Ethical Pockets

'Nice chap, Evan. Likes the planet, cares about education, and wants to do something to help - with stationery. Well, how could one object?

Cool initiatives like Share A pencil Day (look it up - you'll be touched) do need funding, though, and that's achieved by selling you some product. Like this rather fetching 'Make A Mark' A6 notebook, slightly confusingly sold as pocket size, which it isn't, but let's not get caught up in that.

It's neatly done, with recycled leather covers and paper which is billed as sustainable - not FSC approved, exactly, but that's not the only way to reduce the impact upon the environment. A sewn binding holds it all together well and, with one of Vent For Change's own ballpoints the whole set-up works very nicely.

A cunning extra feature is that only one side of the paper is lined, so if you like text on one page and sketches on the other, that's fine. If you just want to write, the rulings are visible enough from the other side to still work.

As sometimes happens with recycled paper, there is a fair bit of bleeding and feathering if you choose to use a wet fountain pen. But that's the only catch; if you like a practical notebook which raises money for education projects, it could be just your cup of tea.