Posts Tagged ‘pencils’

Perfect for the child, artist, writer, sudoku or crossword enthusiast.

Earthzone's pencils make a great stocking stuffer for the kids (I use the term "kids" loosely) in your life. These nifty things are made from 100 per cent post-consumer newspaper. Earthzone takes used, whole newspaper sheets, flattens and cuts them, then creates these fab writing/colouring utensils. Also, no toxic chemicals are used in these pencils and the erasers are latex-free. And, put your shavings in the blue bin, because they can be recycled. I especially love that you can see remnants of used newspapers close to the nib of the pencil. How cool is that?

Fun fact from Earthzone: Recycling a four-foot stack of newspapers preserves a 40-foot tree!

Earthzone makes HB pencils, coloured pencils and a premium artist's series pencils. Products are available at www.earthzone.com and at Chapters Indigo stores across Canada.

What are you getting the "kids" in your life this Christmas?

Biodegradable pens! Who knew?

Do we have to scrutinize everything we use, and question if it's harmful to the environment? Yes, even though it can be a challenge at times, I strongly believe we do. And wherever it's possible to make changes, we should. A coworker of mine recently turned my attention to Paper Mate's new biodegradable pen and mechanical pencil. I admit, before this I never gave much thought to my writing utensils, but now that I know we can even make small changes in that department, it's something I'll think about every time I pick up a pen or pencil.

Paper Mate's new products will decompose in your soil or home compost within a year. They're made from a product called "Mirel", a bioplastic derived from corn sugar. The other thing that's great is both the pen and pencil can be refilled. Paper Mate Biodegradable will be available this September.

Looking for more good news? The pens will run for about $1.50, and the pencils for $3.15. Pretty reasonable in my opinion!

There are also plenty of pens and pencils on the market that are made of sustainable wood and the same bioplastic material - they're cute and make a great gift.

Next time you write down that grocery list, think about what your pen is made of.