So, let’s take a look…

The basic package is very similar to other notebooks on the market– size is supposedly 3.5 x 5.5″, though it’s actually slightly larger. I measured it as 3 11/16 x 5 5/8″. The paper band runs vertically, similar to the Rhodia Webnotebook, rather than horizontally like Moleskine and Piccadilly.

The back cover features the usual stamped logo. In the photo below, you’ll also notice that the elastic is quite thick and substantial, as is the ribbon marker. It feels as though it would be more durable than the thinner ones on most other notebooks. You can also see a bit of the cover texture below. The notebook is softcover, but a bit stiffer than a Moleskine, and the cover material has less texture to it. Again, it feels a bit more substantial than the softcover Moleskine, which tends to get beat up on the corners pretty quickly.

The inside front cover is a bit more decorated than other brands. You get a bit of information about about the notebook, and space for your name and contact info. It also notes that there is a unique ID number inside the back cover, which can be used to trace the owner if the notebook is lost.

I rather like the leaf pattern in the background– I love books with fancy endpapers, and I wish more notebooks were made that way. It’s like having a jacket with a really cool lining: style that is for your own enjoyment, not just to flash around to others. I’ve actually customized notebooks with pasted-in endpapers when giving them as gifts, but as far as I’ve seen, TeNeues Coolnotes is the only brand that really has fun with that space.

The fun leaf pattern continues on the inside back cover, where the standard expanding pocket also appears.

Here’s a closeup of that identification number. I wonder how much this feature will really be used– if someone found a notebook would they really bother to go to a website to reconnect it with its owner? And wouldn’t it be simpler for all concerned for the owner just to put some form of contact info inside the front cover? Maybe some people don’t want their contact info to appear there, but if you’re concerned about privacy, why would you be registering the notebook with Ecosystem in the first place?

This is about as flat as the notebook will easily open– not as flat as Moleskine or Piccadilly. You can sort of see below that every page is perforated, which is a nice touch many other brands don’t have. The perforations are quite fine, and I don’t think pages are likely to come loose unintentionally unless you really, severely abuse the notebook and bend it right on the perforations a lot.

As for the paper, it’s pretty smooth– not as smooth as Clairefontaine or Moleskine, but smoother than at least some of the Piccadillies I’ve used. And it performed much better than average in terms of holding up to bleed-through.

But the paper ended up being the main reason I will probably not actually use this notebook. When I first saw the paper, I noticed that the squares were a lot smaller than most graph paper notebooks– only 1/8″, rather than the more typical 3/16″. The lines also seem a bit dark, and the overall effect ended up being really distracting when I wrote in the notebook. Maybe I’d get used to it, or maybe it would be better if I used thick pens all the time, or had larger handwriting, I don’t know. But if the unlined paper has the same texture, I think I’d be quite happy with it. The notebook has 192 pages, and though the paper weight is not specified, I’d guess it’s probably 80 gsm, as it bulks up about the same as a Piccadilly.

Ecosystem notebooks are available in quite a few options: small and large sizes, hard cover, flexi cover or cahier-style, various colors, and lined, plain or graph paper, as well as planners. They also offer some insert booklets like calendars and to-do lists that can be tucked into the back pocket, adding a bit of Filofax-like customizability to the notebooks– this is a great touch, though the notebook I received doesn’t seem built to accommodate extra pages like that without starting to appear really overstuffed. (Moleskine’s planners that come with the little index page booklets are made with a bit of extra room in the spine so the covers will still lie flat.)

The small notebooks retail for $9.95. So far, I believe they’re only available at the Ecosystem website or in Barnes & Noble, though I believe I heard somewhere that they were going to be expanding their retail distribution. Given that this is a US-made, 100% post-consumer recycled paper product, with specs comparable to or arguably better than a Moleskine, this seems like a very good price.

So, bottom line, it’s actually a very nice notebook and a good value, and their eco-friendly, local manufacturing is very admirable. But I can’t help saying it: their marketing still drives me nuts!

Thanks to Laura for sharing her addiction, and sorry it took me a while to post it! If you are a notebook addict too and want to show your obsession to the world, email me a photo!

Here’s a few of my recent purchases and samples I’ve received that you’ll get a look at in the next couple of months:

Simple Diary

Rhodia Notepad

Kolo Essex Travel Book

Tops Designer Notebook

Monologue and Dialogue Notebooks from Grandluxe

Blackwell Notebook

Revolver Journal

Scribe Notebook

Ecosystem Journals

Miquelrius Notebook

Kiki James Leather Jotter

Maruman and Pilot Notebooks from Kinokuniya

And who knows what other new notebooks lurk over the horizon! Stay tuned…

Then I started to read the packaging more carefully and got annoyed. I don’t know why people have to whip up all this mythology around a line of notebooks. Moleskine’s Hemingway/Chatwin thing gets tired, but I found the Ecosystem verbiage even worse. They name each style of notebook after a role that might be associated with it, and add these definitions:

Unlined paper = ARTIST: an individual who utilizes their imagination to produce works that are beautiful and kind to the earth.

Squared paper = ARCHITECT: an environmentally aware person who creates strength and order with lines.

Lined paper = AUTHOR: one who writes with well-being and sustainability of the earth in mind.

Planner = ADVISOR: an ecologically friendly provider of professional or personal advice.

I really don’t mean to belittle environmental causes, but for some reason this makes me want to barf AND run over Bambi with a Hummer.

But okay, I’m over it now and will continue to try to lead my low-carbon-footprint lifestyle… just without buying one of these notebooks.

I mean, as notebooks go, they’re fine, I’m sure. They come in fun colors, and you can buy little inserts that slip into the back pocket so you can add an address book, calendar, to-do list or extra notes pages to your notebook. (I think it frustrates a lot of people that Moleskine includes a little slip-in booklet with some planners, but doesn’t sell them separately.) And I was most tempted by the graph paper notebook because it’s somewhat unique in having a smaller grid than any of the other graph paper notebooks I’ve used.

The Ecosystem website also mentions a few more unique features. If you register, you can read all sorts of info about the carbon footprint of your notebook. You can also enter the unique number of your notebook so they can help you try to recover it if it’s ever lost. And there are detailed instructions about how to separate all the various components of your notebook to recycle them, if you should decide that you don’t want to keep them. If these features are of use to you, by all means buy one of these notebooks!  But I’m afraid I had to pass.