I'd like some great ideas for recycling pens. Here's what I've got -



So the ink is all used up. I hate to throw these away. These pens are semi-squishy but I have my 207 Premier pen that I *adore* so I never write with these.

So I suppose one option is to give them to someone who likes these pens and then they can buy refills for them. But if I can't find someone, how do I recycle the various parts?

The metal springs are easy. Use a magnet to see if they are aluminum or steel, then recycle them with those metals. I always add them to my metal recycling boxes that i take in each month and get cash for.

You can recycle the plastic end tips if you have a plastic recycler that takes all numbers of plastic. Or call the company and as what number plastic those pieces are. See if your area takes them.

the ink parts probbly have to be tossed - too many different components and, then of course there is the ink.

The outside of the pen parts also have too much stuff going on, so i can't see a recycler taking them. your have to separate out the several types of plastic...

alternatively you can use the pen part for something else - maybe as a watering tube for houseplants. Place in the soil and fill the tubes with water for some slow, steady watering. Or use as stakes to hold small plants up, or keep tomatoes off the ground.

I am sure these things could have other uses.

Possibly pull all these pens together and offer them for free as nice pens needing refills on your local freecycle or the free area of craigslist.

Oh, you could also call the company in question and see if they take them back for recycling.

I've been mulling this around for a while. I had thought about the springs and tiny plastic bits, but it seemed like that would leave 80% of the problem behind. So I've been trying to think outside the box.

I think the solution will be to buy just black refills and give functional pens away as promotional items. I'll write my name on the pen in sharpie. That seems to be the only way to not create trash. Then the new owner can get refills too.

Bob points out I'm paying $1 per refill to give away pens. He thinks this is not a win.

I still have the empty refills to deal with. I forgot about those. I have separated them out into their components.



Too tiny for any gardening use. Pondering.

Can't you weave them together with string somehow and make a see-through bird house?

There must be some artsy way to color them, cut them in equal sizes to be a type of jewelry bead.

Or create plastic wind-chimes if strung together (like mixed-shell wind-chimes) with some other items that might make a pleasant sound.

Or how about a beaded curtain for a teens room?

Can they be a watering system for house plants?

I thought of the bead idea - Bob has some sort of a gadget that could chop them into beads. What I did instead is make them into origami flower bud vases -



You could glue a barrette onto them, an alligator clip, a thumb tack, a suction cup, a pin, and use them for all sorts of decorating!

Use #2 - carry with them when you travel and take home a few grains of sand or rock as your memento for the location! Write the date and location on the tube with a Sharpie and create special, unique souvenirs that can bring you joy and peace!