What pencil do you use- A mechanical pencil or a wooden pencil? The real Question is. is your pencil sustainable? You probably tell your kids to use a wooden pencils because it is tradition.  Wooden pencils are supposed to be used for state tests, school work and during daily routine use. But what if I tell you that wooden pencils are a waste of resources.

Of course, trees are cut to make the wood case pencils are made of wood. Did you know that about 30,000 trees are cut every year to manufacture wood case pencils? There’s more,…the shavings that the pencils produce end up in the garbage. Most garbage is transported and dumped in the oceans and landfills. This results in clogging the throats of animals all around the world.

As a kid in school we use an electric pencil sharpener.   The job is messy and time consuming.  The shavings shed everywhere and absorbs the moisture from your skin, which is not always fun.

One word Solution – Mechanical Pencil.  They are the most sustainable pencils option.  Now you don’t need to sharpen the mechanical pencils. And they don’t break as often and you can easily replace the graphite. It is simple and easy to change graphite lead. They last so much longer than the regular wood case pencil. Knowing these facts the schools should allow the use of Mechanical pencils for tests.

One Mechanical pencil plus 100 graphite leads could replace 100 wood case hundred pencils. And what if I tell you that this option is so much cheaper than using wood case pencils? Yes, it is 50%  cheaper! Just remember to recycle the mechanical pencil once it is no longer usable. And this  option makes it the most sustainable pencil available.

I hope you thought about your pencils more than what you may have so far. It is just a pencil but it contributes a lot more to your sustainable living. Let’s write better!

-Sreeja S