
Dispose of components individually when possible, such as the wood shavings (which are compostable) and the aluminum ferrule (which you can remove and recycle like you would a soda can).Even if the company doesn’t list the specific kind of wood its pencils are made of, it should still have this certification. Look for a seal of approval from the Forest Stewardship Council, a nonprofit that independently determines if wood has been sustainably harvested.Unlike wood, plastic isn’t renewable or biodegradable, and it’s harmful to marine ecosystems. Avoid buying pencils made with extruded plastic.Adding insult to injury, in our experience, their grainy texture causes uneven sharpening.
Avoid buying pencils made with pitted or pockmarked wood, as these small holes often indicate that the wood has been unsustainably harvested from a deforested region. We tried to test pencils across a wide range of prices, from less than 10¢ to more than $2 per pencil. Price: We didn’t set a hard price cap, but we did prefer cheaper pencils that were available for purchase in bulk. Pre-sharpened: We didn’t require every pencil to come pre-sharpened, but we did prefer it because some teachers ask that students arrive at school with sharpened pencils. In our experience, other common pencil woods like basswood or poplar tend to be shaggier when sharpened-and we prefer cedar’s earthy, camphoraceous fragrance. But we preferred pencils made of incense cedar, which Caroline Weaver said was “the gold standard” of pencil wood. Wood quality: Most pencil brands don’t advertise the specific type of wood they’re using, especially in cheaper options. Triangular pencils offer these benefits, too-they may be even more roll-resistant, and some people find them easier to grip-but they’re less common. Hexagonal or triangular barrel shape: Hexagonal pencils (or semi-hex, which have slightly rounded corners) are fairly ubiquitous, and they’re great for everyday use because they allow you to get a firm grip and won’t roll off an inclined desk as easily as a round pencil. Most pencil erasers are made of synthetic rubber or vinyl, which heats up and becomes sticky when rubbed against a piece of paper-causing graphite particles to stick to the eraser instead of the paper. Eraser: We considered only those pencils with erasers on the end, since we were primarily looking at pencils for writing and schoolwork-activities that require a handy eraser. It’s also just a “good, clear, middle-of-the-road” lead grade, he said, whereas marks from darker leads don’t always erase completely, and lighter ones can smudge or be too faint for the Scantron machines that grade the tests to detect.
2/HB pencil rule is primarily to help ensure a similar environment for every student taking these tests.
According to Franek, like the decision to maintain in-person, pencil-and-paper exams even during a pandemic, the reasoning behind the No. But such pencils are still compulsory for most standardized tests, such as the ACT, SAT, and AP exams. 2/HB is more of an industry guideline than a rule. 2/HB grade-which refers to the ratio of graphite to clay in the core, determining its color and hardness-or, for pencils without a listed lead grade, like the Blackwings, a similar core composition. Lead grade: We considered only those pencils that were No.