Sometimes the secret to a smaller footprint is right at your fingertips. Here are four things to look out for when choosing a writing instrument.

1. Think before you buy. You can now get pens with barrels made from recycled plastic bottles, pencils manufactured using recycled newsprint and correction tape that is 100% biodegradable. Considering the materials used in your writing implements can make a big difference.

2. Choose premium products over cheap ones. Poorer quality products are more likely to break before they’re fully used whereas better built ones are more likely to have a longer life.

3. Choose pens and markers that don’t use toxic inks as they’re safer for you and the environment. EXP Green Permanent Markers, for example, feature alcohol based inks that are 100% consumer and environmentally safe as well as being 100% biodegradable.

4. Being green doesn’t mean being boring. Take the Paper Mate bio-plastic based pens. They’re made from an exclusive corn based material that requires less petroleum in its manufacture so it produces less Green House gases. Better still, bury it in soil and, since it’s 72% biodegradable, it will break down in approximately a year.*

*http://papermate.com/pages/products/biodegradable-pens.aspx