I stumbled across these at the office supply store this week. The package says Biodegradable in BIG LETTERS.
Don't get too excited yet. In smaller letters, it says "every little bit helps." Oookay, perhaps so. I believe that any company making any effort to reduce landfill waste is a good start, but it ain't the whole enchilada.
In even tinier letters, and somewhat confusing text and picture directions, the package instructs the buyer of these fabulous contraptions of communication how to dispose of the pencil.
Here's the basic breakdown in simpler terms: the whole scribbler is not biodegradable, just parts of it.
The outside barrel and the tip are biodegradable. However, there's a caveat here as well. Your composter may or may not take these plastic-y parts. If not, you can bury them in the back yard. Just make sure your neighbor knows it's a pencil, and not a body.
So remove the green grip from the pencil, set it aside. Unscrew the tip, and remove the innards that hold the lead and eraser.
The two pieces shown above (barrel and tip, in front) can now go into your compost or backyard. The pieces shown in back-lead tube, eraser and grip, go in the regular trash.
But remember, this is a refillable, re-usable mechanical pencil. Why would you throw it away? You wouldn't really, would you? At least not for a very, very long time. And maybe by then we won't need landfills anymore.
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