- 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion traditional wooden pencils.
- Nicolas-Jacques Conté, an officer in Napoleon's army, invented the modern pencil by combining graphite and clay for lead durability.
- Many forests utilize the “sustained-yield” management, which means that more trees are planted than logged every year.
More schools in the world are becoming digitalized, but there are still places in the world that heavily depend on the wooden pencil for adequate learning. There are also those artists, draftsmen, businessmen and architects that prefer to jot down their ideas and draw designs, the traditional way. The production of wooden pencils takes a toll on the world's forests, with 82,000 trees cut down each year to make 2 billion traditional wooden pencils, as each tree yields about 170,000 pencils. However, until something that is equally convenient is invented, wooden pencils will continue to be used by kids learning to write, and by others - out of easy availability.
History of the Wooden Pencil
The earliest writing utensil was a metal rod called a Stylus, used by the Romans to make evident scratches in message forms. Soon, it was replaced by lead - favored for its ability to leave real scribbles on the papyrus. The first ancestor to more familiar pencils was invented in 1654, after the discovery of graphite abundance, in Borrowdale, England. The graphite’s advantage of producing thick lines on paper was also its drawback, in that it was too soft for comfortable usage. While wrapping the lead in string did not prove to be the most practical solution, inserting it into wooden holders, solved the problem. In 1662, Nuremberg became the first city in the world to mass produce these early wooden pencils.
Over one hundred years later, in 1795, an officer in Napoleon’s army, Nicolas-Jacques Conté, optimized the wooden pencil further: by combining graphite with clay, he exponentially improved the lead's durability, also opening up for possibilities of various designs in modern pencils.
Making the Pencil
Pencil casings are made out of softwood, harvested from the trunks of coniferous trees, such as pines, spruces, and cedars, with the latter being most commonly used in the pencil production industry today. The cedar tree needs to be at least 14 years old, before being felled, logged, and cut into 7.5 inch - the length of a pencil - blocks. After getting cut into even thinner “slats” (able to fit each other, like blinds or egg cartons), they are engraved with nine slots each, filled with glue, and fitted with hardened pencil rods from the oven. Another slat is placed on top, acting as a casing to wrap snuggly around the lead. The slats are then heated and pressed together, becoming one long sandwich, which is cut into 9 individual pencils.
A large percentage of cedar wood designated to pencil-making for distribution around the world is grown in Sweden and South Africa.
Not surprisingly, schools are among the biggest consumers of “tree products”, including paper and pencils. The usage of wooden pencils decreases with grade-level, when colored pencils disappear from the school bag after primary school, and students voluntarily switch to mechanical pencils in higher grades.
Though imperceptible to some, new school supplies come at a high cost for others. The most unsustainable of them, are the wooden pencils, with their potential lifespan often getting cut short by becoming lost or replaced prematurely.
Many parents are on board with energy conserving designs for new schools and improvements to the old buildings, also praising schools with recycling initiatives. Digital mode is becoming mainstream, where students are able to complete and submit everything online. University students are also choosing to take notes on their laptops, and digital exams are becoming more common. Yet, the production of wooden pencils continues at the same rate, while few attempts at going green with programs that promote re-using school supplies, have not been met with enthusiasm.
Impact On The Environment?
With the environment already facing a myriad of challenges today - from pollution to climate change - in order to avoid pencil-making from becoming another grievance for the nature, many forests are managed on “sustained-yield” basis. Such management describes continuous growth of the forests, where more trees are planted, than harvested for manufacturing purposes, in a span of a year.
Unlike paper products, wooden pencils are easy to substitute, and it would be advantageous for the environment and subsequently, for people's health, if fewer trees were cut down for this sole purpose. Although this kind of thinking inspires innovations and alternative solutions, would trees be planted with the same fervor, if there wasn’t a race in growth versus harvesting?
Alternative Solutions – Are They Better?
The one upside to traditional pencils, is that they are natural, almost 100% biodegradable, and relatively cheap.
