Why Plantable cards matter

I started making plantable cards because I wanted less paper waste, and I wanted to be able to give something back to the earth. Gift giving has always been something I love — I've even thought about becoming a personal shopper at some point, just for the joy of finding something unique that someone will actually love. When I landed on seed paper, I knew I was onto something. A card and a gift, all in one. Something someone could give that would actually grow into something beautiful — and along the way, feed the pollinators that keep our ecosystems running.

It's easy to forget how much relies on pollinators until you actually stop and think about it. Bees alone are behind so much of what ends up on grocery store shelves — not just fruit and vegetables, but even the feed crops that livestock rely on, which means beef and dairy too. Not to mention honey, which happens to be one of my favourites. We pick it up off the shelf and rarely think about what it took to get there. A healthy environment for bees and other pollinators isn't optional — it's essential. And something as small as a plantable card, given again and again, adds up to something real.

None of this started with a business plan, though. As a kid, I used to make handmade paper and press flowers into it at school, so by the time seed paper crossed my path as an adult, I already understood the craft — how it's made, what it feels like, what it takes. A lot of people are genuinely surprised when they first hear about seed paper. I never was. It wasn't until much later that I knew I wanted to move my work in a more eco-friendly direction, and having that background made the idea click almost instantly. I never wanted to be left second-guessing whether what I was making was good enough. I wanted to know it was.  

Finding the right supplier took hours of searching, and it wore me down some days. Funny how once you finally find the right thing, it follows you around online for weeks afterward — but that initial search is its own kind of exhausting. You can't just grab the first option that pops up, which is usually Amazon. And look, you can buy seed paper on Amazon. It's cheaper. But is it high quality, traceable, made locally? No. So what exactly are you growing with it?

When I found Botanical Paperworks, it felt like everything clicked. Based in Canada. Six types of non-invasive wildflower seeds. Locally sourced recycled paper, pulled from schools and businesses. Award-winning. Women-owned. They checked every box I had, and then some. For me to stand fully behind what I'm giving people, I need to know my suppliers are standing behind theirs the same way.
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When my first shipment came in and I printed my very first card on that paper, I knew this was it. The paper smells like flowers. The texture is unlike anything else I've worked with. Seeds everywhere in it. The print sits on that texture in a way that just feels like it means more. Pictures genuinely don't do it justice — people pick one up in person and say, wow, this is so much nicer than it looks online, and I just smile, say, "yeah", and think - now you get it too.

What I love most is imagining what happens after someone decides to give one. I wish everyone who received a card would film themselves planting it — there's something so exciting about watching them go into the ground, and even more rewarding watching them grow. I'd love nothing more than getting to share in that moment with the people who plant them.

— Anita, YYC Crafts 🌱