Attic Journals

About Attic Journals

Owned & operated by the husband/wife team of Michelle Sanders & Miguel Salinas, Attic Journals is committed to sustainably offsetting the book discard pipeline by upcycling as much of the book as possible in our diverse line of gift & decor items made for the wholesale market & every day people.

While working in libraries throughout her school-aged years, Michelle became keenly aware of the pipeline to the landfill most discarded books endured. As a native Portlander, where the ethic of recycling is revered, she received formal training in high school & college on the impacts of humans to our planets ecology. With a natural knack for crafting, she started to investigate & experiment with how to offset the way books were discarded & work on a way to divert them from the landfill.

Then in 2004, while living on the coast of California, Michelle had a moment of inspiration about the closet full of books she had spared from the dumpster during her library working days. That evening, on her living room floor, Attic Journals, a company committed to innovative engagement with the byproducts of book production, was born.

 In 2008, after Michelle had moved home to Portland & began working to grow Attic Journals into a legitimate business, 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. In addition, his work experience in food service, light manufacturing & transportation formed his keen understanding of running a small, efficient production space which allowed him to be innovative in how to do this work with in a way that honored our environmentally aware undergirdings.In the years since, Attic Journals has evolved into a burgeoning business that works hard to be as sustainable as possible from our home in Portland, Oregon. Our line of 20+ items are unique, affordable gifts, perfect for the hard to gift people in all of our lives.

Managed by

Michelle Sanders