Is Ink a renewable resource?

Answer 1

Ink is made from many different materials. Some are made from plant materials, others from metals or animal products. The word "ink" is rather generic and covers such a wide range of dyes and coloring agents that it cannot be said that all ink is, or is not, renewable.

Certainly we can breed more squids, or grow more walnuts.

From an article in Wikipedia quoting the Christian Science Monitor:

About 1,600 years ago, a popular ink recipe was created. The recipe was used for centuries. Iron "salts," such as ferrous sulfate (made by treating iron with sulfuric acid), was mixed with tannin from gallnuts (they grow on trees) and a thickener. When first put to paper, this ink is bluish-black. Over time it fades to a dull brown.

Scribes in medieval Europe (about AD 800 to 1500) wrote on sheepskin parchment. One 12th century ink recipe called for hawthorn branches to be cut in the spring and left to dry. Then the bark was pounded from the branches and soaked in water for eight days. The water was boiled until it thickened and turned black. Wine was added during boiling. The ink was poured into special bags and hung in the sun. Once dried, the mixture was mixed with wine and iron salt over a fire to make the final ink.

Answer 2

Ink has petroleum, so it's not a renewable resource.

A renewable resource is any natural resource that is depleted at a rate slower than the rate at which it regenerates. A resource must have a way of regenerating itself in order to qualify as renewable.

Renewable resources include oxygen, fresh water, timber and biomass. However they can become non-renewable if used at a greater rate that the environment's capacity to replenish them.

Answer 3

Being organic has nothing to do with whether or not a resource is renewable. I don't know what ink is made of, but my guess would be oil, which is definately not renewable.

Answer 4

If it's organic, then yes. Not if it's synthetic, though.

Answer 5

Sure it is.