Sustainable - capable
Pens, highlighters and markers are difficult to recycle because they are small and constructed of various metals, plastics and chemicals. It may seem like a small amount of waste but it adds up. According to Green Seal’s Choose Green Report published in January 1998, “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!”
What are the options?
1. Reduce the number of pens used. In other words, don’t lose your pens, don’t leave the lid off your marker, and write with them until the very last drop.
2. Buy reuseable, refillable pens rather than disposable pens.
3. Recycle the component parts. I suppose it is technically possible to disassemble each pen and separately recycle the metal and plastic. This extremely time consuming process would likely still result in certain parts such as the used pen cartridge ending up in the landfill.
4. Upcycle the pens by creating interesting artwork or by covering your car.
There is a small blue recycling bin in my office where my co-workers can place their used pens. I’m not exactly sure what we are going to do with the pens yet but I’m confident we will have a recycler or upcycler before the bin is full.
I participate in Terracycle. The Nebraska Friends of Midwives have a Lincoln, NE brigade, and they collect TONS of stuff. However, I have mixed feelings about the program and other recycling programs like it. It’s wonderful to have a resource to take hard-to-recycle items (such as pens) to be recycled. However, I also wonder if organizations like Terracycle help to reinforce the (nonsustainable) status quo of purchasing disposable products. If Terracycle will easy my “waste consciousness” and recycle my disposable pen or chip bag or any other disposable product that is shipped from half-way across the world with heavy packaging and fossil fuels, I have much less motivation to, say, buy local products that instead utilize reusable or no packaging and help to strengthen my local economy.
I suppose my feelings about Terracycle and many other recycling programs is that it’s only part of the solution to reaching a sustainable future. These recycling efforts need to be coupled with public education and programs that encourage consumers and businesses to avoid making the waste in the first place. Dare I suggest Government regulation in this regard???
I also have conflicted feelings about Terracycle but there are really no other options. Terracycle could resolve some (or possibly even all) of my hesitancy by describing their recycling/upcycling process. Unfortunately in a business like mine, it can be difficult to change behaviors – attorneys are particular about their writing instruments.
I want to know if you get a brigade going Adam!
I share your concerns Chante as well as Adam’s. I feel Terracycle is a step vs. throwing the pens in the landfill. I would love to know however, where there’s a more sustainable option that could be bought locally or even nationally.
We give away pens to restaurants as a guerilla marketing technique because people who sign their credit card bill a lot of the time walk away with the server’s pen, a.k.a. free word-of-mouth advertising for us. However, to utilize a more sustainable product would be great! Right now we use a nice pen from Amersterdam Printing (http://www.amsterdamprinting.com/Item/Miami+Beach+Pen/42881/Default.aspx) with mostly metal parts so minus the ink I think you could recycle the rest.
Here’s a great article about recycling pens that will circle you back around. http://www.tigerpens.co.uk/blog/how-do-you-recycle-ink-pens/
I collect used pens and glue them on my Mercedes Pens Art Car. Its not recycling I know more like “prolonged use”. If you don’t want to send to terracycle i’ll take them.