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Here's a quickie review on a bagasse copy paper by Tree Frog. These are cell phone pics that were auto-corrected on my comp, so they're not completely true to color. http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a50/LitlJaimo/Fountain%20Pens/Paper/Tree%20Frog.jpg Pretty happy with the paper. It doesn't have the "cheapie" feel some eco-friendly papers have. Not as smooth as Clairefontaine or Rhodia, but not distinctly textured either. Both sides appear to be uniform. http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a50/LitlJaimo/Fountain%20Pens/Paper/Closeup2.jpg Handles all but my broad, wet nibs well. The broad stub caused some feathering and a little beet of bleedthrough. http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a50/LitlJaimo/Fountain%20Pens/Paper/Closeup.jpg A closeup of the bleedthrough http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a50/LitlJaimo/Fountain%20Pens/Paper/Bleedthrough.jpg It does ghost, but it's also only 20lb paper. I don't think it's that bad, and it's not too distracting to write over. But, if you hate ghosting this probably won't appeal http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a50/LitlJaimo/Fountain%20Pens/Paper/Ghosting.jpg

The case of Staples Sustainable Earth Copy Paper arrived today, so I thought I'd do a brief review. (Shipment took 3 days, over a weekend.) Weight: 20 lbs. Brightness: 92 Sheet size: 8.5"x11" Fiber: 95% sugarcane -- acid-free (the Staples online product Q&A says the other 5% is FTC certified pine) Package size: 500 sheets Case: contains 10 reams (or 5000 sheets) Origin: Argentina Where to buy: Staples Web-Only (only available by the case. Retails @ $59.99/case; currently on sale @ $36.99 per case) For unlined sugarcane (bagasse) papers, I also have OfficeMax's Sugarmade and CVS's Caliber 100% Tree-Free Multipurpose Paper to compare it to. I find they all behave similarly with fountain pen inks (i.e. excellent) and inkjet cartridges (also excellent), with no feathering or bleed-through. The differences between these papers are tone and texture. The Staples' one is the brightest cool-tone white and is the smoothest of the three. The Sugarmade one has a warm white tone and more tooth to it. The Caliber has a grayish white tone and is the roughest. These differences are only noticable when the three papers are placed side by side. My preference leans towards the Staples paper for its brightness, though I'm apt to go with which ever one is on sale. The Staples paper is produced in Argentina, while the Sugarmade and Caliber papers are made in China. Now, if Staples (and OfficeMax with its Sugarmade) would just make these papers available by the ream in-store! The Caliber one is available by the ream, but seems to only appear during back-to-school sales. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/9404100966_6fc81c35bb_b.jpg Back Side of Package: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/9401339475_8da2cbae70_b.jpg Writing Samples with Mostly Homemade Iron Gall Inks: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/9401187671_e364cee2fd_b.jpg

Hello and welcome to the Quick Review of the Staples Sustainable Earth Sugarcane Paper Notebooks. As you know, Staples Sugarcane (Bagasse) paper is well known amongst fountain-pen users as an economical alternative to more pricier notebooks and papers such as Rhodia. Although by no means superior, it fulfills every criteria for general-purpose writing. Note: These notebooks were purchased from a Staples store as of April 14, 2014. http://i.imgur.com/xkfTHaj.jpg http://i.imgur.com/r45preH.jpg http://i.imgur.com/P9WEWW4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/jajrKyc.jpg http://i.imgur.com/xuCyOZ9.jpg For the up close scans of the sample page: Obverse: http://i.imgur.com/IgV0Pl7.jpg Reverse: http://i.imgur.com/3Z29fsE.jpg Covers are made of heavy weight kraft paper. Paper content is 80% sugarcane fiber, unsure of the remaining percentage. Unsure if acid-free and lignin-free. Paper is as thin as tracing paper, but not nearly as fragile and easily torn. The pages are lined (7 mm apart, College Ruled) and perforated with a 22 mm margin on the top. The big blobs you see on the page is the result of me doing a police siren impression while holding a loaded TWSBI Diamond 580. When writing there is little feedback (in fact with a Pilot Prera it was pretty glassy). Absolutely no feathering and no bleedthrough when writing at a normal speed (don't keep the nib on paper if you're pausing). Writing on the back is feasible if you don't mind the slight show of the other page. For both the 9.5 in. x 6 in. and 11 in. x 8.5 in. notebook, there are 100 sheets (200 pages). Both come with a page of pockets in the front (also kraft paper), one pocket on each side (2 pockets) for inserting torn-out pages or pages from somewhere else. At the time of purchase the 9.5 in. 6 in. notebook costs $3.99 and the 11 in. x 8.5 in. $4.99 excld. tax. That's it for this review, hope you enjoyed and if you have any questions or comments feel free to ask! Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Evening and Night!

