The Beauty of a Zero Waste essential: The Refillable Fountain Pen

"My pens are my babies and they drink from their bottles" Shangas - on the Fountain Pen Network Forum

My blog series The beauty of Zero Waste and Zero Waste Essential respectively point to the beauty that Zero Waste has brought into my life and the objects (or skills) that I have deemed necessary to achieve as close to Zero Waste as possible. The Refillable Fountain Pen applies to both.

Fountain pen fitted with a converter

In our digital and (increasingly) paperless age, handwriting is slowly losing ground. Elementary grades are substituting penmanship for keyboard skills. Teachers use the computer as an educational tool and note taking apps are replacing even the most spontaneous form of writing.  In an effort to save paper, I do not use handwriting much either. Apart from filling a homemade notebook with ideas and drawing my own illustrations (time constraints and consideration for my publisher's sense of smell put an end to my feather and squid ink dreams), my book was completely done digitally.  I touched my paperback for the first time on The Jeff Probst Show, scheduled to air on May 14th. So much of my work is done on the computer (typing about the Zero Waste lifestyle), over the phone (interviews, suggestions), or in person (speeches, media participation, consultations), that I now consider handwriting a treat...

The Zero Waste lifestyle inspires us to revisit nostalgic basics, and readopt practices that we shouldn't have dropped in the first place. Growing up in France, the use of the fountain pen was an integral part of my education (as it still is for French pupils today), yet I eventually dropped it for cheap ballpoint duplicates. Then when I embarked on Zero Waste, I opted for a ballpoint refillable model. But given the wasteful packaging that refills come in, I eventually realized that a refillable fountain pen was the most waste-free alternative for ink writing. And, boy do I love using mine: Writing with a fountain pen is as enjoyable as using a cloth napkin, or a ceramic plate. The reusable, durable alternatives, heighten the user's experience and respect for the item: You do not treat a fountain pen, a cloth napkin, or a ceramic plate as you would their disposable counterparts. Each use is a pleasure!

The few writing opportunities that still present themselves should follow Zero Waste principles. If you are in the market for a fountain pen, here are some pointers for choosing the right model:

Piston Fountain Pen with ink window

• Look for a vintage model. For secondhand purchases involving specific criteria, I like eBay. Make sure to select the "used" box in the options on the left hand side of the page before launching a search and request "paper or cardboard only" for shipping at check out. You can also visit a pawn shop or a consignment store for this particular item, but they tend to be "hit or miss".

• Look for a fountain pen model that will accept (or come with) a converter, which is a removable and refillable cartridge, or choose a piston model (my preference) which is refilled by turning a knob at the end of the pen (called a blind cap). The piston is a fixed filling mechanism, an integral part of the pen (the barrel is the reservoir) so it will hold more ink, and it's faster and less messy to fill. Both are pictured above. If you already have a fountain pen, the manufacturer might carry a converter for your model!

• Look for quality: I purchased the converter model above for Léo, but the quality turned out to be poor and the ink delivery inconsistent. I purchased a Mont Blanc for myself (a childhood dream), and I have found the quality to be unsurpassed, a real difference in the writing experience: Smooth and enjoyable. As with anything else, quality is worth the cost.

Bottled ink

• Look for a model with an ink window so you know when to refill your pen. You don't want to run out when you're about to sign a million dollar contract or your first book;)

• Purchase a bottle of ink. Choose glass (with a metal cap if possible). For the Quink brand pictured, you'll have a choice between permanent and washable. I chose the former so it cannot be erased. Honestly, I did not research inks, when I bought my jar, I just wanted to support my local stationary store; Parker Quink is the only option they offered.

My pen will be busy signing books at Book Passage in Corte Madera on April 13th (4pm). I hope to meet some of you there (whether or not you have a physical book for me to sign)!

Back to school. Finally!

OK. I am back and for real this time ;)

The kids were off for three months this year (while our tax dollars renovated the local schools), but they returned to their routine this week, and so have I. Writing this, seated in the shade of the oaks bordering my sunny deck, with hummingbirds buzzing around, feels like a "stay-cation" now.

With the start of a new academic year (and Max in Middle School!), September always feels like January's onset of a new calendar year. Off to a fresh new start: Supplies, Lunches and Activities are revised.

SUPPLIES

Each year, teachers request many un-recyclable items that I would not purchase for our home (plastic markers for example), but would consider for school use. In a perfect world, teachers would keep "still good" supplies for subsequent classes or at least donate them to the local thrift shops at the end of the year. Better yet, manufacturers would offer non-toxic stainless refillables of modern staples such as markers, and teachers would limit their demands to those available and reuse them. But until then...

