Are We Really Environmental Friendly?

[khalameet]

Hello!

 

I can't help but ask myself this question.

I mean, yes, if you use a fountain pen and bottled ink, you are surely a lot more environmental friendly than the average ballpoint pen user.

 

But I am sure that almost everyone here has a lot of pens and/or inks. These pens and inks must be produced somewhere. And I was wondering if producing inks is such a clean production process. I mean, there sure is some chemical waste?

 

The other thing is the pen cleaning part - so much ink/inky water goes to the sewers and has to be filtered out at some point.

 

We surely produce less plastic waste than ballpoint users, as long as we don't use cartridges. But if everyone buys new inks frequently (myself included) which are not really necessary (I mean, you don't NEED more than a few colours for different aspects like writing, marking, correcting etc. Having more is just a luxury thing), is this really better than being one of the ballpoint users?

 

I don't want to insult anybody here as I am "guilty", too. Just wanted to hear your thoughts and opinions

 

Edit: Just have to add something: If you buy ink samples like hell, they all come in little plastic bottles. This alone could add up to as much plastic waste as the average ballpoint user produces.

Edited August 3, 2019 by khalameet

[Karmachanic]

Yes. I'm biodegradable

[txomsy]

Good points.

 

That's why I favor crystal bottles and non-plastic pens. Yet. much like with movement, there is no absolute. Everything must be defined with respect to a frame of reference.

 

Even if there are other polluting factors (like the paper we use), one should choose a frame of reference. Regarding writing with your finger on sand, we are certainly more polluting. Compared to disposable 'bic' like ballpoints, there is a large difference. Compared to ballpoint or felt-tip pens where you only charge the "inside", there is less difference, specially if you use cartridges. Etc...

[RudraDev]

That's certainly a very good question. For people who casually use fountain pens and just have a few inks, it can turn out to be environment friendly in the long run, but for those of us who are obsessed, like almost all of us here, we tend to buy a LOT of it, and that's not probably more eco friendly than using something like a bic pen.

 

But hey, at least there's less plastic involved.

Edited August 3, 2019 by RudraDev

[TSherbs]

Production pollutants are always of concern with chemical processes. Almost always, just simply use and purchase less

[PAKMAN]

I enjoy using fountain pens more than ball points expecially Bic sticks. End of story, environmental concerns don't come into the formula for me.

[DonM]

Like most things in modern life what you do contributes to pollution in some way or other. Sitting at your computer screen reading this forum, if your electric utility uses coal to produce that power, is bad as well. As someone else said, the best thing to do for the environment is to just use less of everything. I guess vintage pens and ink would be the most environmentally sensitive thing to pursue if you are going to accumulate stuff.

[jayKellner]

Paper production pollutes more than ink.....use a converter or an eye dropper, piston filler, vacumatic, etc etc...

[Rancho Gordo]

my first reaction is to roll my eyes, but then I take a beat, and you're right. Things should be considered. My instincts tell me this really isn't where the focus should be compared to other industrial pollutants. Still, it needs to be considered and thought through. Thanks for bringing up this subject.

[senzen]

If any of it gets moved around on planes, it's sure to pollute a lot, I would think paper production also pollutes; on the other hand regulations makes this a lot harder in certain countries like those in the EU or Canada, less in the US, I would expect not at all in China. So the biggest threat to the actual amazon is Amazon the company with its fast shipping (I've used it too).

 

While some solutions seem logical (move by boat, not by plane) I think the biggest impact would be on the consumer side, with group pre sales: produce only what is desirable (including no waste and pollution) and has already been sold, as opposed to produce it and see if it sells. Then you could have a more technological solution, like designing and engineering wherever the vendor is, but producing locally thanks to 3d printing and such: avoids transporting items.

[Wahl]

As a rule, I don´t waste, and I recycle all I can.

 

But really, I think your concern is a bit exaggerated.

 

I don´t see our hobby as a source of heavy pollution, at least not as much as others.

 

Anything you do has an impact on the environment, as long as you live.

[OMASsimo]

I think a lot more oil is burnt for shipping your pens and inks than for producing them. And unless you dump your ink unused, it doesn't matter how many bottles you have because you can only write a limited number of pages a day and you may not write more just because you have more than one pen and one ink. If you want to be sustainable, most likely there are more efficient ways to change your life. How about not having a car?

[khalameet]

Thank you all for your thoughts.

 

Just to make it clear again, this thread is not meant to insult anyone. I don't want to force people to use less or something like that.

 

It's just that many people (especially on Reddit) tell other people, which are not into fountain pens at all, that it is much more environmental friendly than using those Bic ballpoints. I have read that numerous times now.

 

I was just wondering if this is actually true, because after doing some thinking on my own I begin to doubt this.

 

And I know that this hobby is nothing compared to having a car or even electrical consumption. That was not the point of this thread.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Don't write, don't read, don't use an electrical gadget.......murder your plants by hand and smash them into the sidewalk to make flour.

