So I finally got around weighting my “standard” calendar I got hanging on the wall already. As it turns out, a single “US Letter” page actually weights 16 grams (±1g). It’s not exactly 8.5x11", more like 277mmx214mm (±1mm), so the paper weight is between 250gsm and 289gsm. So I would bet it’s 280gsm paper.
Problem is: that kind of paper is impossible to find in retail here. I tried phoning in every possible Staples (called Bureau En Gros here) and all they could find me is the 150gsm (40lb) I mentioned earlier. I can see that stuff online at the USA version of the site (e.g. here) but not on the Canadian site. And I can’t find any other place where they sell
That’s incredibly frustrating. Canada is one of the largest producers of paper in the world. We are continuously cutting down our ancestral forests, sometimes very poorly, to produce everything from lumber to news paper (and don’t forget toilet paper) yet I can’t seem to find a single place to buy the paper professional print shops seem to take for granted.
Even Amazon (which I usually boycott) refuses to ship me that kind of paper. What’s going on here? Is there some international conspiracy from corner-store calendar makers to keep people from doing their own?