Hurray! Staples has produced their excellent Sustainable Earth sugarcane paper as graph paper now! The pads are 8 1/2 x 11 inches and have 100 sheets. They are filler paper (i.e. they are not a bound pad... the sheets are loose-leaf and without a chipboard backing). The printed lines are light tan and very unobtrusive, especially compared with other graph paper with the blue lines. The paper is fountain pen friendly, with no feathering and little to no show-through on the back side (no bleed-through, either). At least the show-through isn't bothersome enough for me to avoid writing on the backside, but others may not think so (see scans below). The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it's already been hole-punched. That, and maybe the price, which is a bit high: $10.39 for 100-sheets. You can only buy this online, not in-store. If you have a Staples Reward card, you get free shipping to your house; otherwise, you can get free shipping by ordering it and picking it up at the store. All in all, an excellent paper. Order it at Staples here (Item: 77272). Writing samples: Back side (degree of show-through):

I was just browsing the Office Depot website and noticed they had several sugarcane notebooks and notepads (even a canary-colored paper notepad-- that's something I haven't seen in sugarcane papers). They seem to be available in-store and online. The notebooks are rather pricey. Since Staples seems to be phasing out their sugarcane notebooks in-store (at least I haven't seen them in NC), here's another possible alternative. I don't have any experience with the Office Depot paper yet, but I just thought I'd give a heads-up. Has anyone had any experience with this paper and their fountain pens? I'm assuming the performance is good. I haven't met a bad sugarcane paper yet.

I've now tried 4 different sugarcane papers, so my review is by way of comparisons. They're all similar in performance when it comes to fountain pen inks and inkjet printing (virtually no bleed-through, little show-through, and little if any feathering). All perform well. Ology has the advantage of being available by the ream and in-store at Walgreens, which are plentiful in the U.S. (unlike Sustainable Earth and Sugarmade, which are only available by the case and online only). See below for more particular comparison details. Weight: 20 lbs. Brightness: 94 Sheet size: 8.5"x11" Fiber: sugarcane and bamboo Whitener: with H2O2, a non-chlorine based bleach Package size: 400 sheets Origin: China Where to buy: Walgreens (online and in-store) Price: $5.99/ream ($3.99 with Walgreens card) Compare with other bagasse papers: Staples Sustainable Earth Copy Paper, OfficeMax Sugarmade Multipurpose and CVS Caliber 100% Tree-Free Multipurpose papers. From smoothest to roughest: 1. Staples Sustainable Earth 2. OfficeMax Sugarmade (has an almost chalky toothiness compared with the others) 3. Walgreens Ology 4. CVS Caliber Most show-through on the back (with a heavy Q-tip application of ink): 1. OfficeMax Sugarmade 2. Walgreens Ology 3. CVS Caliber 4. Staples Sustainable Earth Brightest white: 1. Staples Sustainable Earth (cool-tone white) 2. OfficeMax Sugarmade (warm-tone white) 3. Walgreens Ology (grayish cool-tone white) 4. CVS Caliber (grayish warm-tone white) Best Value When On Sale: 1. Staples Sustainable Earth @ .0074 cents per sheet (or $3.70/ream) 2. OfficeMax Sugarmade @ .008 cents per sheet (or $4/ream) 3. Walgreens Ology @ .01 cents per sheet ($3.99/ream) 4. CVS Caliber @ .01 cents per sheet ($3.99/ream) Of all the bagasse papers mentioned on this review, I favor Staples Sustainable Earth (it's the cheapest and brightest and smoothest). But any fountain pen user will find Ology (or any of these papers) highly usable for their fountain pen usage. It's wonderful that more choices are becoming available to us. There's practically a Walgreens on every corner, so it's very nice to know it is not hard to find this paper. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3817/9479273663_5067235c4e_b.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5334/9479272541_9a751f19f7_b.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/9479263347_bd84f54e78_b.jpg

