BENGALURU: Four lakh trees are cut to make the 1 billion pencils Indians use every year, says the Founder-CEO of a city-based firm that makes pencils from recycled paper.
A 14-year-old tree can produce wood to make 2,500 pencils, adds Pranavakumar K S. He is the CEO of Shiv Tat Agro LLP, which manufactures Auxo Pencils.
“Cutting trees results in deforestation and global warming, and impacts the ecology system. While it is imperative to plant a lot of trees, it is also essential to save existing ones. Thus the concept of making pencils with recycled paper came to us,” Pranavakumar says.
The initiative will make children aware of the need to save environment from a young age, he says, for children use pencils the most.
“Using an eco-friendly pencil will inspire them to opt for green products in future. They will be familiar with the concept of recycling and reuse,” he explains.
The paper used is similar to those newspapers are made from.
Pranavakumar elaborates on the process: “Used paper is collected and cleaned. It is then cut into the size required. An adhesive is added, and the paper is rolled around the graphite.”
The company currently manufactures pencils in two varieties: plain pencils, and those 12 fun prints like jungle animals, fish, honey bee and numbers.
The company is looking to scale up through crowdfunding.
“Crowd funding helps kill two birds with one stone -- increase awareness about the eco-friendly product as well as help scale up,” he adds.
For every eight packets of pencils purchased, one pack will be given to an underprivileged child.
*To fund the initiative, visit fueladream.com. At present, a box of 10 pencils is priced at Rs 70, but scaling up will help bring down the cost of production, the manufacturers say. Auxo Pencils are available on Bigbasket, or can be ordered by sending an email to shivtatagro@gmail.com. They will soon be available in stationery stores.