If you are a buyer who evaluates the environmental facets of the products you buy, direct your attention to pen and pencils. Pen manufacturers sacrifice a variety or styles that sacrifice ecological characteristics. Some use recycled resources. Others incorporate sustainable alternatives that reduce or eliminate plastic.
For people who are tiled for the planet about pen and pencils, we declare: “Write about!”
Editor’s note: Earth91 binds to affiliation marketing partners to It helps to finance our recycling directory. If you buy an article through one of the affiliate links in this publication, we will receive a small commission.
Plastic reduction
As the demand for more sustainable products is expanded, so does the variety, style and quality of ecological pens, according to Paul and Julie Painting. They have eco-pens.com, which sells promotional pens printed with names and logos.
Quality is important, said Paul Painting, so his pens are functional, instead of not valued articles easily thrown in the trash.
With the minimum requests requested, the prices of the ecological printed pen vary from approximately 60 cents to $ 3 each, depending on the quantity, the selected style and other factors, says Paul Painting.
Of eco-pens.com and other suppliers, the intriguing materials used for the bodies of the pen include:
- The wheat straw and the wheat peel, such as the styles shown by promotional echo Products Inc. The wheat straw pen is performed with 45 percent wheat straw, which is excess material after wheat grains are harvested. “The wheat straw on this pen reduces the amount of plastic used,” explains the website.
- Recycled cardboard, as ecological recycled finel -finel gel gel pens on Amazon. “All ecological plants are made of plastic and 100%recycled cardboard,” says the website.
- Bamboo, like the Bamboo pen of Asia of Eco-pens.com, which has 45% biodegradable materials.
- Cardboard after consumption used in the recycled cardboard pen.
Recycled plastic, paper and other materials
Some writing implements are designed with recycled plastics and other recycled materials. The recycled newspaper is used to make TreeSmart pencils, available on Amazon.
A traditional Sunday newspaper produces about 200 treesmart pencils, says Steve Mawdsley or TreeSmart Industries. He explains that TreeSmart Roda with the newspaper around the pencil lead and adheres it with non -oxic glue. “The newspapers dry as hard as Cedarwood, so sharpening is easy,” he says. “Since the newspaper is well wrapped around leadership, it has supported much better, resulting in less lead break.”
Other pen and pencils with recycled materials include:
- The rechargeable gel ink of the B2P pilot and the Bolín “are made of 89% and 83% of recycled plastic bottles after consumption.”
- The recycled tetra pens, sold at eco-bank.com for about $ 1.15 per unit, contain recycled tetra suit cards “and similar food and drink containers.”
- Ticonderoga renewal pencils contain recycled wood remains. “Less wood is used and less waste is created. The pencils are made with 53% recycled wood prior to consumption.”
- Recycled denim pencils, available for earthly items, replace traditional wood with recycled denim, which represents 30% of the materials used.
- Greenciles pencils are made of recycled paper, which includes newspaper, printer paper and stationery. “The document is cleaned, reustized and wrapped a secure graphite writing core,” says its website.
- Onyx and green mechanical pencils, available on Amazon. The body of these pencils is made with recycled PET plastic. They send “packaged in a package of recycled material with soy -based ink.”
Slate markers and rechargeable highlights
The mineral, the highlights and slate markers are disposable articles of only one use. The rechargeable versions of different brands are available, potentially reducing waste. Examples include:
Responsible Purchases, Packaging and Discard
In addition to evaluating what pen and pencils are made, smart buyers also think of facets such as quantity, durability, packaging and elimination.
Buy only what you need. “Do you really need the package of 10 pens or one or two pens will be enough?” Asked Alex Payne, publicist from Terracycle, which recycles articles that are generally not accepted in domestic recycling.
When you have finished with them, do not drop pen and pencils in recycling containers, unless you are sure that your recycling service accepts thesis elements. Most facilities cannot process them, even if they are made with recycled water bottles or new papers. Due to mixed materials and other factors, pen and pencils are widely considered as pollutants that interfere with efficient recycling, explained Robert Pickens, a member of the Oklahoma Recycling Association.
Instead of destroying those used pen, you can send them to Terracycle using the zero Waste Box pencils and markers, which is sold with a prepaid mail label for $ 170 for the smallest size: we recommend grouping their efforts. Maybe he recovers his pen in another recycled pen.
Other tips:
- If possible, request or look for items with little or no plastic packaging.
- Think of rechargeable pens, instead of disposable styles of a single use.
- Look for manufacturers to sacrifice recycling or recycling recycling programs, Payne recommends.
- Discard responsible pens so that they do not end as garbage or ocean pollution.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 20, 2020 and was updated in May 2025.
