Tired of eco-friendly products that look clunky and behave sub-par, DBA is a company focused on creating green pens, notebooks, dish-racks, heaters, and even humidifiers that appeal to both design geeks and granola munchers alike. Aside from its sleek appearance (prototypes have yet to be released to the public), DBA's writing utensil is the first in the world(!?) that doesn't have petrochemical ink. That's right- it's made from food grade substances similar to those you can find in soda, and is completely non-toxic. Couple that with the fact that the pen casing is made from potatoes, and you've got one natural writing utensil. Throw away the nib when you're done, and you can actually compost the pen in your backyard bin.

My hat goes off to DBA for developing this pen (which is all New York State-produced), and more importantly, the ink. Their costs are cheaper than big pen companies, so hopefully Staples and some of the other big players can get in on this groundbreaking ink development. This is just a reminder to donors to look to smaller, more innovative companies to develop the next big environmental breakthroughs.