More efficient and potentially lasting longer, mechanical pencils are similar in long-term costs to wooden pencils. While mechanical pencils do not involve wood in their production, they take a whole other toll on the environment: from fumes when they are produced, to remaining in the landfill upon disposal. Mechanical pencils that are made from recyclable materials are neither cheap nor available in many parts of the world. Other alternatives that are just as convenient, environmentally friendly, and low cost as wooden pencils are, still need to be invented or not yet popular.
Unfortunately, when that happens, the developing countries will also be the last in line for innovations, and Africa would lose out economically, if wooden pencil production ceases.
Miti 82,000 hupunguzwa kila mwaka ili kutengeneza penseli za mbao za jadi za 14 bilioni. Nicolas-Jacques Conté, afisa katika jeshi la Napoleon, alivumbua kalamu ya kisasa kwa kuchanganya graphite na udongo kwa ajili ya kudumu kwa risasi. - Misitu mingi hutumia usimamizi wa "matokeo ya kudumu", ambayo inamaanisha kwamba miti zaidi hupandwa kuliko kukatwa kila mwaka. Shule nyingi ulimwenguni zinakuwa za dijiti, lakini bado kuna maeneo ulimwenguni ambayo yanategemea sana kalamu ya mbao kwa kujifunza vya kutosha. Kuna pia wasanii, wasanii wa kuchora, wafanyabiashara na wasanifu ambao wanapendelea kuandika mawazo yao na kuchora miundo, njia ya jadi. Kwa mfano, kila mwaka miti 82,000 hupunguzwa ili kutengeneza penseli za kawaida za mbao, na kila mti hutoa penseli 170,000. Hata hivyo, mpaka kitu chenye urahisi kama hicho kipatikane, penseli za mbao zitaendelea kutumiwa na watoto wanaojifunza kuandika, na wengine - kwa sababu hazipatikani kwa urahisi. "Kuna historia ya kalamu ya mbao, ambayo ilitumiwa na Waroma kuandika ujumbe kwa kutumia ""stylus"" (kifungo cha chuma) ili kuunda alama za maandishi." Punde si punde, ilibadilishwa na risasi - iliyopendwa kwa sababu ya uwezo wake wa kuacha maandishi halisi kwenye karatasi ya karatasi. Kalamu ya kwanza ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi ya rangi. Faida ya graphite ya kutokeza mistari mirefu kwenye karatasi pia ilikuwa kasoro yake, kwa kuwa ilikuwa laini sana kwa matumizi ya starehe. Ingawa kufunika risasi kwa kamba hakukuthibitika kuwa suluhisho lenye kutumika zaidi, kuingiza risasi hiyo katika vifungo vya mbao kulisuluhisha tatizo hilo. Mnamo mwaka wa 1662, mji wa Nuremberg ulikuwa mji wa kwanza ulimwenguni kutengeneza penseli za mbao. Mwaka 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté, afisa wa jeshi la Napoleon, aliboresha kalamu ya mbao kwa kuchanganya graphite na udongo, na hivyo kuboresha uwezo wa kuhifadhi risasi. Makopo ya kalamu hutengenezwa kwa mbao laini, zilizokusanywa kutoka kwenye shina la miti ya coniferous, kama vile pine, spruce, na cedar, na ya mwisho hutumiwa sana katika sekta ya uzalishaji wa kalamu leo. Mti wa mwerezi lazima uwe na umri wa miaka 14 kabla ya kukatwa, kukatwa, na kukatwa vipande-vipande vyenye urefu wa kalamu. Baada ya kukatwa katika <unk>slats<unk> nyembamba zaidi (kuweza kuendana, kama blinds au makaratasi ya mayai), wao ni engraved na mashimo tisa kila, kujazwa na gundi, na vifaa na hardened kalamu vijiti kutoka tanuri. Mstari mwingine