GUEST REVIEW: Night Owl Paper Goods (Eco-Correspondence)
by Jenni Simmons

I’ve been doing lots of window shopping on the internet lately.  I hunt for various items, but as I surf, I keep an eye out for letterpress stationery.  Design*Sponge is a virtual window shoppers’ dream (including an incredible Letterpress Guide) through which I found Night Owl Paper Goods, a two-person company in Alabama using 1920’s letterpresses.  Now, I’ll admit that up to this point, not every piece of letterpress stationery I’ve purchased has been sustainable, made of recycled paper, or used soy ink.  Some of my stationery has been eco-friendly, but sometimes I give in to mere eye candy, recycled material or no (I sympathized with Kerry’s Conventional Confession regarding paper goods).

But hello, Night Owl makes eco-friendly wooden postcards!  Their website states that each 4×6 wooden card:

…is a product of sustainable-yield forest management.  The wood is cut thin to achieve a high quantity of product from a small amount of raw material.  In turn, very little power and no water are used in the process. 

Sounds good, but I wondered where their wood is purchased, and if it’s from an FSC source.  The very kind Jennifer of Night Owl Paper Goods responded to my e-mail within one hour.  She said the wood they use is not FSC-certified at this time, but she also stated:

The wood veneer for the postcards is not certified.  However, the wood is only purchased from companies who employ sustainable-yield harvesting practices. 

Even though I wasn’t able to obtain clear details, I’m still enchanted by these wooden postcards.  I love the design of each card - sort of Appalachia-meets-modern.  And, I adore birds; I collect avian items to place around the house.  I also seek out well-designed stationery, often portraying birds, to always have a note handy for family or friends. It seems that Night Owl is on the right track towards sustainability and striving more so than some of the above-mentioned stationery comapanies I’ve supported in the past.  So I quickly ordered two of Modern Folksy Blue Bird, two of Gourd Nest, and one of Button Flower, but my future online shopping list includes the entire wooden postcard collection (especially Hello Peacock and Swiss Flower).  I might just mail one to you, if you’re lucky!  I’m also pondering where to place a few of these cards in our home as small pieces of eye-catching art [mental note: fireplace mantel].  If you do receive an eco-friendly postcard from me, you can use it as miniature art yourself since a wooden postcard lasts much longer than paper.