If you have ever driven to the Trader Joe’s in Queens, via Metropolitain Ave, you will notice a ton, I mean a ton of Cemeteries. It made me realize why do we waste so much space for the dead. I am not saying the dead are not sacred, its just going to cemeteries to remember a loved one is strange. Which brings me to Carbon Copies.

Carbon Copies, designed by Nadine Jarvis, are pencils made from the carbon of human cremains. 240 pencils can be made from an average body of ash – a lifetime supply of pencils for those left behind.

Each pencil is foil stamped with the name of the person. Only one pencil can be removed at a time, it is then sharpened back into the box causing the sharpenings to occupy the space of the used pencils. Over time the pencil box fills with sharpenings – a new ash, transforming it into an urn. The window acts as a timeline, showing you the amount of pencils left as time goes by.