Every year Americans discard 1.6 million pens. Placed end to end, they would stretch 151 miles—equivalent to crossing the state of Rhode Island almost four times!

This is the time of year when many of us are busy buying school and office supplies. Here is a great listing of environmentally-conscious pens and pencils to help us to make better choices for the earth.

Although we throw them away, they can impact the environment in ways we do not often think about. Pens, pencils and markers are often tossed into the garbage and not recycled or reused. Their components and packaging are made from non-renewable resources and can contain environmentally damaging chemicals.

• As consumers, we can make educated decisions in our purchasing of these items–decisions that will help to lessen their impact upon our natural environment.
  
• Many companies presently carry one to several lines of products which have positive environmental attributes. These attributes include recycled content, refillable options, nontoxic inks and more environmentally responsible packaging.
  
• Green Seal has surveyed manufacturers and distributors and has recommended products in various categories for our product table. The Recommended Products Table contains information on manufacturers and brands.
  

To read Green Seal’s environmental rating and recommends brands of 15 pens, 20 pencils, three markers, and two crayons—as well as information on recycled content, refillability, packaging and availability of writing instruments—download Green Seal’s Choose Green Report. Although this report was published in 1998, it is still relevant.