Photo by Secret Leaves

Ann Hirschfeld and Sharon Derry are the co-conspirators of Secret Leaves, a charming St. Louis, Missouri-based company that breathes new life into discarded books and vintage papers by transforming them into scrap journals, photo albums, and note cards. I spoke with Ann about her love of old paper, and the growing role the environment plays in running their business, right down to the smallest detail.

1. How did Secret Leaves come about?

Sharon [Derry] had a card/paper arts company called Papeterie, and I worked part-time for her here and there helping to assemble the journals. A little over a year ago, we were talking on the phone and she spoke of her desire to start a web-based paper arts business. She wanted to pursue it full-time but was not interested in doing it alone. She wanted a partner. I immediately said, “Pick me!” We met a few times to discuss her goals for the business and she did—pick me. This was April of ‘06 and we’ve been working together ever since. It seems like we’ve come a long way already.

2. Did you always plan on using recycled materials to create your paper products?

The recycling came about as a by-product of the way we make the journals. Sharon came up with the Scrap Journal idea. She made the first one as an exercise in being a little more loose and, as she puts it, “not being so anal with every little detail.” She began collecting all kinds of old paper—ledgers, pamphlets, books, maps, sheet music, etc., and tearing them into journal pages to achieve that ragged-edge effect. They looked great! The covers of these journals and some of the others we make are vintage sheet music, some hand-written and some dating to the 1800s. We have also been using some receipts from the 1940s. Sharon’s sister, Sheila, owns an antique shop and gave us two big boxes full of them.

We have recently become very interested in using paper with a high post-consumer waste content. Our newest product, a line of Christmas cards based on the Twelve Days of Christmas, are printed with soy ink on paper stock made of 100 percent post-consumer waste. We are also constantly thinking of fun ways to use our waste scraps, even down to using strips of scrap adhesive paper to decorate the packages we ship. We shred our vintage paper scraps and use it for our packing material. We ship our orders in recycled boxes from local stores. We use almost everything, but what we can’t reuse is taken to our neighborhood recycling center.

Photo by Secret Leaves

3. How important is it to use eco-friendly materials in your work?

It’s very important. We do it because we are concerned about the environment and the impact humans make on it. We are interested in it as a selling point as well. We want to be able to tell our customers that we are a green company.

4. How much of a role does the environment play in the daily decisions you make running your business?

As time goes on, it’s becoming more and more a part of our decision-making. From thinking of new ways to use every scrap to paying attention to the recycled content of the paper we buy to choosing an out-of-house printing company with green practices. Even the little waxed bags we ship our journals in are made from recycled, unbleached paper (we buy these from a great local green general store, Home-Eco).

Photo by Secret Leaves

5. How do you envision Secret Leaves evolving?

We see Secret Leaves continuing to think of ways to be environmentally friendly. Of course, we want the company to grow and become successful, but we never want to lose sight of why we are doing this: Most importantly, we want to make things we love. Secondly, we want to have fun. And we always want to be proud of what we make and feel good about how we go about it.

6. What are you inspired by?

A big part of our inspiration comes from nature. If you look at our journals and cards you can see we use plant and animal images all the time. We are also constantly intrigued and excited by the stories that old books, letters and other ephemera can tell us. Another inspiration comes from other craft and artwork that we see out there. It’s everywhere. People are making gorgeous things.

Photo by Secret Leaves

7. Who are your favorite green, indie designers?

There are so many, but we’d like to mention a few local [St. Louis] designers we admire. Jen Sertl of Angelina Accoutrements is making lovely women’s clothing from repurposed vintage cashmere. She takes old, unwanted sweaters, etc., and gives them a brand new life as scarves, sweaters, wraps and more. Another is Tyler Stallings, who is launching a new company called Periwinkle Bloom. She will be introducing items for baby and mom with an emphasis on using organic fibers and nontoxic, sustainable materials. Gwen Oulman Brennan is an artist we absolutely love. She is a photographer/painter/jewelry-maker that incorporates images from nature into her work. She just returned to school at Rhode Island School of Design, so she no longer has a web presence, but some of her work can be viewed on Ullabenulla’s blog.

8. What’s your favorite eco-crafting tip?

Here’s a tip: Don’t throw anything away! We have designed some of our most beautiful and popular journals by using things that most people would consider trash. We’ve found that if you keep your scrap materials, you can almost always find a way to use them. More often than not, it becomes something truly stunning.

Photo by Secret Leaves