Graphite is used in pencils, and now more than ever, it finds its way into technology as a heat transfer medium, conductor, as well as a bunch of other uses most people don’t even consider. But it occurred to me that I never stopped to think about where graphite comes from. I’m assuming it’s mined just like coal, diamonds, or metals are? And as we all know, mining has tons of ecological problems and is generally seen as a “dirty” industry. Does this mean that the use of graphite would pose a similar sustainability problem to other mined materials like metals? Especially since there’s no way I know of to recycle graphite or even to reconstitute graphite fragments into a solid piece without sacrificing many of its properties.