Same Pen Refills

Ohhh... Pens....
they come in so many different colors and models and shapes
they're like candies
and they're cheap
so it's easy to buy them, throw them out and just get a new one.

Problem :
Pens that come from different companies have different Refill shape
So when you run out of ink and you want to get a refill....
They don't exist !!!!
or a lot of the stationary shops don't carry them.
or the pen companies don't make the refill anymore once they stop selling that particular pen model.
So you HAVE to throw them out because they're now useless.


I have 6 pens in this picture.
The one on the left have refills sold but it was kinda hard to find and I'm guessing when they no longer sell the probably short-lived pen model, they'd definitely stop selling the refill as well.
The red chubby one is a free gift, cute, but I can't find a Refill for that
The 4 pens on the right are the standard pen size and they all have different Refill pens and one of them can't be refilled because it can't be opened.

Solution :
Create the same Industry Standard Shape for the Refill Pens of Mass Produced Consumer Pens
(Same Refill Pens for all of the Affordable Plastic pens that's sold everywhere)
All the companies in Pen Industry must use the same shape for the Pen Refills.
So they may design whatever shape pen they want, but the Pen Refill is the same for all the cheap pens.
They may innovate and use whatever pen tip technology they have, roller ball tip, felt tip, needle point tip, oil gel ink, whatever. Just make sure the model for the refill pen is the same.
I'm not talking about Parker, Mont blanc, Sheaffer or whatever, they're more expensive and their refills are probably always available, maybe ;p
I'm talking about the affordable pen we use on a daily basis everywhere, Bic, Pentel etc

Why ?
- Less plastic pen waste
If you as consumer care to even find a refill to your pen, there'd be so much less waste.
Think school, office, big companies, they all use cheap plastic pens.
Get refills for those pens and you'd reduce so much waste.
- It'd be easier for all of us, the consumer
There's only 1 standard size/shape of Refill pen for all the different Pen brands (Pen A, Pen B, Pen C, Pen D) so the refills can be used on any standard size pens, they're interchangeable.
It'd be so much easier !!!!!
and Companies and manufacturers would still be able to sell their own Refills, only the model, size and shape is the same for all Refill pens, so they still profit from selling Refills

What about the companies that sells smaller ballpoint pens, so what ?
create an industry standard for those pens as well.

But
Maybe the reason the Refill pen always differ in size, shape, model, etc is because they want to sell more pens.
Who cares about the environment ?
It's all about making money right ?
If they buy refills, then there'll be less new pen sales.
Maybe that's the reason.
So it's back to GREED
and it's back to us as consumer who DON'T CARE about plastic waste and just buy a new plastic pen because it's so easy and they're so pretty.

I think it's time companies realize that they can also make profits out of pen refills.
and I think it's time they realize that it's not all about the money anymore now !!
Time is ticking.
It's about trying to create less waste.
It's about caring for the environment
It's about doing what's right

Time is ticking

We all need to do whatever we can to stop the world from going kaboom ;p

Stop thinking "They've got experts working on it, Why should I bother ?"
No... you need to take part in it.... in anything...
Just start by doing the simplest thing that you can do.
Try to care a little

I know the case is not that simple....
In some cases, when you are uneducated and you are poor, you are willing to do anything to earn a living. so life is hard for them.
that's why there are animal poachers, people who cut down trees, they do just about anything to survive.
The masterminds behind them is the one to blame, the one taking the most profits out of the whole situations.
Those are the situations that a lot of us don't have control of, unless of course, you're the one buying illegal orangutan baby or buying illegal wood.

But the things that we can do,
We need to understand that if we don't care, we won't have a place to live anymore.
"If we rise above 2 degrees, all hell breaks loose" David Suzuki
Haven't all the "unnatural" natural disasters lately given you enough hint ? or Do you need a bigger sign that the world is "angry" ?
You don't have to be an activist or live in a treehouse to help save the earth.
Start by doing whatever you can, bring your own cloth bag to supermarkets, bring your own water bottle rather than buying a plastic bottled water every time, don't waste water when brushing your teeth, don't waste water when washing the dishes, whatever..... anything... just start now.
There are a lot of sites that can help you understand more and will advice you what you can do to help save the earth, but you need to want to do it and you need to start now.

The bad thing is....
Since "time is ticking" there are more of the opportunists who think that they need to "take in" whatever they can and make the most money before the earth is depleted of all of its natural resources. They don't care, they're just greedy.

