Amazon Basics Refillable Fountain Pen, Medium Point, Brass Barrel, Black Ink

Product Information

The environmental impact doesn’t end there though. Consider the ink left in pens and how this contaminates soil and water. Add in the environmental cost of raw materials and production, and you’ll soon realise pens have a hefty environmental footprint. Can you recycle pens?

Let’s look at some of the best options for zero waste pens. You can read more about why these pens have been chosen below. Fret not if your pen dries out! Just scribble for a bit or wet the nib with a little water to rehydrate the ink. Tip #5: Clean your fountain pen regularly. Here are some questions and problems you may come across now that you are entering the fancy world of those who write with fountain pens. Can a Left-handed person use a fountain pen? With the exception of quill pens (which are not at all practical), there’s no such thing as completely zero waste pens. There are some eco-friendly pens, however, and as consumers become more aware of plastic waste, the market for plastic-free pens is expanding.

Conclusion

Ink converters work either with a piston (where you twist the knob at the top drawing ink into the reservoir) or as a rubber tube (where you squeeze the air out of the reservoir, place it in the fountain pen ink, and then release it to draw the ink in through air pressure). Unlike eco-friendly pens, most conventional options are not refillable and end up being thrown away after they have been used. With not all of them being recycled they end up in landfill, polluting the surrounding environment. Opting for a reusable, refillable, eco-friendly pen is a far more zero waste and environment friendly approach to using eco stationery! Most definitely! Though it will take a little bit of getting used to. How you hold the pen and where you position your writing hand will be much more critical for a lefty. Standard holds may cause the hand to drag through the wet ink and smear. Higher cost is often among the top reasons people give for not making a more sustainable choice. If you can buy in bulk, you can save money overall. Thankfully, Simply Genius pens are affordable, functional, and partly biodegradable. They’ve made several improvements over a typical plastic pen, reducing the amount of plastic by more than half. These lightweight ballpoint pens have barrels made of recyclable cardboard. The tips and ends—in five colors—are made of a 50/50 mixture of BPA-free plastic and wheat stalk. ABS is derived from petroleum and is not biodegradable. Some manufacturers have tried to improve their environmental efforts by making new lines of pens from recycled materials. Although not fully sustainable, they’re an improvement over the majority of pens on the market.

Most likely no. Modern fountain pens are normally ready-to-go once they've been loaded with ink. Can I take my fountain pen on an airplane? The clip and tip of the pen are made from wheat straw, an agricultural byproduct, which also keeps the wheat straw from being incinerated and contributing to greenhouse gasses. It is difficult to determine what else is mixed with the wheat straw to hold it together. It is likely some type of plastic (see similar Simply Genius pens below for comparison). But the use of wheat straw byproduct is still better than all plastic materials. The Seltzer Seven Year Pen is a great option. Seltzer used math to come up with the name of their pen. Each pen holds a large volume of ink that will last you an estimated seven years, assuming you use 1 to 2 meters of ink per day, times 365 days, times seven years. That naming was intentional to get us all to think about the sustainability of the things in our lives that we consider disposable. From her initial role as an Engraver to becoming the Production Manager, Sam's journey has been marked by her passion for the history, manufacturing, and the unique value of gifted writing instruments.Fountain pen ink bottles themselves also function as stylish collector’s items. Visconti has a patented bottle shape that is unique in design and practical, the shape ensuring every last drop of ink can be used. A refillable pen cuts down on waste because when your pen runs out of ink, you only need to discard and replace the inside of the pen—usually the plastic part that holds the ink that connects to the tip. Compared to a traditional disposable plastic pen, refillable pens reduce waste by about 50%. There are a lot of refillable ballpoint pens on the market and they’ve been around for decades. Perhaps the main thing to consider is whether the pen accepts universal refills made by other companies or if they only accept refills from the original manufacturer. If the refill must be specific to the manufacturer, then choose a manufacturer that is likely to be around with refills that are widely available in the future when you need to buy them. It’s challenging to choose a best overall pen because none on the market are flawless. Even those that use biodegradable materials aren’t 100% compostable.

Often thought of as archaic and difficult, fountain pens are actually quite easy to use and many people even find them much more enjoyable to write with.To accomplish this feat over the years, ink manufacturers have used a wide variety of chemicals. These chemicals could be pigments that make the lasting color, carriers that keep the pigment in a liquid flowing form, and additives that serve a function like prolonging shelf-life or preventing clumping. Fountain pens require an extra level of consideration to ordinary pens. Luxury fountain pens can last generations, so learning how to care for yours properly is paramount. The little slit and hole in the nib serve integral purposes of both feeding ink to the tip and preventing structural damage to the pen while it is in use. In a lot of ways... just like any other pen! Here are just a couple tips to make writing with fountain pens easier, but all in all once your pen has ink flowing you should be pretty good go. Tip #1: Place the pen at a 45 degree angle. Tip #2: Don't press too hard. Ink converters require bottled ink to fill your fountain pen, so you'll likely have to buy that separate, but there are so many options out there for fountain pen ink.

If needed, you can always remove the barrel and twist the fully loaded converter to release just a drop or two of ink from the tip. Fair warning, if you twist too much, you will drip a lot of ink so be prepared with a paper towel or water. How to Use a Fountain Pen:There’s nothing more satisfying than writing with a fountain pen. A rewarding experience, putting pen to paper and seeing your words flourish is only enhanced with this unique writing instrument. For pens that have not been used in a while and are particularly dried out, try dropping the feed and nib structure into a cup of water and letting it soak for an hour or so. Rinse and repeat till your water stays clear. Tip #6: Store your fountain pen properly.