I will receive my first fountain pen next week. I ordered a Visconti Van Gogh Maxi Vanilla after an extensive search (thanks for all the great reviews you've written!). Needless to say I'm incredibly excited.

My motivation for getting a fountain pen was threefold; I wanted to stop using disposable pens (which I go through frequently, I'm an architect) for environmental reasons, I wanted to add some style to my writing/sketching, and I wanted to buy something pretty

The environmental aspect is the most significant to me, and though I would consider it progress to simply use typical inks and a non-disposable pen, ideally I would like to find the most environmentally friendly inks available.

I haven't looked into it yet but I understand I could potentially make my own ink. If there are no "green" inks available, what might the "greenest" recipes be?


Cheers,
Lucas

Making your own inks for a fountain pen is risky. The feed channels are small and easy to clog.

Most inks contain aniline dyes. The proportions are small enough that the ink itself has minimal environmental risks. No idea on the impact or production.

J. Herbin fountain pen inks are made with nontoxic vegetable-based dyes. Without knowing how they are produced, it's impossible to say whether they have a gentler overall impact than aniline-based inks.

Fountain pen inks are water-based, so the recipe is water plus dye, plus probably
small amounts of preservatives or surfactants to improve flow. Mostly they are
water. No soy products would be needed, as in order to flow, the ink has to
be watery.

As far as I know the soy-based inks are based on soy oil. For example, the
L. A. Times newspaper is supposed to be printed with soy-based inks. These
are oily printers' inks that would not flow in a fountain pen.

J. Herbin has already been mentioned and that is the only one I know of.

Use of a fountain pen wherein you refill the pen with bottled ink is clearly the most environmentally friendly avenue presently available. Not throwing away a useless Bic pen or even avoiding throwing away a fountain pen cartridge + packaging is a major step forward.

As to ink recipes, many of the ink recipes are based upon now outdated formulas which are extremely high in acid. By products from this process may be a greater risk than the inks themselves.

That notwithstanding, I want to express nothing but encouragement for you to explore new options -- and report them to the rest of us. Some of the best ideas out there come from people who didn't know what they weren't supposed to be able to do and consequently found new avenues as a result of taking a fresh look at a problem. Please let us know what you discover.

This summer I made some of that Grass Ink.... very pretty... but really smells like Chlorophyll... don't know why...
I even added some crushings from Agarita root... a plant used by native Americans because of its bright yellow roots...
I was using it on the porch and had to go to get the phone... since I don't have a cell phone.... and when I got back Aphids were lined up on the written words sucking them from the page...
After spraying it with Diazanon and Chlordane I was afraid to mail it to any of my friends....
LOL
Greg

As far as I know aniline dyes are environmentally friendly. They readily break down in the presence of bases such as weak ammonia. Many but not all are broken down by sunlight.

Talk about eating your words...