Go Old School with a Fountain Pen

Approximately 27 lakh pens are produced per day in Delhi alone. It is not possible for the Local Bodies to collect and treat these waste as contemplated under waste management rules. Imagine all these pens ending up in landfills in all corners of the world, causing pollution for generations. Remember! Burning these plastic pens from your garbage in landfills that are far away from where you live is not an option. And considering how often people lose them, many probably don’t even make it to the landfill. Back in 2005, BIC – a single brand – celebrated its 100 billionth sale!

What can be done?

If not recyclable paper pens that are now trending , the permanent solution according to me is fountain pens!! (Plastic cartridge pens are a joke)

By going old school with a traditional fountain pen, you can purchase a bottle of ink and refill as necessary. You can even choose recyclable glass ink bottles, so you’ll never run out of ink, and have a zero-waste option for your writing (and even drawing!). You can buy used fountain pens online and eco-friendly ink refills are available. As fountain pen ink is generally composed mainly of water, it’s easy to go natural or you can even make your own with natural ingredients! Fountain pens are known to give a luxurious and expressive writing experience and also help you improve your handwriting. In the workplace it is a sign to your colleagues that you are serious about what you are doing and Presidents don’t sign a treaty with a plastic pen, they use a fountain pen! It is a lifestyle statement.

A metal bodied fountain pen can cost as less as 200 rupees (maybe even cheaper), and an ink bottle for just 20 Rupees, which can last you for months. So think guys… we now live in a period where plastic straws are banned.. but why not plastic pens?  I would like to believe it to be occupational hazard but honestly I can do away with it.. why not give it a try?

(Numerical data from - https://ethical.net/sustainability/sustainable-writing-utensils/)