Category: Eco-friendly Products
Hi beautiful and Peaceful Soul,
As all of you came to know about me from my previous blogs that I am trying to live my life in an earth-friendly way with minimalistic approach. So, I always think about the biodegradability and re-usability of anything before buying. Today, I am going to talk about the box on our study table which is full of disposable plastic pens.
A pen which is an instrument to express our thoughts and emotions to store information for future. We are doing great things with it but ironically producing large scale plastic pollution with them. This does not make sense really. Our children are more closer to this box than us. As children have habit to lose pens here and there, so we prefer to buy cheap non-refillable and disposable plastic pens. Friends, we know, in this scenario, we can not avoid ball point pens or other colored or non-colored pens as these have been used in daily writing and many children's projects. But, what about us? We too use these plastic pens vigorously.
Here, I just want to ask you all, can't we stop using these pens on regular basis and also try to convince our children not to use plastic pens whether refillable or not unless we really need them? We can replace this plastic monster with wooden pencils for young kids. Some of you will say, mechanical refillable pencils are better than wooden pencils. Reason, heavy deforestation is responsible for the manufacturing of the wooden pencil. We, easily say, global warming and other disasters are due to heavy deforestation. But, no one thinks about or knowingly do not accept it that the main reason of heavy deforestation is population explosion and greed. In ancient times, people used wood for many purposes still it did not cause global warming. Why?Because, they knew the importance of family planning and how to maintain a balance in nature by promoting afforestation. How much afforestation is being promoting in today's scenario? More population, more deforestation for house and for other things. So, now time has come to accept that global warming and heavy deforestation is just because of our ignorance.
A pen which is an instrument to express our thoughts and emotions to store information for future. We are doing great things with it but ironically producing large scale plastic pollution with them. This does not make sense really. Our children are more closer to this box than us. As children have habit to lose pens here and there, so we prefer to buy cheap non-refillable and disposable plastic pens. Friends, we know, in this scenario, we can not avoid ball point pens or other colored or non-colored pens as these have been used in daily writing and many children's projects. But, what about us? We too use these plastic pens vigorously.
Let's get back to our topic, if we do not loose and toss pencil and use whole of it by shredding in small amounts then definitely its a better option than mechanical pencil. Because the outer covering of a mechanical pencil which holds black writing stick is made of plastic. If we throw mechanical pencil even at the last stage of its life, it will create plastic pollution compared to wooden pencil of which shredding degrades readily. Moreover, pencils consist of non-toxic graphite (form of carbon) and clay core. It is a myth that it consists of lead. So,wooden pencil is far better than plastic pencil and ball or other pens. There is also an option to use recycled pencil easily available on many websites such as amazon. But, they are costly for a normal person.
Teenagers can replace them with ink refillable pilot, ball and fountain pens. As per my view, they should make it a habit to use fountain pen only. I agree, refillable ball or pilot pens are better options than disposable plastic pens. But again, if we throw these pens at last stage of their life, it will create plastic pollution. There is a need to throw and buy new refill after every 5 or 6 days for ball pen (depending on utilization) which leads to plastic pollution. Moreover, the tip of a ball point pen is made up of lead and other heavy metals. However, the tip of fountain pen is made up of steel and gold metal. Moreover, It is very difficult to refill pilot pen. Additionally, ball and pilot pen inks are mostly pigment based imparting color to ink, which is full of heavy metals. Heavy metals such as barium, copper, zinc, and cadmium used in ink pigments leach into environment, contaminate soil and water. Besides this, the ink of these pens are petrochemical oil based in which organic compound is used as the solvent. This solvent releases volatile organic compounds (VOC) which are gaseous in nature when dried and affects the human health and atmosphere. You can see the adverse effect of volatile organic compounds in my blog "Fair substitute of perfume: concentrated perfumed oil"(https://thepureknowledge.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=APq4FmDDO_mBQaPhQfVGPW-FuznZRM8ymvQdZw9yNiyV3zl1h97pDLznzIMxtZlow_97PEH18jN342oWBl4QoewNSxZPQchVOlfpnYQr0LjE_o-lnoIScmLeVWM1bs7t-6J8bDljRgRL&postId=7834028625106905725&type=POST)
We, the adults, can replace them with fountain pens only without any doubt. I am not talking about refillable pilot and fountain pens using new cartridges currently available in the market. As, cartridges are made up of plastic just like refills of ball point pen. It does not solve the purpose. I know, it is very difficult to live earth-friendly life in this world which is full of chemicals and plastics everywhere. All what matters is how much efforts can we put?
If we take an example of only stationary field, we can see a lot of plastics and chemicals in markers, ball point colored and non-colored pens, printers inks and cartridges, scanners, paint colors and many other stationary items. However, there are some eco-friendly options such as vegetable oil and water based ink for printers and non-toxic colors but it is not possible for everyone to afford it. So, the question arises, how much can we keep our children away from this? Honestly, we can really put efforts on at least what is in our hands.
So, I and my family have decided to use fountain pen for daily purpose and wooden pencils for rough work. As, I found that fountains pens have many advantages over other pens. I am not saying that I have completely stopped using ball point pen. It is not possible in this scenario, so, I have a refillable wooden and bamboo body pen for emergency purpose. Only plastic in these pens are its refills that too I use only under rare case scenarios. By doing this at least, I am able to reduce the use of plastic from my side. This is a very very small contribution from my side to save this nature from suffocation. We can get this wooden and bamboo body pen from any wooden market at a very economical price. Now, we will discuss the advantages of fountain pen on other pens......