huwekwa juu, ukifanya kazi kama kifuniko cha kufunika kando ya risasi. Kisha vipande hivyo vya mbao huchomwa na kufyushwa pamoja, na hivyo kuwa sandwichi moja ndefu, ambayo hukatwa kwa penseli tisa. Asilimia kubwa ya mbao za mwerezi zinazotumiwa kutengeneza kalamu na kusambazwa ulimwenguni pote hukuzwa nchini Sweden na Afrika Kusini. Haishangazi kwamba shule ni miongoni mwa watumiaji wakubwa wa "bidhaa za miti", kutia ndani karatasi na kalamu. Matumizi ya penseli za mbao hupungua na kiwango cha darasa, wakati penseli za rangi zinapotea kutoka kwenye mkoba wa shule baada ya shule ya msingi, na wanafunzi kwa hiari hubadilisha kwa penseli za mitambo katika darasa la juu. Ingawa wengine hawawezi kuona, vifaa vipya vya shule vinagharimu pesa nyingi. Kalamu za mbao ni mojawapo ya aina za kalamu ambazo hazina uwezo wa kudumu kwa muda mrefu, kwa sababu mara nyingi zinapotea au kubadilishwa kabla ya wakati. Wazazi wengi wanakubaliana na miundo ya kuokoa nishati kwa shule mpya na maboresho kwa majengo ya zamani, pia wakisifu shule na mipango ya kuchakata. Njia ya dijiti inakuwa ya kawaida, ambapo wanafunzi wanaweza kukamilisha na kuwasilisha kila kitu mtandaoni. Wanafunzi wa chuo kikuu pia wanachagua kuchukua maelezo kwenye kompyuta zao ndogo, na mitihani ya dijiti inakuwa ya kawaida zaidi. Hata hivyo, uzalishaji wa penseli za mbao unaendelea kwa kiwango hichohicho, huku majaribio machache ya kwenda kijani na programu zinazokazia matumizi ya vifaa vya shule, hayajakutana na shauku. Je, Hilo Litaathiri Mazingira? Kwa kuwa mazingira tayari yanakabiliwa na changamoto nyingi leo - kutoka uchafuzi wa mazingira hadi mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa - ili kuepuka kutengeneza penseli kuwa malalamiko mengine kwa asili, misitu mingi inasimamiwa kwa msingi wa "matokeo endelevu". Usimamizi huo unaelezea ukuaji wa kuendelea wa misitu, ambapo miti zaidi hupandwa kuliko kuvunwa kwa madhumuni ya utengenezaji, katika kipindi cha mwaka. Tofauti na bidhaa za karatasi, kalamu za mbao ni rahisi kubadilisha, na ingekuwa faida kwa mazingira na baadaye kwa afya ya watu ikiwa miti michache ingekatwa kwa kusudi hili pekee. Ingawa aina hii ya kufikiri huchochea uvumbuzi na suluhisho mbadala, je, miti ingepandwa kwa shauku hiyo hiyo, ikiwa hakungekuwa na mbio ya ukuaji dhidi ya mavuno? Suluhisho Mbadala  Je, Ziko Bora? Kwa upande mwingine, penseli za kawaida ni asili, karibu 100% biodegradable, na bei nafuu. Kalamu za mitambo ni zenye ufanisi zaidi na zinaweza kudumu kwa muda mrefu zaidi, na zina gharama sawa na kalamu za mbao kwa muda mrefu. Ingawa penseli za mashine hazitumii mbao katika utengenezaji wao, zina athari nyingine kabisa kwa mazingira: kutoka kwa moshi wakati zinatengenezwa, hadi kubaki katika mahali pa kuondoa taka. Kalamu za mitambo zinazotengenezwa kwa vifaa vinavyoweza kutumiwa tena hazina bei nafuu wala hazipatikani katika sehemu nyingi za ulimwengu. Njia nyingine za kubadili rangi, ambazo ni rahisi, zenye kuhifadhi mazingira, na zenye gharama nafuu kama kalamu za mbao, bado hazijapatikana au bado hazijapendwa na wengi. "Kwa bahati mbaya, wakati huo, nchi zinazoendelea pia zitakuwa mwisho katika mstari wa uvumbuzi, na Afrika itapoteza kiuchumi ikiwa uzalishaji wa kalamu za mbao utasimama. """