The Pencil is one of the most versatile instruments in existence: It can be used to sketch, used to write, can be erased, and when the Americans spent millions of dollars inventing a pen that would work in space, the Russians relied on the humble pencil.

So if you use Pencils it’s disappointing when the pencil get’s too short to use. Thats’s why NJK invented the Tsunago, a device which lets you join pencil stubs into useable pencils. As you can probably tell from the name, the Tsunago is a Japanese invention, and NJK has been producing pencil sharpeners in Osaka, Japan since 1933.

The idea behind the product was to reduce the waste created from discarding pencils that were too short to be used. This gives new life pencils, and if you use good pencils, or a lot of pencils, then this could be for you.

Whether you think that this device is useful or not is up for you to decide, but for us the design is super cool and personally we think that these ideas like these for reducing waste, and extending the life of good quality products is always a move in the right direction.

The design has won a Good Design Award, and a percentage of the profits go to a Japanese tree replanting project. Perfect for artists and pencil connoisseurs. To find out more about the Tsunago, you can view the NJK website here. Or, to buy, you can find the Tsunago to but for £18.95 here.