The EnviroStick is the world's first promotional pens manufactured from 100% post consumer waste.
Every week I am bombarded with news letters, email shots and phone calls from different suppliers around the world trying to get their eco pens featured on my promotional pens website. More often than not, they are not very ecologically friendly at all.
What point is there in having a promotional pen manufactured in China from ‘recycled’ Chinese plastic that was never used in the first place and then importing it thousands of miles. The ecological cost in fuel alone must make the pens about as eco friendly as my old 4 wheel drive jeep. Incidentally the Jeep is no longer driven and has been for sale for about three years.
I am not a tree hugging hippy who spouts out ‘green issues’ but many people looking for eco friendly promotional pens take this subject much more seriously. These people need to know what they are purchasing. Just because a pen is promoted as being eco friendly does not mean it is the answer to all things ecologically bad.
If your business is trying to promote the fact that you have a strong eco policy in place, then almost any eco friendly pens will help you promote that. Bic, for example, offer the Ecolutions range but some of these pens are only manufactured out of 37% recycled plastic. This means that 63% of the material used to manufacture these eco pens is just like the material used in every other non-eco pen.
I guess it is fair to say that any amount of recycled material used in promotional pens is better than none. I have used Chinese produced eco pens to promote my own company. If you are not as laid back about green issues as I am, however, this is what you need to do.
1.) Look for eco pens that are manufactured close to where you do business. The fewer miles they need to travel to get to you the better.
2.) Check out the new promotional pens available that are manufactured from post consumer waste. The Lecce Pen Company manufactures a range of pens that have been manufactured from used Tetra Pak cartons. These are the cartons that you see in the supermarket that hold fruit juice and long-life milk. One of their pens, the EnviroStick is manufactured from 100% post consumer waste!
3.) You may also be interested in the large range of pens now being manufactured from corn starch and other vegetable starches. These pens are biodegradable and will decompose when they are thrown away when their writing life is over.
4.) Beware of recycled plastic pens. Some are manufactured from post consumer plastics but most of the plastic used to produce them is simply plastic that was never used. CD case pens, for example are manufactured from CD cases that were either faulty or cracked but never actually held a CD.
If you are looking mainly for stylish and innovative designs with a touch of ‘eco’ to them then you will have thousands of pens to choose from. If the ‘eco’ part of the pens is more important to you. then be sure you know what you are purchasing before placing that order.
Do you have a favourite promotional eco friendly pen you use to promote your business? Please feel free to leave a comment and share your experiences or thoughts.
By Dan Toombs