Living More Sustainably, One Cartridge at a Time

As Earth Day approached, we looked again at the products lining our shelves. While we pride ourselves on sourcing brands that are ethically produced, good for our planet, and of the finest quality, there are always aspects to these products that are not necessarily aligned with our values. One area in which we’ve tried to reduce our impact is single-use plastics, including the discontinuation of any single-use pens five years ago. This year, we thought about something we had never considered too much: primarily, the waste produced by single-use plastic ink cartridges.

After choosing your new pen, the natural next step is to decide on ink. Most of our fountain pens function through a cartridge-converter system. A cartridge is a pre-filled plastic tube of ink that is popped directly into the nib section of your pen. Once it’s dry, you remove the cartridge, toss it out, and put in a new one. A converter is a reusable piece that is placed into the nib section in the same way, yet functions as a piston that is able to draw ink from a bottle. Once you have used all the ink, you dip the pen back in and use the converter to fill back up.

When it comes to cartridge-converter pens, you have a choice: will you buy a pack of cartridges (and then another, and another), or will you buy a converter and a bottle of ink? Sometimes, a converter comes with a fountain pen, and other times it is sold separately, as are boxes of cartridges. And if you choose a converter, you will then need a bottle of ink, which we sell from a range of brands at a range of price points.

When helping customers decide between cartridges and bottles, our talking points include: ink bottles are more cost-effective in the long run, ink bottles provide you with a wider selection of colours while cartridges come in fewer colours and are dependent on the pen you have chosen, ink bottles are beautifully-made and function as unique desk accessories, and most importantly to Earth Day, ink bottles are better for the environment. Eventually, you will recycle one glass bottle. Alternatively, you will toss out plastic cartridge after plastic cartridge, filling landfills with single-use plastics that are not actually necessary for writing with a fountain pen.

We say these words to our customers, but we got to thinking: how many cartridges are really being thrown out every year?

In 2025, Laywine’s sold ~2,000 boxes of cartridges. One pack includes 5-6 cartridges. So, ~11,000 cartridges from our store alone ended up in a landfill last year. If every pen store is producing at least 10,000 single-use plastics per year, across the top 5 stationery stores in Toronto, that’s 50,000 cartridges, and across the top 10 stationery stores in Canada, that’s 100,000 cartridges now sitting in a landfill. 

This does not have to be the reality we live in. A better alternative to single-use cartridges exists: bottled ink. Every customer is different, and sometimes convenience and cost are the deciding factors. Ink bottles may be more cost-effective in the long run, but one bottle will be a greater single purchase than one pack of cartridges. And for those travelling, moving, or simply unable to sit down and fill a pen from a bottle, ink cartridges seem more and more appealing. The convenience and cost of cartridges make them hard to resist, which is why we have decided to make a change for Earth Day.

From April 22, 2026, to April 26, 2026, all our bottled ink will be 15% off. If price has been holding you back, now is the time to invest in a bottle of ink and slowly kick cartridges to the curb.

If you have shopped with us before, you know that we offer 50% off Lamy converters when bought with a Lamy Safari. Lamy Safaris are the go-to starter fountain pen, as they are easy to fill and clean, they have a triangular grip so you know how to hold it, and they are low-cost and low-investment. Offering this ongoing promotion has been a way for us to introduce first-time users to healthy ink habits.

Now, we are extending this promotion across all brands.

If you are buying a cartridge-converter fountain pen, and it does not already come with a converter, we are offering one for 50% off. 

A one-time purchase ensures that you can use bottled ink forever and not contribute to the cartridges that end up in our landfills.

We are a local business that carefully curates every product you find on our shelves. We source products from brands with ethical values that align with our own. Like every business in today’s day and age, we are making difficult steps towards living more sustainably, while still providing our clientele with everything they need within the world of pens and paper. We sometimes think our individual actions do not matter in the grand scheme of things, but they do. Choices add up. And while one pack of cartridges does not make much difference, 100,000 packs do. This Earth Day, we are making it that much easier to protect our planet while still enjoying the act of writing things down.