by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The Stationery Show 2014 in London, I know, is already a few months past and alas I only now am getting around to doing this review. Shame on me, I know.
They write OK – actually very well – and handle well too. However, with regards to the ball point pens, the “refill”, even though they are not refillable, are a little on the loose side in the body and that could do with rectifying.
The idea of making the bodies of such disposable pens from recycled PET is a good one, to some extent, though not having the bottles in the first place would be better still. It would also be much better if they would not come in a plastic blister pack.
The pens, as samples, though obtained from a British company – Enveco Ltd., who are stationery wholesalers – are made in China. It can therefore safely be assumed regardless of the fact that the importers of this pen are based in Europe, Bulgaria it would appear, that the PET recyclables were shipped to China, processed there and then returned to Europe.
While using waste PET to make new plastic products is, in general and in theory, a brilliant idea this shipping back and forth is not. recyclables should, nay must, be processed into new products in the country of collection and not in the current way.
Making new products by recycling waste materials is sure good but it must be done at home, so to speak, if it is really supposed to be green. Otherwise it is nothing but greenwash.
As far as the bottle pens go as pens they are fine and the plastic body, made from recycled PET, is very good as well. It is just the way that all those recycled products – the majority of them at least – and where that irks me time and again.
© 2014
