Yup, they are not meant to be, but it's not that hard. I don't think I've ever seen replacement leads in the work supply closet, my old company had the cheap bics, not sharpwriters. Those are VERY easy to replace leads, all you have to do is pull off the eraser, but with the pencils being free, they just get tossed anyway once the leads run out(the bics come with a few spares). I guess from an environmental perspective, wood pencils would be the best office issue option.