Boku Books made from kenaf

Kenaf, a 4,000-year-old crop that originated in Africa, yields five times the fiber that Southern Pine trees and requires less energy for processing.

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PlentyMag.com

Tue, Jan 01 2008 at 1:42 PM

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Sustainability, Gift Ideas

TREE-FREE: Boku Books are 30 percent tree-free kenaf fiber and 70 percent recycled sheet.

Every now and then we like to highlight a group of products that we think are particularly nice, and this week, we're focusing on paper and stationery. While perusing the goods in a desk supplies boutique in Grand Central recently, we discovered a fantastic line of journals, wired notebooks, blank books, and art paper: Boku Books. Journaling fiends – take note!

Boku Books come in dozens of handy sizes and beautiful colors; more importantly, they’re made from a material called kenaf, a 4,000-year-old crop that originated in Africa but is now grown (without the need for any pesticide or fertilizer whatsoever) in many parts of the U.S. Kenaf yields five times the fiber that Southern Pine trees do and requires less energy for processing. Currently, Boku Books are 30 percent tree-free kenaf fiber and 70 percent recycled sheet, but the company hopes to be turning out 100 percent kenaf products very soon. Place wholesale orders online, or check the company’s online list of distributors.

Story by Tobin Hack. This article originally appeared in Plenty in January 2008. This story was added to MNN.com in August 2009.