Toy Review – Smencils

If you are looking for the most environmentally friendly pencil out there, look no further than Smencils.  Smencils are scented pencils made from 100% recycled material.  Smencils are not wood, they are made of recycled paper.  Sheets of newspaper are rolled tightly around the writing cores until pencils of typical thickness are formed.  Then, each one is put into its own corn-based biodegradable Freshness Tube.


Now beyond the environmental soundness of the Smencil and the recycling wonder that is the Smencil, there is the coolness that is the Smencil.  They truly do smell great!  And, the smell lasts for 2 years!  Do I have my favorite smell?  No, I have several.  I am a big fan of the Cinnamon, Orange and Root Beer.  I also adore the Christmas scents that we carry – they remind me of family and the holidays.  I think Sugar Plum really does smell like a sugar plum, but I don’t know if I have ever smelled a sugar plum and so I will have to take their word for it.  Maybe that is something I should try and figure out this Christmas.


Smencils come in regular #2 graphite or in various colors.  I find that they work just as well, if not better than a “real” pencil.  They sharpen just fine.  But, instead of your hand smelling like a Ticonderoga, it smells like Cotton Candy or Grape or Bubble Gum.  Fun!

Green Toys are Way Cool!

When you ship as many packages as we do, you tend to notice the packaging.  There are about a billion toys out there and, consequently, a billion packages.  Some of the packages are as cool as the toys!  Okay, not really.  But, I digress.

I was noticing the packaging on the Green Toys that we sell.  I like how it is clean, sharp and simple.  Here is a bit of info from their website:

Green Toys environmental mission even extends to our packaging. We strive to minimize packaging, and all of our boxes use as little material as possible. All Green Toys products are packaged in recycled corrugated boxes with no plastics, cellophane or twist-ties, and are 100% recyclable. So, not only are they earth-friendly and ready for your recycling bin, they are really easy to open for those little fingers just itching to get at the toys!!

The toys themselves are super earth friendly:

We use recycled milk containers as the main ingredient in creating our toys. Yes, the exact plastic milk jugs that you and your family drink from every day. When you finish your milk and toss the container in the recycling bin, these milk containers are collected at your curb by a local recycling company, who then sorts them from all the other types of plastic. Next, the milk containers are reprocessed into super clean fresh plastic. For you plastic geeks, the plastic material we use is called high-density polyethylene (or HDPE). This material is considered one of the safest, cleanest plastics around.

Go check out their website for more information.  They even use the word "plethora!"

Only 26 days until Christmas!