Our annual scavenger hunt for school SUPPLIES starts with a preliminary stop in the home office to retrieve last year's leftovers and update lists with truly needed items. For example, the new box of pencils required for Max, did not make it. Afterall, Leo finds pencils on the street all year long ;) - and we have plenty mechanical pencil refills. The disposable wipes on Leo's list did not make it either. I volunteered to purchase reusable ones instead.

We then scout the town's thrift shops with a much simplified and revised list. This year, we bought secondhand dividers, a binder, school paper, and one sharpie (Thank you for your donations, fellow Mill Valley-ans!).

We struck out on backpacks (bigger ones needed this year), glue stick, red ballpoint pen, second sharpie, and had to buy these new, but I am happy to give the local stationary store our scrutinized business. It not only allows us to purchase just the right amount (one is enough for now) and without the extra packaging (sold loose), but it also gives me the opportunity to support a small local business and save on gas (the big chain alternative is two towns over).

For the scientific calculator that Max needed, eBay was the best bet. Bought $4 used and now reused.

LUNCHES

The boys' appetites have grown this summer, so I was delighted to find an array of loose buns at the grocery store. These have simplified the kids lunch making. They are cheaper than baguette, do not need pre-ordering, and are pre-cut by Scott, making it easier for the boys to prepare them. Best of all, the serving size satisfies Max's appetite perfectly.

As mentioned before, I do not usually spend time making what is available to us in bulk, such as pickles. But the long break and the sight of cute little pickling cucumbers at the farmer's market, inspired me to prepare them again this year. They are easy to make with only a few bulk ingredients, the kids love them (they are sweet) and they are a great addition to school lunches. So I thought I'd share our recipe with you.

Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe

5 cups sliced pickling cucumbers (about 5 count)
1 onion
4 tsp coarse salt
1 cup cracked ice
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup sugar (evaporated cane sugar)
Optional spices

Mix cucumbers, onions, salt, and ice in large bowl
Put a weight on the mixture for 3 hours (see picture)
Drain
Combine vinegar, sugar, drained cucumbers and spices of your choice (1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/8 celery seed, 1 tsp mustard seed for example)
Bring to boiling point (do not boil)
Fill sterilized jars (recipe will fill 1 quart size jar)
For long term storage, you can boil the sealed jar for 10 min. I personally don't. We refrigerate them and they disappear within a month.

ACTIVITIES Never say Never... I am glad I did not.

Now the big surprise for the end. I am about to announce a major change in our household. With much deliberation (six-months long actually ;), Scott and I have finally given up on our video game battle and purchased a used Wii for Leo's birthday. OMG! We have come to realize that our very social pre-teens are losing interest in their Legos, and cannot be kept away from gaming (at least, where we live anyways). In the last year, they have clearly learned to augment their outside playtime with a gaming fix at the neighbors.

Again, in my perfect world, our neighbors and friends would also be against video games and urge their kids to entertain themselves otherwise. We would also agree on the same house rules, dietary needs, all choose zero waste lifestyles, and live happily ever after. Well, since it is not the case, and Scott and I are not willing to move and become hermits or keep the kids locked up, but rather encourage age-appropriate social interactions at home, we considered multiple non-viable options (a trampoline on our hill, fuss-ball in the tiny playroom, etc.), until we faced the inevitable: No matter what we'd find as an alternative, gaming would still be out there and our kids would keep seeking it elsewhere. Then, I thought to myself that as long as we did it in a sustainable way (buying used console and games), with strict usage limits, it probably would not kill me ;)

We've had it now for only a couple of weeks, the kids bring their friends home more and I can share play time (Wii sports) with my fast growing boys. Gaming that fosters social and physical activity, afterall, is not too bad and more controllable than online gaming. And as long as we can mix it up with a variety of other activities, I am OK with it.

That said, do not fear, we are nowhere close to turning TV back on...

Zero Waste Home Office

My husband and I share an office.

A big adjustment from our old house, where I had turned the granny quarters (a fully equipped kitchen) into a studio and where my husband had a room so large that he added useless furniture to fill the space... the kids did find it useful to draw on the lounge chair with markers though. It was so easy back then to just close his office door, when I could no longer stand the sight of his pile-scattered floor (Scott is a compulsive “piler”). And in my space, it was also too easy to collect used frames found at garage sales. I had high hopes of using them to exhibit my art, but they never actually “helped” my artwork. In our separated offices, we both had a stapler, we both had a shelf for office supplies, we both had a printer, we both had a TV… we both had a refuse can: one labeled “trash”, not “recycling”. Paper, food, pictures, plastic bags, packaging, all went in the same bin, destined to landfill.

