When Alexa Pulitzer started her eponymous stationery brand in New Orleans nearly 25 years ago, she was drawn to recycled paper and soy-based inks from the start. “It was instinct,” she said. “Recycled paper seemed the more common sense approach — and I actually found it more interesting, too. The stock had these stripes in it that almost looked like watermarks.” And her main supplier, the Wisconsin-based company Neenah, uses renewable energy and sources materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Alexa Pulitzer now is sold in more than 1,500 stores worldwide, and its whimsical, tongue-in-cheek designs have attracted the likes of Gwen Stefani, Dita Von Teese and Hillary Clinton, as well as the major retailers Bergdorf Goodman and Anthropologie. Stationery, naturally, is one of her favored gifts, such as her BFFdesign.