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With the Covid19 restrictions, I am ending up with a growing surfeit of free ball-point pens. Many shops, stores, banks and offices don't want them back after I sign. Yesterday I got a genuine UPS Store clicker ball-point, but the pen-mugs are stuffed full and the glove boxes can take no more. When I drop them under the car seat, I hardly bother to retrieve them.
Pen people don't throw pens away.* Or do they?
* I've always wondered where away actually is.
I collect the springs from them and use the in the back of Kaweco Sport barrels to stop catridges coming loose.
Other than that, we have a bin at work where they can be deposited and a local charity collects them and redistributes/repurposes/recycles them.
Disinfect them and donate to a school?
I agree. However, many schools are using virtual classroom teaching because of the pandemic. With that, one might consider donating any unwanted pens and stationary to a homeless shelter. I suspect clothing donations would be welcomed too.Quote:
Originally Posted by fqgouvea
I say we put our free ball-points in a box and send them to Jon Szanto. I happen to know he cleaned out a space in his garage and they would certainly help fill the void.Quote:
Originally Posted by FredRydr
Pens for Kids can apparently supply a list of organisations to whom you can send pens directly for children overseas in need of writing utensils.
I carry pens so I do not use theirs :)
https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
That’s funny. A side effect I never would have thought of. Prior COVID, they’d hunt you down to get their pen back
I generally use my own pens, not from recent fear of contagion so much as because I've always preferred to use my own. But when I do acquire a freebie ballpoint (or on rare occasions a pencil), I leave it in the communal pen cup at work for others to use. Rightly or wrongly, my coworkers aren't that worried about it, and we do have the disinfectant wipes and spray right next to them.
I've been disposing of "free" pens this way for years. A few years ago I went through drawers and pen cups for all the old cheap ballpoints that I knew I'd never want again, and left them at work. What's interesting to me is how I can leave a dozen pens in that cup, and a week later, they're all gone. Some turn up again in odd places around the building, but I think a lot of them get thrown into backpacks or coat pockets, and subsequently lost, who knows where.
I still have a good selection of Parker Jotters, Fisher Space Pens, and other slightly more upscale ballpoints at home, and carry some around with me, but they aren't going in that cup.
Now if a business gave out a free advertising fountain pen, I'd hang on to it. Or a dip pen, but how likely is that?
Send them to Peter Kay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX9p...hdu908&index=6
Thanks for the link. Had a good chuckle :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Fermata