With their Neuland No.One® Art Markers, they create large-scale visual worlds on paper. Plenty of ink flows in the process – and every now and then, a quick ‘pit stop’ is needed to fit new nibs.

Refillosophy – why sustainability starts in the children’s bedroom

“But when do we actually need to refill the markers? And how much ink goes in?” she asked me the other day. My off-the-cuff reply: “When it stops writing properly, you refill it. Just test it on a sheet of paper. And when you refill it, you put in a little ink ball.”

The writing test shows quite clearly: the marker is dry and needs refilling!

No sooner said than done. The yellow marker, which was barely giving off any colour, was refilled. Two days later, the purple one was dry – so I followed the same procedure. Another two days on, the orange and blue ones were running low.

By then, at the very latest, I asked myself: isn’t there a more efficient way? Can this constant refilling be avoided?

Top up as you see fit? Better not.

One thing was clear: simply refilling all the markers across the board is not a good solution. Too much ink quickly leads to the markers becoming overfilled – and the excess ink ends up in the cap. A mess is inevitable the next time you open them.

So the next question arose:

Does the marker not have an ink level indicator?

I was often asked this question during my time at Neuland. Anyone wanting to refill their ink sustainably wants to know: how much ink is actually left? The short answer: there is no built-in ink level indicator. So we had to find another solution.

REFILL SCALE: A small set of scales makes it possible

The idea was as simple as it was effective: why not weigh the marker?

Small digital scales – barely bigger than a pack of playing cards – fit easily into any Workshop Case or the Novario® box. They have a protective lid and usually just two relevant buttons: On/Off and Tare (to reset the scale to zero).

So I gave it a go. A freshly filled marker weighs on average about 20 grams. A marker that had been completely used up weighed in at 16.6 grams. The difference? Around 3 grams – in other words, the amount of ink that’s missing.

That’s roughly equivalent to 1.5 ink balls.

Greater precision, less effort

The scales shed light on the mystery of the ink chamber. And above all: they work reliably.

If you weigh your markers before refilling them, you can determine the actual amount of ink required. This prevents overfilling – and at the same time reduces unnecessary refills.

After all, nothing is more inefficient than refilling a half-full marker by feel, whilst another is already completely dry.

Knowledge rather than guesswork

This is how I go about it today: I lay out all the refill bottles and quickly weigh each marker. That way, I can see straight away which marker is ‘thirsty’ – and how much it needs.

It’s quick, provides clarity and ultimately ensures that my range of markers is filled to the optimum level. Very much in keeping with the Refillosophy: knowing what you’re doing – rather than refilling on a hunch.

The empty marker: It is missing more than 3 g of ink.

The same marker after 1.5 refill cartridges.

For the red marker, one refill would be enough to make it as good as new again.