How did we ever think that recycling should be relegated to the kitchen only?
Boy, have we come a long way in the past 5 years. In our new (1920’s) small home, we’ve learned to share, for the better… a more streamlined and more sustainable office. (Bonus: una officina to clean, not dos!). It’s not yet perfect as we still have to deal with long-ago purchases and their imminent disposal: Food coloring containers which await to color my homemade paper, large artist acrylic paint jugs, adhesive spray can, etc. I am not sure how I will choose to sustainably replace these products (make my own, or find them used on Craigslist perhaps?), if replace them at all, when I empty them. In the meantime, I am reminded everyday of the wasteful office life we use to lead, and look forward to putting it behind me, with no visual reminders.
Here are some of the things we have done to get us on the right track in our current home office:


Pens / pencils:
REFUSE

• Better to have one good pen than a dozen “cheapies”. Thru my simplifying business, I have witnessed homes filled with dozens of free business pens. If you have allowed them in your house, you have also created a demand for it. Help stop the free-pen madness.
• Teach your kids to REFUSE pencils as party favors, as homes can get filled with those too.

REUSE

• If you do need a pen or a pencil, choose a stainless refillable model, and buy them from a stationary store: They come unpackaged.
• Use refillable white board markers (Auspen): we don't personally own them since we're still using those from our previous life, but we've seen them at the SF Green Festival
• Donate extra office material (paper, pencils) to your public school's art program.

Paper:

REFUSE

• Start your own junk mail war
• Cancel your phone directories: available online anyways
• Request less paper from your kids teachers/school and refuse duplicates when you have more than one child.
• Refuse paper billing (and it would be nice if we could keep it at that;)…sign up for electronic bills and statements. Call them as soon as you open their mail.

REDUCE

• Buy recycled paper products, packaged in paper: Some manufacturers choose to sell their reams in plastic (?????)

REUSE

• Use single-side printed paper for printing or making notepads with a metal clip: Dedicated a file or paper tray for it
• Collect and use junk mail response envelopes

RECYCLE

• Ditch the trash can (use it as a receptacle for your goodwill donations): Strive to use your recycling bin exclusively, an office is all about paper management.

Shipping:

REFUSE:

• Request recyclable-only packing material from your shippers: Refuse bubble wrapping, styrofoam and plastic bags.

REDUCE:

• Use paper tape on your parcels, and masking tape for smaller uses. I confess, it was a hard switch for me. There was something comforting about protecting my shipping addresses behind a waterproof plastic tape.
• Buy lick-on stamps instead of stick-on’s (if and when possible). At this point USPS only has $1 lick-on stamps available, so we're left with a sticker sheet the rest of the time (landfill). Send them an email to help bring the lick-on's back in fashion.
• Use USPS.com to print postage directly on your envelopes.
• Use surface mail to reduce the carbon footprint of your posted items.

REUSE:

• If you shred paper (we don’t because of the added energy cost and extra machine laying around), reuse the shredded material for shipping or COMPOST it: Shredded paper is a nightmare for recyclers to separate if you have a mixed recycling can.
• Use a return address stamp instead of stickers (the latter leaves you with a non-recyclable sticker sheet destined for landfill): You already cancelled the pesky charity themed address labels, right?
• Reuse packaging material: donate your bubble wrap (with no tape), peanuts, entire styrofoam pads to UPS, dedicate a cabinet for the rest and reuse it.

Other Supplies/Equipment:

REDUCE:

• Use paper clips instead of staples, or a staple-free stapler (packaging is ¾ cardboard, ¼ plastic). I personally don’t have one yet, I can't get past all the packaging.
• Buy paper clips in bulk: bring a bulk bag to Staples, they have a great selection of such items sold by the weight.
• Use solar powered calculator (looks like they still make battery operated ones...)

REUSE

• Use your library to read business magazines and books. Sell your books on amazon.com (you’ll be amazed how much you can sell your old schoolbooks) or donate them to your library for other people to enjoy them.
• Use memory sticks and external drives instead of CD’s (they last longer than the rewritables too)

RECYCLE:

• Only print when absolutely necessary, recycle your cartridges (at Best Buy for example) keep a receptacle next to your printer for easy recycling.
• Donate your unused computers/equipment to Goodwill. They will refurbish and resell the equipment if possible. And, if buying a new computer, get a laptop, it’s more energy efficient.
• Cell phone: repair or donate. Best Buy will take them.

