Learning to be greener and better for my pocketbook

**Judi Dial** · 05-25-2010, 08:44 AM

Okay...this is something that has crossed my mind before, but I've never taken the time to actually try and figure out how much it likely costs us, in time, money, space, not to mention the additional waste to our landfill.

I just inventoried the "pen drawer" in our bedroom. We had

14 stick-type disposable ballpoint pens
05 traditional pencils
05 mechanical pencils or pens with replaceable cartridges
04 roller ball/highlighers/markers
02 click-type ballpoint pens, where the pen is theoretically replaceable.

Me bad!

DH has a "good" pen/pencil/palm pilot stylus pen he uses, but I don't. Even if I get 1 pen/pencil to carry around in the car, 1 for the kitchen and 1 for upstairs, I'd still have 11 fewer pieces to store and throw out. This of course is not to mention the other pencil cups, etc. elsewhere in the house.

DH has turned pens, so we have some of those, and all of them are meant to have removable cartridges: roller ball or ballpoint, and I think there's at least one combo pen/pencil in the group that didn't sell.

Ideally, I'd like: cartridge ink-type pens here at the house and a ballpoint or rollerball-type in the car.

The folks at the dump are going to love me this week, there's going to be a lot of ballpoint pens in the swap shop!

Anyone else ever "greened" their pen/pencil collection...comments? advice?

Judi

**KeithBC** · 05-25-2010, 10:15 AM

I can understand the desire to de-clutter by throwing out the pens. However, if they still work, the "green" thing to do would be to keep them until they run out of ink. Waste is not green.

**savvy_sniper** · 05-25-2010, 10:21 AM

Yep, I agree with Keith - use them, give them away, donate them, etc.

**Judi Dial** · 05-25-2010, 12:05 PM

Sorry folks, you don't understand my dump. There's a swap shop. I'll put them there and other will pick them up and use them. Sorry, should have made that clear! I am NOT just putting them in the trash.

Judi

**IntlMom** · 05-25-2010, 12:11 PM

thanks for the clarification Judi - then yep, it's a win-win-win!

you get to delcutter-someone else gets to have them-they stay out of the landfill (till they are good and ready!)