Fountain pens are the modified form of quill and dip pen as they have ink reservoir which is not present in quill and dip pen. But, the principal of working of fountain pen is same as quill and dip pen i.e., Capillary action. In ancient India, Quill pen were used which were made of wing feathers and ink was of plant origin. Fountains are eco-friendly, because these can be refilled with bottle ink instead of disposable plastic cartridges. With good care and maintenance, a quality fountain pen can last a lifetime, and ink usually come in glass bottles which can be refilled and recycled after use. Basically, the price of a fountain pen depends on material used for nib, ink reservoir and its outer body.
Fountain pens are economical option, because these can be used for several years. As disposable pens are cheap at time but would not last long. Fountain pen can be used with minimal pressure, so good for letter,essay-writing and journalism. Due to lack of pressure required they are also ideal for those who suffer with hand cramping and fatigue while writing. There is definitely a fear of leakage whenever, I carry it out in my bag. Touch wood, so far I did not notice leakage problem with my pen, even though it was not costly. However, to be on the safer side, I always keep it in a leakage proof small purse and a small cloth which we used to clean our specs. We got this cloth free with specs box of new specs from shop. One thing, I have always noticed, whenever, I take out my fountain pen to write, always got to hear this question "oh fountain pen". How do you carry in your purse? As per my experience, your writing with fountain pen looks classy and neat. I have invested a total of INR 150/- on my fountain pen along with its ink of 60 ml, almost seven months back. Trust me guys, still I am using this pen and same ink without any difficulty despite the fact that I invest most of the time in reading and writing. Funny thing is, I dropped this pen accidentally and its nib has now been tilted a bit, but still it is working fine. The smell of ink and pen reminds me of my childhood days. Thankfully, my hand is set on fountain pen and now I am ready to invest on high priced fountain pen.
So, It is clear beyond doubt that fountain pens definitely cut use of disposable plastic pen which has to be trashed every 6 or 7 days. On a lighter note, I have noticed if we use fountain pen no one will lift or borrow this pen as it happens with disposable pen. Here I must figure out the biodegradability and toxicity of ink used in fountain pen. So, I did some research on toxicity of ink. Then, I came to conclusion that if ink does not fade with time, drying time is less, no smudge and is water-resistant then it indicates the presence of toxic chemicals in it. When, I checked my ink on these points, it drying time is not fast, it smudges and not water-resistant. So, I can say, it may be non toxic.
By doing some research, I came to know, fountain pen's ink is mostly water and dye based in which water is used as solvent for dye and dye imparts color to ink. The reason of using water and dye based ink in fountain pen is that it does not clog the pen tip. However, pigment based ink is also available but is uncommon. Moreover, there is no fear of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in water and dye based ink as with oil and pigment based inks.
I am using Camlin's ink which is dye based as mentioned on its bottle. Moreover, I guess it is definitely a water-based ink as I did not find any problem of clogging tip for past seven months. Even after tilting its nib, it writes in a free flow.
My only concern was, dye used in Camlin's ink is natural or chemical based as the source of dye is not mentioned on bottle. After doing some research, I came to know that earlier the source of ink was lampblack (black colored pigment based ink) or iron gall ink which is mixture of iron salts (ferrous sulfate), gallic acid and tannins. Traditionally, tannins were derived from oak galls so named accordingly. The iron combines with gallic acid and tannins to form ferrous tannate. The compound has little color when applied to surface of paper, but as ink dries, the soluble ferrous tannate is oxidized by air and become insoluble ferrous tannate, which is blue-black in color. Lampblack dye clogged the tip and iron gall dye are acidic and corrode the pen. So, now dye used for fountain pen ink are generally natural or synthetic. More advancement in fountain pen's ink are inks made up of cellulose reactive dye that react to fiber of paper to make it permanent. These dyes are water-proof. Unfortunately, I could not conclude confidently about the nature of dye in ink I am using. It may contain aniline dye which is synthetic in nature.
I wish, I can afford fountain pen ink made up of natural dye such as brands of J. Herbin and DIAMINE. Sometimes I feel strangled. Is it worth to spend so much money on ink in India, where our sages in ancient times wrote ancient texts with that special ink that has been preserved for long years without any issue of fading out. They were really great scientist who made such great advancements without harming nature. Just wondering, if our history is fully based on eco-friendly living then why don't our govt. focus on producing and promoting eco-friendly products so that each person can afford such products on large scale and save nature. Again, I must say, if we do not manage to live in an eco-friendly way then we need to produce things by destroying nature considering the pace with which our population is increasing. This is the root cause of nature devastation.
But, I am happy that I am able to reduce plastic waste formed by disposable plastic pens. I did not buy any disposable pen from past seven months. I really feel like to pat my back. However, fountain pen's ink may contains other additives such as mold inhibitors, surfactants, and pH regulators. Still, I will recommend fountain pen, because their ink is free from volatile organic compounds and heavy metals and make it less-pollutive than oil and pigment based ink which is full of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. Ink of fountain pen are harsh to environment at the least.
We create our dreams with pen, but ruining dreams of our future generations by using disposable pen made of plastic monster. A big No.....
If a single person starts using fountain pen after reading this blog. Just, do me a favor, please comment or like my blog.
Take care you all
Your's Well wisher
Purnima Ghai
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