As a designer and writer, I amass and burn through an absurd amount of pens, and it pains me to think that each and every one is bad for the environment. That's right, those little plastic cylinders are like bullets being shot into the planet:
DBA 98 Biodegradable Pen from DBA on Vimeo.
The DBA 98 Pen, in contrast, is 98% biodegradable. It's produced at a wind-powered facility, uses ecological packaging and non-toxic ink, and is manufactured from a compostable bio-plastic.
I'm testing one out right now, and the rollerball tip is pretty decent for sketching, at least for those with good control; it produces different line qualities and thicknesses depending on how hard you press, going from fine-and-wispy to a heavier, solid black. My only gripe is that the cap seems to require an extreme amount of force to put on or take off, but that's a small price to pay for an Earth-friendly pen, and at least I know the cap's not gonna pop off in my bag and leak ecologically-sound ink all over my things.
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Comments
Thanks for your interest in DBA. Where are you located? You can buy the pens in our store online http://www.dba-co.com/pen
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@Will
We're delighted to hear you're making the switch to biodegradable! Our current online shop does not account for wholesale orders. Please feel free to email me with any orders or inquiries you might have - niamh@dba-co.com - or if you're in the NYC area, feel free to visit us at the NYIGF this week.
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@Rain Thanks again for the great write up!
If you want to be green (not to mention cheap!) you might try this other trend that's been catching on in Europe* - the refillable fountain pen: pelikan.com, lamy.com
* for a few hundred years
-Dave Fustino