Green Living
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Pens
I've gotten pretty good about reducing my waste, and buying reusable things, but I really hadn't thought about pens!
One of our main radio stations has green tips, and a recent one has been to try buying reusable items, like tape dispensers and pens.
Now I'm not a big tape user -- I don't even own any -- but I really hadn't thought about pens! I do use pens (of course) and of course, am used to the disposable ones.
I'm not the greatest at keeping pens around for a long time but I can try. So eventually (ie, when I get around to it) I'm going to look for a reasonably priced reusable pen (and figure out what this involved).
Re: Pens
Doh, I just noticed how I repeated myself in my post. Its been a long day! A long week!!
Recycled is good, but then it still ends up in a landfill... I know there are compostable pens but that takes a long time. A reusable pen seems like the easiest choice.
Thanks I will check out the Pilot!
Ditto this! :-)
I've been using the same fountain pen for about 3 years now. The pen itself was a little pricey (about $70) but you can get them for much cheaper. The ink seems like it costs a lot for what you get, but I'm yet to run out. I have to refill it about every week, but that takes 5 seconds. It needs to get cleaned out every once in a while too.
I still use disposable pens at work or when mine runs out of ink. I'm constantly losing other pens and pencils, but I've managed to hang onto to this one.
i get my pens/refills from Jetpens.com i know it's not that "green" to have my pens shipped to me, but i really like using a smaller point and this is the only place i've found .28 pens.
Oooooh, I'm a pen snob. I'm super picky about my pens. They have to write immediately 100% of the time (I got fed up with non-working pens when I worked in a pharmacy and had to take new prescriptions over the phone at the drop of a hat). They also have to have caps (because clicky pens always clicked open and wrote in my pharmacy lab jacket, and write on my couch when I stick them in my hair so they're easy to find). I also hate fine point and like a medium point. Rolly pens creep me out. And I don't find ink bleeding through paper acceptable.
So, I've found two types that work. One pricey kind that has refills (I don't remember the brand right now). And the all blue with the flat capped (it must be flat so I can balance it on end when I'm bored in class) blue ink Bic pens that come in packs of 10. I bought a pack of those when I started school again over a year ago, and just about two weeks ago Pen Number Ten died on me.
FWIW, I only know this because I told Jeff as a joke that I was going to finish school one pack of pens, so I have to keep track of them.
I'll worry about the eco-friendliness of my pens when I need to replace pens 1-9. : )
I've had the same Dr. Grip refillable pen (also the pencil version) since high school, so I'm pretty good there. They do not leave my office though, or I'm sure they would vanish in a flash.
I try not to lose pens in the field, but it's inevitable. Far worse from an eco-standpoint are all the sharpies I go through. I don't know of any EF options for indellible ink.
We use refillable fountain pens. The inserts can be recycled. Eventually they will go into land fill, but considering of the 3 pens my husband owns he has had one since grade school- it sure beats disposable.
And, most importantly, they also come in left and right hands. Since my family is nearly all lefties, it's rare someone borrows their pen. Borrowing pens is pretty much the only way we lose them......
I can't even think of the last time I bought pens. I have a gazillion pens with various logos and brands on them from trade shows, vendors, work, etc. I'm sure they're probably all made in China, but the way I see it, those companies are going to spend money on swag anyway, so I might as well just put that stuff to use as long as they're buying it. And yeah, they end up in a landfill when they run out, but I maybe throw away 2 pens per year, so it's not super high on my list of things to "green up" in my life.
I never take free pens from any conference anymore as we have a zillion. I don't think I will need to buy pens for the rest of my life.
I do love the cheap Bic refillable mechanical pencils. I do refill them and even with losing them a 5 pack lasts me over a year with refills. I like my own eraser though. I have a reusable plastic cover for the little rectangle shaped erasers.