Sunstainability & Renewability

We think it’s important to know where the wood in your pencils comes from. Blackwing pencils are made with high-quality Incense-cedar that grows in the forests of northern California and southern Oregon. It is strictly regulated and sustainably harvested, unlike the rainforest and unsustainable woods used in other pencils. In fact, there are more Incense-cedar trees in the forest today than there were 100 years ago.

To secure the continued availability of Incense-cedar, forest workers carefully manage the stands of trees, and timber companies are committed to harvesting Incense-cedar on a sustained-yield basis. “Sustained-yield” ensures that the annual growth of the forest is greater than the amount harvested from the forest.

Our wood is PEFC-certified, which means it meets strict environmental, social, and economic requirements for sustainability.

During the manufacturing process, the sawdust created by the machine is compressed into bricks that can be used as a natural fire-starter or added to compost.