What's The Story? Attic Journals
Attic Journals are repurposed books containing the covers and the first few pages of the original book plus around 75 blank pages that can be used as a journal, a sketch book or for any creative ideas.
Working with schools and libraries around the country to harvest their discarded books and upcycle them, the goals of Attic Journals are three-fold: funding community education, keeping significant tonnage out of landfills, and giving people a place to tell their own story.
Their unique group of products now also includes whimsical earrings made from children's board books and coasters.
The Company: Attic Journals
Owned and operated by the husband/wife team of Michelle Sanders and Miguel Salinas, Attic Journals is committed to sustainably offsetting the book discard pipeline by upcycling as much of the book as possible in their diverse line of gift and decor items.
As a native Portlander, where the ethic of recycling is revered, Michelle received formal training in high school and college on the impacts of humans on our planet's ecology. With a natural knack for crafting, she started to investigate and experiment with how to offset the way books were discarded and work on a way to divert them from the landfill. In 2004, Attic Journals, a company committed to innovative engagement with the byproducts of book production, was born.
Miguel - fearless book hunter in the wild
In 2008, Miguel became a part of the team, initially as the love of Michelle's life. Having been raised in southern Mexico by a mother who is renowned in her region for the mole sauces she sells, Miguel was ardently aware of the work ethic & logistics necessary for running a family business. Together Michelle and Miguel's backgrounds and experience allow them to be environmentally aware and innovative.
Portland got its name in a coin toss! Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove, two of the city's founders, used a coin toss to name the land they had recently acquired. The winner got to name the land after their hometown. Pettygrove, who was a native of Portland, Maine, won the toss. If Lovejoy won, Portland would have been named Boston, after his Massachusetts hometown. And by coincidence, Portland is at about the same latitude as Portland, Maine.
Destination: Portland, Oregon
Portland sits at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the Willamette Valley in the Pacific Northwest. It is 173 miles south of Seattle and close to 80 miles east of the Pacific Ocean.
Portland summers are short, warm, dry and mostly clear. The winters are cold, wet, and overcast with an average of 42" of rain. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically ranges from 36°F to 84°F.