Check out our new aluminium binding discs! You will see them listed as Binding Rings to differentiate from the 20mm solid aluminium discs we still sell. The new discs are available in 20mm and 32mm - great for everyday use with your notebooks, journals, planners and for archiving your notes.
They are made specially in the UK to our specifications, and I think they turned out beautifully! It is a Novel principle to support local manufacturers where possible. Now, more than ever, it is important to help our local businesses stay afloat during a time when many won't make it. When we spend abroad, our communities and local economies cannot be a part of the circular exchange that keeps us (and our communities) thriving. Additionally, it is a great benefit that we are able to ensure our products hold the British standard of quality and skilled production.
We can challenge the monopolies of international corporations and their expectations of how we should consume, their unethical and destructive practices, unsustainable production, slave labour... Make every purchase a vote for a better way to live, a better way to consume and share the resources we are lucky to still have.
Novel supports businesses that pay their workers fairly, source materials safely and sustainably, and are not needlessly transported half way round the world to the detriment of the Earth and its inhabitants. Being based on the British Isles, it is not always an easy feat! Many of the resources that are affordable to local businesses do come from places in the world where it is much easier and cheaper to exploit people and the environment to get the lowest costs. The ugly truth is often hidden. Novel will always have the aim of sourcing ethically, but we are also open to finding better solutions as we grow. As a community, I hope that we can keep each other accountable, to build ethical economies and do the right thing.
As always, thank you for supporting Novel. Our new binding discs are just the first items in a range of new products that will be launching over the next few weeks, including new refill designs, planners and notebooks. I hope you will stick around to see what we have up next.
- Alex