Hi all, Have any of you tried Cane Fields paper? After the tragic demise of Staple's 'Eco' bagasse paper (at least in the UK), it seems to be one of the only affordable Bagasse stocks available over here. Well, 80% sugar cane waste anyway. Manufacturer link here (no affiliation) It's available in the UK at Rymans for around £3 a ream, which seems pretty decent if it behaves well. Even if it's only 80gsm...which is also the weight of Sainsbury's extra-cheap (and IMO really wonderfully behaved) Bamboo paper. (Still no affiliation, and so on.) Anyway, if anyone tries a sample I would be very keen to hear your opinion. If not, I'll try and snarf a ream next time I am in Bath or another city with a Rymans. Thanks! David

I got excited when I saw that Office Depot is starting to carry bagasse papers, too. I found a few different types of sugarcane notebooks and notepads listed on the website; and while the website stated that these items were available in-store at my nearest Office Depot, in actuality, I only found one of the items in the store. Fountain pen ink is crisp on this paper, without feathering. But the sheets are very thin and have far more show-through on the back side than the competition's (i.e. Staples Sustainable Earth), which was disappointing. (See the writing samples below.) The paper is fine for ballpoint pens, but fountain pen users might want to pass on this paper (even my extra-fine Platinum Carbon fountain pen with Platinum Black Carbon ink showed through). I'm glad Office Depot is stepping up to the plate and making sugarcane paper available. I hope they will come up with something that is a little more fountain pen-friendly, howver. Weight: 16 lbs. Item #: 692394 Notebook size: 9"x11" Fiber: 80% sugarcane and 20% recycled content (10% postconsumer recycled content) Acid-Free: Yes Package size: 100 sheets Line Color: Green Ruling: College Ruled Other details: Vinyl covers; contains a contact sheet and inner double-sided pocket page Origin: Egypt Where to buy: Office Depot (online and in-store) Price: $4.79 in-store ($4.39 online) http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3720/9552180570_513949053c_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7367/9552178908_5f9234befd_b.jpg Writing Samples: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/9549389213_985626ef36_b.jpg Writing Samples (back side) http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/9552177640_bc496fab32_b.jpg

Hello My first attempt at a review. This is a mini review of Walgreen's Ology Copy paper. I am new to using fountain pens and did a lot of web surfing looking for papers which played well with fountain pen ink. I kept reading comments that bagasse paper seemed to usually work well with fountain pens, but old sources, ie Staples, were hit and miss now. I happened to stumble across a comment that Walgreen's was selling paper from China that contained sugarcane husks. I bought a package of 400 sheets and compared it to Whitelines and several papers from Staples that might be ink friendly. The Ology paper has a harder surface compared to the papers I tried and has a slightly grey tint. It is similar to the color of Whitelines and some will probably not like the color. The package says the paper is bleached using H2O2 instead of chlorine. The package says it is low moisture and 20 pound weight. I do not have a wide range of pens or inks to try, but the paper seems do pretty well with ink. I can only get bleed through by making a dot of ink by moving the nib in a tight circle for 5 to 10 times. I do not see any feathering, even under magnification, with any of the inks I used. The scans show that the writing can be seen on the other side of the paper. The scans look worse than what I see using the paper. I can see a guide, if placed under the paper, if needed. The scans are not as crisp after resizing the pictures. I used four pens and inks. A Platinum EF nib with Platinum Carbon Black ink, a TWSBI Mini M nib with Noodler's KTC ink, a TWBSI Mini F nib with R&K iron gall Salix ink, and a TWSBI Mini EF nib with R&K Scabiosa ink. I included a sample of Whitelines paper for a color comparison. I do not have any of the known great papers to compare, but then I only spent just under $6.00 for the 400 sheets.