 

Re-cycled paper is the biggest BS that there is....filled with who knows what....clunks of this and that junk.Could damage nibs. Poisoned ink from Advertising ink.

 

Paper is grown.....is it your fault the governments allow clear cutting????

Outlaw BBQ.....wooden houses.......

 

I have an only slightly used vintage carbon footprint for sale.

 

The Church before Luther used to sell paper to erase your sins. You are at fault for global warming, all by your self............repent, buy an “indulgence” now.

 

Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain, counting up money made selling manufactured guilt.

 

How to end global warming....dirt cheap. Send up a satellite with a large expanding iris. Stick it far enough from earth to cover much of earth..expand iris....tilt it one way for more shade, the other for more sun.....I WAG some $1.00 for every citizen of an industrial country, we could cure global warming, but 'no one' could make a fortune or six that way.

 

 

By the way contrails are good high altitude cloud cover, that is needed....someone has an guilt agenda.

 

Part of the problem is we have come out of one of the spiral arms of the galaxy; so we are getting more Gama radiation, that was shielded by other suns in the old arm.

So put the sun in reverse and get back to the old arm.

[Rancho Gordo]

Part of the problem is we have come out of one of the spiral arms of the galaxy; so we are getting more Gama radiation, that was shielded by other suns in the old arm.

 

Or maybe the problem is that we can't have a simple conversation about an important topic with snark.

It was asked with sincerity. It deserves the same.

[TSherbs]

Seriously, what's wrong with a little guilt? Concern for others is a sign of a healthy conscience.

 

To the OP, my use of disposable plastic pens has gone way down over the last 6 years due to my fountain pen use. In that way, I am putting less plastic into the waste stream. But I really can't vouch for much more than that because I don't really know the production and transportation waste comparisons. I also now order more on line, so there are packaging wastes and transportation wastes involved in all aspects of that, so...

Edited August 3, 2019 by TSherbs

[Mech-for-i]

wrong question here ... the question should be ... ( for anyone of us individual ) do we place the need for environment over the hobby ( and the joy it brings ) ... its a hobby, of course there is excess and lots of it and that happen with almost all hobby ( even environmental one like horticulture ) ... by all technical and simple quantified measure if one want to be environmentally friendly to the world and still like to use fountain pen, one should limit oneself to a collection of limited number of pens that he / she could actually use and a limited ( but reasonably stocked ) cache of ink ... most of us here , dare I say it , are not so.

 

But that does not mean we are not environmentally friendly just by the measure of that .. it's about how one actually live the life .. do you take your cars or do you take mass transport ; do you actively walk / ride ( a bicycle ) instead of using cars / bus / tram on short haul ; do you always turn off the light when no one in the room ... you know there is many ...

 

if one is, witin ones measure doin his / her part to be environmentally responsible ; then I do not see a issue with living with pens and ink in cache ..

[miwishi63]

I suppose in one sense the hobby delays by decades the addition of some fountain pens to landfills and other disposal sites. I do like the fact that they are reusable, but so are any number of ballpoints, gel pens, and other writing instruments through the use of refills. In the end, we're probably not making a huge impact on the environment one way or another, but I do gain some satisfaction in the thought that may pens will probably outlast me and be used by my descendants well into the future.

 

However, as someone else said, environmental considerations do not figure into my reasons for using fountain pens.

 

Thanks for asking the question!

[TSherbs]

wrong question here ... the question should be ...

The question was fine: quite clear, specific, and relevant.

 

If you'd like to raise an additional question, that's fine, too. But it doesn't negate the quality and relevance of the original question.

[praxim]

It's just that many people (especially on Reddit) tell other people, which are not into fountain pens at all, that it is much more environmental friendly than using those Bic ballpoints. I have read that numerous times now.

 

I was just wondering if this is actually true

 

Quite possibly not. The comparison is using a throwaway Bic vs a re-fillable fountain pen. The latter is, on the surface, clearly more friendly environmentally because there is no new manufacture of the pen. New ink must be manufactured and used in either case (and so on with paper, electricity and the vehicle in which you travelled etc).

 

Using a fountain pen loses badly when you consider not the pen itself but the heavy glass bottle in which its ink is transported. That consumes a lot of manufacturing and transport energy. On the other hand, no plastic tube is created for each serving of ink. Glass is readily recyclable whereas plastic usually remains a significant environmental pollutant.

 

On present indications, re-use a vintage fountain pen or several, buying the largest capacity bottles or recyclable plastic containers of dye-based inks you can find. I conjecture that you would then be well ahead of any Bic or fountain pen based alternatives. If you have some bottles, use them to hold portions of bulk inks.

 

I manage only the mostly vintage pens part, not bulk ink purchasing. As observed above also by TSherbs, I am focussing on the question asked, not other priorities.