Operations:

• Use zero waste cleaning (recipes coming up next week!).
• Smart strip your equipment if you can. Since it did not work for our system, we have strategically plugged our equipment in power strips that we turn off at the end of the day.
• When your bulb burns out replace them with CFL’s (duh).

Junk mail war: still on!

I started my fight against junk mail 5 years ago, when I signed up for the "do not mail" list on dmachoice.org.

Last year, however, I decided that enough was enough. I declared: "I shall attack EVERY PIECE OF UNWANTED MAIL that finds its way into our mailbox". Not an easy task, one that has changed my relationship with the mailbox forever. I no longer run to it to look for the latest Pottery Barn catalog, but to count how many crap mail pieces I have landed and have to fight.
It's been a part-time job ever since. At the time when the kids need my attention for their homework (kids get home from school at the same time that mail is delivered), I am usually holding on the phone to talk to a customer service representative or emailing some unknown company to be taken off their mailing list. The number has declined overtime, but I would have thought to be free of it by now. Yesterday I landed 4! 2 of these are particularly pesky.

• United Visa application: After numerous mail and call attempts, I have managed to cancel the weekly thick applications that each one of us used to receive (incl. my 7 and 9 years old boys!) but yesterday I landed one that was addressed to the previous owner. UGH
• Local Community College Catalog: I should have a choice to receive these by email instead. Because they are not directly addressed to one of us but the the "postal customer", the mailman has to deliver them. A few months ago, I called my post office to see what I could do about it. They told me to talk to the community college directly. Once I found the (very nice and understanding) person in charge of mailings at the community college, she told me that the post office had the possibility of returning catalogs to them for reuse. I went back to the post office with that piece of information and was granted the right to write "refused" on such mailings... it then only took a long and frustrating conversation with my mailman, another trip to the post office, and another call to the post office for my mailman to actually pick one up... Now if everyone in my town would refuse their Community Catalogs, that would be the end of them.

Here is what you can do to stop your junk mail:

• Go to http://www.dmachoice.org/ (direct mail) and http://www.optoutprescreen.com/ (credit and insurance offers), it's made a big difference.
• Go to http://www.catalogchoice.org/, they cancel catalogs for you. You can also call the catalogs directly.
• Do not open unwanted 1st and 2nd class mail: their postage includes return service, so you can write "Return to Sender" (front of envelope) and "take me off your mailing list" (back), I keep a pen in my mailbox for that effect. Note as of 2-2-11: 2nd class is for catalogs, these need to be cancelled by contacting the catalog directly or by using the link above.
• Open the 3rd class presorted standard mail to find a contact info, then Call/email/write to be taken off their mailing list (that includes any phone directories such as Yellow Pages, from which you can also opt out, by clicking here) Note as of 2-2-11: 3rd class mail with "return address requested" can be refused and sent back to the sender.
• Write "Refused" on the mailings that are not addressed to your specific name or address, they usually are addressed to "postal customer"(such asCommunity Catalogs: Community Education, Classes, Events). No matter what, these will end up in your mailbox, all you can do is refuse them so your mailman take them back (if he does not, call your post office and talk to the carrier supervisor) Note as of 2-2-11: Please understand that if your mailman does take it, it will only be disposed/recycled by him with no further impact on the source. Because such mailings do not include return to sender, refusing them will not stop them from being sent in the first place. It is best to contact the sender directly to propose an alternative way of advertising.

Note: If these steps are too much for you to handle at once, you can let 41Pounds.org handle the bulk of it (fee of $41). You'll just have to tackle the rest.

To reduce your mail paper consumption/waste/recycling further:

• Cancel your magazine subscriptions (for Vogue, calling was best)
• Sign up for electronic bills and statements
• Reuse envelopes
• Reuse one sided mail paper for printing or to make notepads (grocery lists, errands lists...)
• Reuse double sided mail paper to wrap presents or make paper (great for presents and occasional cards/envelopes)
• Recycle or compost as a last resort

REFUSE 1st, REDUCE 2nd, REUSE 3rd, RECYCLE last

Wait! Before I end this posting, let me make something clear... I never was a Pottery Barn fan anyways. I confess that, at one point, I was inspired by their clever home organization ideas. After a decade of receiving, god only knows, how many trees in my mailbox from PB, I have only bought a couple of blankets (at the store, not thru the catalog) to keep the heating bills down the first winter evening that cold hit our new home. Were a couple of sales worth deforestation? I believe that claiming independence from such catalogs has helped me keep a simpler, minimalist, non over-consuming lifestyle. Eradicating junk mail is only for the better.