Honors Biology Environmental Impact Project

BY JOHN WILLSHOUR 2

The AusPen Marker

• The AusPen marker is very eco-friendly• It is a refillable whiteboard marker• Many other brands use Xylene in their products• With Xylene being a nasty chemical, the AusPen corporation

uses absolutely 0% of it in their markers• The marker also uses recycled plastic!• It lasts 2x as long as your average marker, and lasts for

many refills.• Also, the AusPen is equivalent to 246 Dry Erase Markers!!!

FundingAlthough the AusPen marker costs more than your average whiteboard marker, it will be seen as very beneficial if implemented…

Option #1A very easy way to raise $ for any type of project is a Bake Sale! All proceeds of the Bake Sale will be funded towards the purchasing of AusPen Eco-friendly Markers.

Adding on to the theme of Environmental Friendly, for every $10 spent free seeds will be handed out to plant your own garden at your home.

Option #2The concession stand at West is a hotspot before, during, and after the game. They sell multiple food items everybody enjoys.

Many clubs at West work the concession stand to get funding for their clubs. Well, on game nights, part of the proceed can go to this project.

The Action Plan• Many websites and blogs talk about AusPen being the #1 Whiteboard Marker in

the world!

• Also, it is eco-friendly.

• The cost for a 6 pack of these markers is $14.65.

• Money accumulated from the funding process will be used to purchase the AusPen markers.

• 14.65 x # of teachers at BVW (120) = $1,758 a year with the AusPen

• Although it is quite a sum of money, let’s see how much it would cost every other month for normal Whiteboard Marker

• 6.22 x # of teachers at BVW (120) = $746.4 2 months / $4,478.4 a year with Norm Markers!!

• Saving a lot of money a year by using AusPen…

Math…

Maintenance• The overall maintenance of the AusPen marker would be very

simple

• The marker is refillable, so…

• Step 1: The neck of the AusPen is unscrewed

• Step 2: After removing, insert about 20 drops of the refill ink into the marker

• Step 3: Put back on the cap and neck, and Ta-da!!!!!

The Impact On The Environment

With the Dry-Erase markers used at Blue Valley West today, estimating that teacher teacher uses 6 to 8 markers a year, that would be a total of 960 discarded markers a year! By throwing these away, all they could possibly do is sit in a landfill for eternity! But, by using the AusPen, it has the ability to be refilled and recycled. That would lower the number to 0.

END GOAL!!!

The end goal of the entire project is to save the school over $2,500 a year on dry-erase markers. When you think about how much teachers use these markers, some not even putting caps back on and letting them dry out. Later, it would dry out and they will throw away the marker! If this plan were to be implemented, it can save the school money and create a more safe, and eco-friendly environment at Blue Valley West.