I made an impulse purchase the other day at a store in Chelsea Market: a $2 ballpoint “GLO” pen. GLO stands for “Global Learning Outreach,” and sales proceeds help fund student scholarships and educational grants (learn more on the Project GLO website).
I’ve never been a huge fan of ballpoint pens, but these ones are pretty cool. They’re made from biodegradable paper and “corn plastic,†which apparently takes 65% less energy to produce and can be composted, incinerated, or recycled. Performance is as you’d expect — no better or worse than a Bic — and of course you’re also contributing to a very worthy cause.
Given, as I recently discovered, that 6 billion pens are thrown out in the US each year, it seems like a good investment. If you’re interested, you can buy one online, or see if there are any local retailers near where you live.
Well, it is a start, but my fountain pens with converters are way more environmentally friendly.
Hopefully these will be marketed in Staples. It would be really good if they could get them into the Chinese market.