Refillable vs. Disposable Fountain Pens – Going Green

by admin on June 9, 2010

Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pen

When we think of GOING GREEN many of us consider recycling, solar panels, wind energy, energy efficient appliances, and hybrid cars amongst other things.

Have you ever considered or thought about the waste created from using pens or fountain pens?

Well neither did I until I came across an article from the Green Living Tips website.

I know personally, that I’ve gone through hundreds of disposable pens.

In my considerations of fountain pens, naturally I’m going to refill it, not only because of the cost of some of these pens, but because I value fountain pens more then a standard disposable pen.

According to this Time article on the Waterman-Bic Pen Corp. they produce a staggering 1.2 Billion ballpoint pens, yes Billion ballpoint pens a year.

If we aren’t just wasting them, throwing them out, not refilling them, then why would they need to produce so many disposable pens. This is just Bic, what about the other pen manufacturers, and the amount of pens they produce, in which many of us waste.

I really like the calculations from the Green Living Tips article, breaking down the total number of Bic pens sold up to 2005, which was 100 billion.

What Does 100 Billion Pens Add Up To?

- Each pen is approximately 5.5 inches long
- Multiplied by 100 billion = 8,680,555 miles
- The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,900 miles
- 100 billion pens laid end to end would circle the earth 348 times

When you look at the waste caused by disposable pens from this perspective, it’s quite shocking.

While doing research on this topic, my main focus was on pen companies that were implementing green initiatives into their business plan. One company that stood out was Pilot.

Pilot Pen has implemented the “Be Green” program, which are earth friendly writing instruments, made from recycled materials.

Below are their product lines which fall into their “Be Green” program.

Pilot G-Knock – Retractable Gel Ink Pen
Pilot Precise Gel – Retractable Gel Ink pen
Pilot BeGreen Precise V5 – Rolling Ball Pen
Pilot VBall – Rolling Ball Pen
Pilot RexGrip – Retractable Ball Point Pen
Pilot RexGrip – Mechanical Pencil
Pilot Progrex – Mechanical Pencil
Pilot V Super Color – Refillable Permanent Marker

From this “Be Green” line, the least amount of recycled content is 70.6% with the most being 92%. Pilot is also the official sponsor of Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) is the nation’s largest volunteer-based community improvement and education organization.

Its network of nearly 1,000 affiliate and participating organizations engage individuals in programs that prevent litter, reduce waste and create natural beauty in their communities.

Through public-private partnerships and strategic alliances with citizens, businesses and government, KAB’s programs motivate millions of volunteers annually to clean up, beautify and improve their neighborhoods, creating safer and more livable community environments.

Each year, KAB volunteers collect and recycle millions of pounds of litter and debris, plant flowers and trees, and beautify the nation’s public lands.

Just so we are clear, I’m not a salesman for Pilot or anything, I just think what they are doing is great for the environment and should be motivation for other pen manufacturers.

Maybe the answer to this incredible waste is to buy a refillable pen or fountain pen that has meaning to you. Spend some extra money on it, so it’s value makes you think twice before throwing it out.

Buy a refillable fountain pen instead of a regular ballpoint pen, and have it engraved, giving it special meaning to you.

Refillable Ink Pen

I know my eyes are opened to something I never gave a second thought to. Just from the pens I see in front of me as I write this, there are 4 Paper Mate and 3 Pilot pens.

3 of the Paper Mate and 2 of the Pilot pens I can refill; never would’ve considered this before. Really it comes down to knowledge, if we just don’t know or are told, we don’t think about it.

In upcoming posts I’ll break down the recyclable properties of these pens, how to and where to dispose of them properly.

This has been a real eye-opener for me and hopefully for you too.

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