When it comes to buying environmentally friendly products, we generally think of cleaning supplies, other household items, organic clothing, and more.  But what about what we use to write with?  Though I personally prefer pens, I still use pencils from time to time, and I’m sure if you have children, they probably go though a lot of them in the course of a school year.

Though pencils are a way of life for many people, we rarely think about the environmental impact of conventional pencils.   According to Forest Ethics, there are still manufactures that clear cut forests in California and Sierra Nevada to get wood for pencils.  In addition to that, 14 billion of these pencils are made in polluting factories every year.  What is the alternative?

Earthzone is proud to launch the world’s first environmentally friendly pencil. Earthzone pencils are non toxic and made from 100% recycled newspapers. The erasers are even latex free. I was sent a few packs of pencils and sharpeners to try out, and I must say, I am very impressed!  I was skeptical at first. I was expecting them not to be sturdy since they are made from…paper, but they act and feel just like a regular pencil.  The pencils sharpen easily, and do not break.  They actually feel and write better than traditional wood based pencils. In terms of how they look, the recycled newspaper is incorporated in the design, which looks pretty cool!

Earthzone offers a variety of pencils, including, HB, colored pencils and a pack of “artist series” pencils.

Do you buy pencils for yourself and/or your children? I guess I assumed most pencils were made from “recycled wood”, but I was wrong!  Have you thought about where your pencils come from?

After reading this and similar blogs and websites, maybe you’ve decided to throw out all of your toxic cleaning products. Perhaps you discovered that your artificially scented laundry detergent gave your baby a rash, or you made the decision to stop using perfume or cologne because you or others in your presence may be allergic to it.  Now that you decided you want to clean out your home and makeup bags from such products, what do you do with them?

Some people are tempted to flush them down the toilet or just throw them in the trash. A better and more eco friendly option would be to give them to someone who will use them.  You may not want them, but others may want or need these items, and may not have the same choices we do.

After a little decluttering in my home, I have given away (mostly unused or gently used) household and cosemetic products away on Craigslist, Freecycle, and local organizations.

Contact your local homeless shelters, woman’s shelters (or safe homes), or non-profit organizations to see if they have a need for anything you have to offer.  These days the need is great and anything you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Any drain cleaners went to my local hazardous waste disposal site because products such as Drano and Liquid Plumber are some of the most toxic household chemicals around.

There are plenty of alternative products you can buy now-a-days but the Treehugging Family blog has a list of 25 safe, non-toxic house made cleaning supplies.