refillable pen rather than single use versions

A pencil is more sustainable than a pen but many people wouldn’t want to use pencil for writing letter or cards; so a refillable pen is the next best thing and much more sustainable than a single use version.

Most single use pens are made from plastic that just sits in landfill. However some manufacturers, including BIC, sharpie, Papermate and Crayola, also offer recycling schemes or information on how to recycle their pens.

You are also schemes where can send pens to be recycled. You parcel up your old pens, making sure you wait until you have a decent amount of them, then they will be collected using the scheme for free or you can take them to a drop-off point nearby.

Useful links -

https://www.greenfinder.co.uk/pen-recycling-collection/

Use the Post Office to send your letters and parcels

This might seem a strange one but using a service like The Post Office, which is likely to go to each address to deliver other post anyway, is a more environmentally friendly method than using another service that has to go to an address/town/city for a specific parcel and often travels long distances.

Posties also often deliver on foot and bike for shorter distances wherever possible. This is opposed to other couriers who almost exclusively use vehicles to travel to each location, even if it is just down the road.

Using The Post Office obviously reduces the carbon footprint of your letter or parcel and also supports your local Post Office which many people will walk, cycle or use public transport to access, further saving the emissions of having to drive to your local courier drop off point.

According to the sustainability data on Royal Mail’s website – they had the lowest reported footprint per delivery based on average gCO2e emissions per parcel delivered by UK parcel operators. They also operate the UK’s largest electric van delivery fleet.

Buy UK made/printed or local to you produced stationery whenever possible

If stationery has been printed, produced or assembled in countries a long way away from the UK then the carbon footprint of that product will be higher than a product printed, made or assembled in the UK.

There are obviously many occasions where that just isn’t practical or possible, for instance the biggest paper making counties are China, North America, Japan and Germany. So it will be difficult to source paper not made in one of those counties.

However you can choose to buy from someone who uses FSC certified or recycled paper in their products and who produces/prints the final product in the UK. Many micro or small businesses (including Daffodowndilly) source their paper carefully and choose to have any printing or manufacturing completed completely within the UK to reduce the carbon impact.

Re-use packaging

If you can reuse your cardboard boxes and parcel packaging then you not only save money but also make a good contribution to reducing your environmental impact.

As with many things, cardboard has both good and bad points as a packaging material.

Cardboard Downsides

The production of cardboard can contribute to habitat loss or deforestation; this in turn can lead to a reduction in the Earth’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide.

Useful link -

https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/is-cardboard-bad-for-the-environment

Cardboard also forms a large chunk of landfill waste and in the UK it’s estimated that around 13,000 pieces of cardboard are thrown away by individual families each year. This cardboard releases methane when it decomposes in landfill which is a powerful greenhouse gas.

Cardboard Upsides

There are also many positives to using cardboard in packaging, especially when comparing it to plastic packaging.

Cardboard packaging is biodegradable and has a high recycling rate of around 92.9%. It also has a relatively small carbon footprint.

By reusing cardboard boxes from parcels whenever possible you can help to extend the life and use of that piece of cardboard and stop more resources being used unnecessarily. If we all recycle cardboard we can’t reuse then hopefully the need to create new cardboard will also be reduced, lessening the destruction of new habitats.

Donate or gift any un-used stationery you no longer want

As well as charity shops, many children’s homes, nurseries, schools, scouts/guides/cubs/rainbows and care homes would really love to use your un-used stationery. This is beneficial in two ways, the first is that the unwanted stationery doesn’t get thrown into landfill, the second is that it means the school or rainbow troop save money rather than having to buy new stationery.