The good thing is....
There are more and more people who are aware of these things, they know that the time is ticking and they are working in doing whatever they can.
They're working in their own area of expertise, in eco-architecture, in eco-friendly products, in making movies to create awareness, in service design, in eco-travel, in eco-farming, in organic gardens, and in so many other areas and I believe it all starts in doing what we can in our simple everyday lives.
They are the optimists
They are the ones who has hopes.
We need to join them :)

As it is said in "Home"
"it's too late to be a pessimist"

"One has no right to say it's too late........I think if you feel that it is hopeless.......then shut the bloody hell up and get out of here, because you've given up, fine, that's your decision, but get out of here, there's no point in telling people there's nothing that can be done.........I'm not an optimist or a pessimist..........I just have hope"
David Suzuki

We don't know what's going to happen to the world, we don't know if all the destruction in the movie "2012" will happen.
But it's good to be scared, it gives you a reason to start.
What we do know is.... the world's suffering and climate change is real.
Do you want to have colder winder and hotter summer ?
Do you want to experience more hurricanes ?
Do you want the sea level to rise and drown continents ?

Watch these movies to know more
These are real facts.
You may choose to rent them instead of buying, you don't need another DVD to add to that pile of DVDs dusting away in your closet.


"An Inconvenient Truth" with Al Gore


"Home" narrated by Glenn Close


"The 11th Hour" with Leonardo Dicaprio

So now you know that Time really is ticking, faster and faster.........
Let's be hopeful, Let's do what we can

No more unnecessary packaging !

We've all bought stuff that comes in multiple packaging, especially products that are a little bit more expensive.
Let's see, we have the product itself, the internal protective packaging, the cardboard box packaging, then in some malls/dept stores, the boxed product is then wrapped in a paper/plastic wrap to make it more exclusive and put into a paper/plastic bag.
So many layers.... so many unnecessary things that most people will just throw away.

Consumers (all of us) need to realize that :
- good quality products don't require extra packaging
- expensive products don't need unnecessary fancy packaging
we throw the packaging away once we get home anyway, so what's the point ?
- we need to search for a good quality product by the quality itself, not by how shiny and pretty the packaging is.

Yes.... they may need it because they stack up easily during storage
if they need to store them, store them in the box that it was shipped in, maybe an ordinary cardboard box with internal cardboard dividers.

or they may need the extra packaging to ensure the safety of the product during shipment.
But for some, the "safety measures" are only adding to the exclusivity of the product, meaning.... you don't really need the double box protection for something in a plastic container, you're only doing it to put a higher price tag and make the consumer feel like they've bought something expensive.

Some of the skincare products in the photo below come with extra paperbox packaging which I just throw away after I got home.


Extra packaging may be needed if the product is made out of glass....
Vitamins or Skin care products in glass containers, for example, they may need extra protection.
But more and more vitamin bottles and skin care products are using plastic containers instead of glass nowadays, rendering the protective packaging useless.
besides.... we can actually buy anything in glass bottles/glass containers without any protective packaging.
I've bought a supplement in glass bottles without one and I didn't break it on the way home.
Haven't we all bought wine , olive oil, tomato sauce, strawberry jam, honey ? They're all stored in a glass container, we don't break em that easily.


These are vitamins/supplement bottles and Some of these plastic bottles come with an extra cardboard/printed thick paper box, which are useless and again, are thrown away once I get home.

Conclusion :
Although some products do require extra packaging to keep the product safe.
But for a lot of the products :
Unnecessary Extra Cardboard Packaging over a Product is really NOT necessary !!

Advantages
For Companies :
- Yes Competition is tough out there, but instead of adding unnecessary packaging full of glitter, shine and color that's just going to go to waste, you need to really Focus on the quality of your product and consumers will find you.
- You get credit for caring more for the environment by giving out less waste
- More Profits because you don't spend extra for unnecessary packaging
- If you lower your product price because you don't have to pay for packaging and keep focusing on keeping the quality on your products, you might sell more products.

For Consumers :
- maybe.... companies will lower their price a bit because they don't need to spend money on extra packaging.... (maybe....)
- we know that we're not buying a product with unnecessary packaging, so we don't waste more garbage.

For Mother Earth :
- Less waste = less resources used = less trees being cut down to make paper = less deforestation = more natural habitat for animals = happier mother earth = less drastic climate change = happier us

It's a win win...
everybody happy.

No more pointy sharp edges on products

I hate it when I buy stuff at the supermarket and just as the cashier put the stuff I bought, the plastic bag breaks/tears !!!! either right there or when I got home, so I'd have to throw away the plastic bag.... :(

What stuff makes holes in the plastic bag ???
Tubes and Refill pouches that has sharp pointy edges
yupp... they're one of the reason the plastic bags tear so easily !!!
especially the Refill pouches where the plastic material is thicker, making it very easy for the pointy edges to puncture and tear plastic bags. These Refill pouches are everywhere and people buy them because hey... they're refill pouches.... they're cheaper than buying new bottles so people buy them, all the time. and they're one of the main reasons the plastic bags get torn so easily.

