I came across this post on How Can I Recycle This?

“Last week, I wrote a bit of a rant about how much I hate it when pencil leads are broken (HATE) and asked what I could do with the formerly-useful pencils. But I didn’t think about the resultant sharpenings. If the pencil is wood, I guess they can be composted - right? But what about previously-foam-cup pencils that can’t be composted? I know it seems a really small thing and almost isn’t worth caring about, but any suggestions?”

As an illustrator, I create an incredible amount of pencil shaving waste! I even have a ‘graveyard’ of pencil stubs too short to comfortably use anymore but am too sentimental about to actually throw away. Happily I don’t need to toss the pencils shavings in the trash anymore, as I’ve discovered some great ways to keep shavings out of landfils :

Reuse
• Mulch : wood pencil shavings make great mulch in the garden

Reduce
• Use graphite sticks instead of pencils (completely reducing the shaving waste)
• Use solid graphite pencils (completely reducing the shaving waste)
• Use refillable pencils and just purchase new leads (be sure to purchase those packaged in recyclable & recycled packaging)

Recycle
• wood pencil shavings can be composted
• wood pencil shavings can be used as kindling in fireplaces