(fiberdrunk posted that bagass is available at staples so now i'm off my tush to post this review that i drafted in June) Introduction ------------ Wow, this has been a long time coming. After many years of waiting, I finally got some bagasse copy paper. For those unfamiliar with bagasse, it is sugar cane fiber, as opposed to run of the mill tree fiber. Rather than growing trees (yes, most paper is from farmed trees, not natural forest) and pulping them, bagasse is the waste sugar cane stalks from sugar production after the juices are squeezed out. Often it's burned to boil the sugar water/sap. Here it's made into paper. Historical Background --------------------- Several years ago, 2009-2010-ish, Canefields made a splash with their bagasse paper. But it was backlogged, I think FPNers who ordered eventually got it after 6 months or something (and for free to make up for the delay). Even now it's still difficult to get. A ream costs $6-7 which is not bad, but paper is bulky and heavy and shipping is twice the paper itself for a total of $20 easily. I supposed I could have bought a case of 5 reams for $30 from a local office supplier, but I didn't need 5 reams. Around the same time, Staples introduced their Eco-Easy line of products: notebooks, filler paper (for 3-ring binders schoolwork), and various other office items. The paper used being bagasse paper. They got good reviews by FPNers for being smooth and feather and bleed resistant. The Eco-Easy was later rebranded Sustainable Earth. Heh, there was a bit of sadness in the interim when Eco-easy went on clearance and disappeared. This month was the first time I've seen plain bagasse copy paper from staples. Coincidentally, I need to print a lot of stuff. And because I think it's a new product, there was a $25 off coupon. $60-25 = $35 for the case of 10 reams. Sure beats a ream of Canefields. Specs ----- As copied from the packaging Size: Letter (8.5" x 11") Weight: 20lb (75g/m^2) Color: White Brightness: 92 Composition: 95% sugarcane. "tree-free paper is made from sugarcane (bagasse) fibers and bamboo fibers..." Origin: Made in Argentina Review ------ This is the first time I've heard of Bagasse from Argentina. Usually the recommendation is to look for made in Brazil. Bagasse from other places don't seem as FP friendly according to the reviews. To test the paper I loaded my Ahab with BSB (diluted). Not a completely fair test but I like my BSB less saturated. Full strength BSB is too dark and violet for my taste. Dilution lets a bit of the white paper show through and becomes closer to pure blue. It also allows a bit of shading but I don't care about that. The color is odd. From a distance, the color is grey. Maybe because my regular copy paper is 96 bright. But head on, it's hard to tell the difference from the regular Staples copy paper. The feel is fine, no worse than regular copy paper. I can't really tell if it's any smoother or not. The biggest difference is that the bagasse paper is more resistant to bleed-through. I'm able to use my BSB on it with out the little dots on the other side. Conclusion ---------- Glad I got it. Now I can use BSB more often. I won't use it everyday since regular copy paper suffices. But if I want to use a less behaving ink, I now have a supply of paper that can handle them. I'll bind my next journal refill using this and see how well that goes. 32lb paper is quite thick and heavy and I'd like something thinner. If anyone wants, send me a SASE and I'll fit as many sheets as postage will allow.

It looks like Staples finally listened to the fans of their bagasse notebooks. They're finally offering unlined copy paper in their Sustainable Earth line. It's 95% sugarcane. It's only available online, though, and not in-store. They currently have a buy 2 get 1 free sale, plus free shipping. I haven't tried it, as I only just discovered it-- plus I still have a ton of Office Max's Sugarmade paper. I'm assuming this paper performs as well as their notebooks for fountain pen inks. I haven't met a sugarcane paper that didn't. So this is just a heads up and not a review. I know many love their paper, including myself. eta: this paper is only available by the case; and the sale goes through 7/27/13