What is the life cycle of a pencil?

Noone can say the proccess of Pencil Manufacturing as Life Cycle. A NORMAL Pencil can be sharpened up to 150 mm of its total length. This means a smooth and soft point (2 mm) of pencil lead can be formed nearly 50 times by sharpner if the lead do not breaks. The remain part of pencil, nearly 1" can be used in pencil holder and it may give 2-3 time sharpening. A Pencil can DRAW a line of 35 k.m. length and this is the life cycle of a pencil. Today an averauge student below age group of 12 years consume 3 pencil in a week. This due to their habit of shrpening a pencil again and again!! Do you know, why children keeps on sharpening Pencil?? Because the proccess of sharpening a Pencil help them to sharpen their BRAIN!! Harshad Raveshia(India) raveshias@hotmail.com 1. growing of trees 2. logging and replanting 3. pencil stock is cut at a sawmill 4. air of kiln drying pencil stock 5. transport of the pencil stock to a slat making factory (usually shipped from US to china) 6. wax and stain added to pencil slats 7. pencil slats are manufactured and shipped to a pencil manufacturing factory (ex. Thailand) 8. grooves precision- machined into slats for graphite 9. graphite insertion in grooves, the gluing of the slats 10. pencils are painted or stained 11. ferrules and rubber erasers added 12. packaging, distribution, consumer use and sharpening, disposal/reuse/recycling www.calcedar.com www.pencils.com