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

Ok, I officially ‘used up’ my regular old ball disposable point pen. There’s no bringing it back to life, every drop of ink was used up illustrating and writing! So I turned to the source of my Pentel RSVP Black BK90 pens and it didn’t take me long to discover that Pentel offers refils for their disposable pens! So that’s one tiny problem solved. But what about the handful of pens I’ve got sitting here that are dried up that don’t take refills?

“Every year Americans discard 1.6 million pens. Placed end to end, they would stretch 151 miles — equivalent to crossing the state of Rhode Island almost 4 times! …Many companies presently carry one to several lines of products which have positive environmental attributes. These attributes include recycled content, refillable options, nontoxic inks and more environmentally responsible packaging.” –Green Seal

So how does one recycle old dried up pens? Here are some ideas to reuse and recycle old pens:

Reduce

• • Don’t purchase disposable pens : buy one or two good quality refillable pens (and pencils,) and purchase refils as needed.
• • Buy pens without excessive packaging (or at least packaging that is recyclable and made of recycled materials)

Reuse

• • Purchase refills for your pens & pencils
• • Revive dried up pens by running the tip through a lighter flame, or by adding a drop or two of hot water in the tube.
• • Empty pen casing can be used to safely protect a traditional thermometer; store beads; as a pirch in a bird cage; for marking seedlings in the garden; for stir sticks; as a glue applicator; give those poor quality pens to kids to draw with; get creative!

Recycle

• At the moment you can’t toss pens in the recycling bin, as they require disassembling and recycling centers don’t have the time to do all that finicky work.

Take Back?

• I’ve yet to find a company that has a take-back program for their disposable pens. So the best thing I can recommend is : Don’t buy them, don’t take them home from seminars and hotels. Just buy pens that can be refilled and reused. I visited How Do I Recycle This thinking someone there may have found where I can recycle these… and aside from lots of tips on how to revive dried up pens, I couldn’t find my answer!

Office Stationery Take Back Programs
I’m having a hard time finding any take-back programs for stationery such as pens and pencils… help?

(Read on …)

Designers, now you can save the environment AND do your bit for endangered pandas as well! In an effort to recycle, a giant panda reserve is producing paper from their panda poop. Now… wonder where can I get my hands on some kangaroo poo paper here in Australia… (Read on …)

This made me happy today… the EPA’s Cradle to Cradle challenge spawned the design of the Bevelope, and envelope that is truly green (though it looks manilla.) (Read on …)

As an artist I use my scanner constantly… and have found a few other uses for my scanner which help me go paperless in my studio. Here are some alternative ideas for using your art scanner :

• • Avoid using photocopiers : Use your scanner and then print the copies you need from your inkjet printer. Inkjet printer cartridges are refillable or recyclable once they are emptied… whereas photocopiers use tonor which needs to be disposed of. Don’t forget to print on recycled paper!
• • Create digital backups : Go paperless by scanning bills, receipts, letters and contracts to PDF to create digital backups of important documents.
• • Forms & contracts : Scan forms or signed contracts as PDFs, then save them to your hard drive with your project files so they can be easily found.
• • Scan materials instead of using a camera : Use your scanner to create your own textures & background images for designs… fabrics, tiles, leaves, papers, wood… the possibilities are endless! Just be careful to not scratch / ding the scanner glass!
• • Energy Tip : Remember to turn off – or even better, unplug your scanner after use. Leaving it plugged in will continue to use energy even when you’re not using it. I typically use my scanner for 5 minutes to 2 hours at a go every few days, so by unplugging it I save quite a bit of energy for days at a time.

Beautiful, isn’t it? Ben (my husband) & I love to garden, and spent about $15 on about seven tomato plants, five chili pepper plants, and some basil which we have lovingly been nurturing for the last three months. And the fruits of our labours? ONE bloomin’ tomato. sigh.

We also started a compost… and seriously reduced the amount of kitchen waste that ended up in our garbage! It’s pretty easy to set up… we bought a cheap rubbish bin, poked some holes in the bottom, added dirt, and dump our kitchen scraps in every day, give it a stir… and voila, compost!!!)  Composting is pretty easy, you can read about how to how to compost here!