Sooo..... How to avoid tearing and wasting the plastic bags ?
Solutions:
- For Manufacturers,
Stop making Sharp pointy edges and Make rounded corners instead.

- For Companies,
If other brand can innovate and make a foot shaped tube with rounded corners (I know you've seen this kind of tube) then you can at least choose or order tubes with rounded edges.


If others can "innovate" and make such a rounded shape (see arrow), you can definitely make all rounded edges !!
thus minimizing plastic bags tear and minimizing waste


Advantages :
- For Manufacturers : You get the credit for being more environmentally friendly and companies will find you for your products.
- For Companies : You get the credit for being more environmentally friendly, you'll be able to have a distinct design and you'll attract more consumers.
- For Mother Earth : Less plastic waste from torn plastic bags = happier mother earth
- For Everyone : We all get to do our part in saving the earth by reducing waste and we get to enjoy life in this beautiful earth, I know it sounds cliche, but it's true.


Why bother ?? it's just plastic bags, it's not like I'm pouring millions of gallons of toxic waste to the sea every hour !
Because a lot of people are still using plastic bags !! and plastic bags are cheap so they get used and thrown away just like that and the unbelievable amount plastic waste is one of our biggest problems right now.
So we need to do what we can, even in the things that may not seem significant

- I know some of us are bringing our own bags (cloth bags or thicker plastic bags) to the supermarkets, but a lot of us tend to forgot to bring them, or people just don't care and they expect to use the plastic bags anyway.

- We can choose to not use the plastic bags and just put stuff we just bought (eg. sharp pointy refill pouches) into the trolley and into our cars, but some don't use cars and some forgot their reusable cloth bags, so they still need to use plastic bags.

- Some supermarkets are charging their plastic bags and selling a higher quality ones so we can reuse them. (in Europe they do. but not in chinatown where plastic bags are still free)
But people still end up paying for these plastic bags and if they tear so easily, they ended up in garbage as soon as we get to our house, so more waste that's going to last for years and years.

- Some supermarkets are cutting budgets by using a cheaper thinner plastic bags resulting in more tear-able plastic bags and ending up in more waste.

- Some supermarkets in developing countries are still restricting customers to bring cloth bags inside supermarkets due to theft risk


So................ I hope manufacturers and companies realize this problem and choose to make tubes and refill pouches with rounded corners !!
Just a small tiny idea that might make a difference :)
I so hope this will be the new standard form for packaging !!!
No more sharp pointy edges !!!

Avatar and the not so hidden message

So I watched Avatar a few weeks ago.
A little boy of probably 5 yo was sitting next to my friend.
Luckily the boy wasn't sitting next to me, but nevertheless, it's so much fun looking at him bugging my friend.
The whole time, he was slurping his soft drink, if he wasn't making loud noises slurping, he'd be munching on potato chips
and he'd be like "hey mum....... do you still have some more potato chips over there"
but my friend didn't feel bothered at all, so everything's ok :)
Oh and during the war scene, the boy actually sat up straight during the whole time, he didn't even move, his eyes glued to the big screen and he sat up straight the entire time :)

anyhoo.....
Did anyone else cried while watching Avatar ?
I don't even know why I cried, well, actually I do know.
I'm kinda lazy to explain why, but some of the scene just evoke this sad feeling inside.

okay... so the msg I got was :

- the na'vi - kinda like african/indian tribes who are more connected the the nature compared to us
also as the ppl fighting so hard to protect the environment aka their home
- need to protect land
protecting world, respecting it n living in harmony

- colonisation by ignorant powerful ppl
all the destruction triggered by greed
- politics, investor, biz, money, greed, destruction of mother earth
- the rock - unobtanium is like blood diamond

- change of hearts, hopeless to leader, not caring to sacrificing

- animal reacting - such an irony
esp, when the animals helping to fight the war - this so reminds me of the elephants going to villages because their natural habitat is destroyed and they get killed because they're ruining a village.

- "i see u" - seeing past differences

- there's energy from nature n us
we're just not aware of them anymore.

So those are some of the messages I got from such a big buck sci-fi movie
but Do the messages get across, ever ?

just wondering though..... the Sacred tree is supposed to be, well, sacred
but am I mistaken , but did Neytiri and Jake Sully have sex there ?

besides that, Avatar is a beautifully made movie by such talented imaginative people.
I'm now wondering what it'd be like to watch Avatar in 3D.