The first disposable pen was made in 1950. It's now estimated that 1.6 billion pens are thrown away every year in the UK alone. That first disposable pen was the iconic BIC Cristal, designed to replace messy and unreliable fountain pens with something so cheap that everyone could afford to own a pen. Every single one of those pens still exists today; they can't be recycled, and they'll sit in landfills for hundreds of years.
Fountain pens are no longer messy and unreliable, yet hundreds of millions of disposable pens are sold every year just in the UK (that's billions worldwide!). Modern refillable pens aren't just limited to fountain pens. There are refillable gel pens, rollerballs, fine liners, highlighters and brush pens, and the range of inks is huge!
Shining a spotlight on Tom's Studio
Whilst there are many refillable pens on the market, we want to shine a spotlight on the pens made by Tom's Studio. Tom made his first pen for his wife, Gemma, and Tom's Studio was founded in Devon in 2016. They have a range of refillable pens including fountain pens, calligraphy pens, brush pens, paint brushes and more. They also sell a wide range of inks, accessories, and replacement nibs, tips and reservoirs. Wowsers! Their whole philosophy is one of sustainability, ensuring every part of their pens can be separated so they can be recycled and easily replaced, without compromising on function or aesthetics.
The pens
First let's have a look at the Wren. This is the perfect everyday writing pen. It comes in either brass, anodised aluminium, or recycled plastic, with the latter two options having a vast array of colours to choose from, truly making The Wren your own. It writes smoothly and feels great to hold, and the clever design means it's small to store whilst being the perfect size for writing with.
The Lumos is the "all-in-one" pen. It comes in either a single- or double-tip pen and has 11 tips for you to swap around. There are 6 fineliner tips (ranging from 0.1mm to 1mm), 2 writing tips, and a chisel, bullet and brush head. All are infinitely refillable and swappable!
Tom's studio have recently released their double-ended refillable highlighters, the Ori. There are 6 colours (3 double-ended pens), each refillable with vibrant fluorescent ink. The flow is smooth and the pen perfectly weighted. The bonus is they look like a pen, instead of the traditionally bulky highlighters that don't fit in your pencil case!
Accessories and longevity
There's little point in having a refillable pen if you can't replace parts when they get broken or worn out. Tom's Studio have replacement nibs and tips available so you can be confident that your pen will last a lifetime. They also have a stunning range of ink colours, as well as replacement reservoirs. Check out this handy set of containers too, meaning you can quickly change ink colours in your pens with a quick swap of the reservoir!
For the true stationery enthusiasts out there, you'll find pen rests, rollstops, ink pots, notebooks, calligraphy tools and more in the Tom's Studio shop.
The bottom line
Disposable pens are cheap to make, cheap to buy, and far too easy to throw away. There are already billions in landfills across the country and around the world, and sadly they'll be there forever. Big corporations will keep producing them so long as we keep buying them. By switching to a small UK company like Tom's Studio, you aren't just getting an awesome writing tool, you're supporting an ethical, sustainable future. The important message is that refillable is the way forward. Join the refill-ution!