Due to the increase in the global threat of compromising the quality and availability of current resources for future generations, the need to shift to sustainability not only for organizations but also for average citizens has emerged. The importance of sustainability as a response to the unreasonably wasteful use of resources has grown exponentially, encouraging recycling and other activities in which citizens can participate to contribute to the improvement of the situation (Cai et al., 2020). Therefore, replacing plastic pens that are currently used very widely and are affecting the environment extensively with a much more sustainable and easily recyclable bamboo pen should be considered a good opportunity.
Being a biodegradable and recyclable material, bamboo can be successfully used in the production of stationery, including pens and pencils. Specifically, Flynn et al. (2017) emphasize that the use of bamboo contributes to the increase in sustainability not only due to the use of biodegradable materials but also due to the opportunity to improve the performance of rural areas where bamboo is grown (Zea Escamilla et al., 2018). Although bamboo pens are not commonly used, they are not a unique concept. Stationery made partially from bamboo has already been offered by companies such as Eco-Pens and several others (Duane et al., 2019). However, the specified product is still largely underrepresented in the target market, which is why introducing the concept of a fully sustainable bamboo pen is a rather promising idea worth pursuing, which justifies this project completely (Shahinur & Ullah, 2017).
References
Cai, Y. J., & Choi, T. M. (2020). A United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals perspective for sustainable textile and apparel supply chain management.Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 141, 1-21. Web.
Duane, B., Ramasubbu, D., Harford, S., Steinbach, I., Stancliffe, R., Croasdale, K., & Pasdeki-Clewer, E. (2019). Environmental sustainability and procurement: Purchasing products for the dental setting. British Dental Journal, 226(6), 453-458. Web.
Flynn, A., Chan, K. W., Zhu, Z. H., & Yu, L. (2017). Sustainability, space and supply chains: the role of bamboo in Anji County, China. Journal of Rural Studies, 49, 128-139. Web.
Shahinur, S., & Ullah, A. S. (2017). Quantifying the uncertainty associated with the material properties of a natural fiber.Procedia CIRP, 61, 541-546. Web.
Zea Escamilla, E., Habert, G., Correal Daza, J. F., Archilla, H. F., Echeverry Fernández, J. S., & Trujillo, D. (2018). Industrial or traditional bamboo construction? Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of bamboo-based buildings.Sustainability, 10(9), 3096-4009. Web.