What if instead of throwing away the pencils when they get too short, it was possible to turn them into flowers, herbs or vegetables? The Sprout eco pencil, developed by a group of MIT students, is made of cedar and uses graphite and clay instead of lead. A seed capsule is fitted to the end of each specimen, so once they become unusable, they can be planted in the ground to give life to plants.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
What if instead of throwing away the pencils when they get too short, it were possible to turn them into flowers, herbs or vegetables? The Sprout eco pencil, developed by a group of MIT students, is made of cedar and uses graphite and clay instead of lead. A capsule containing seeds is fitted to the end of each specimen, so once they become unusable, they can be planted in the ground to give life to plants.
When we told you about it last year it was just a project seeking funding on the Kikcstarter crowdfunding platform. But they've come a long way since then and are now available in over 20 variations, including seeds of mint, tomatoes, peppers, basil and rosemary. The seed pod is equipped with three seeds of the same flower, herb or plant, to increase the success rate.
In practice, once wet, the protective capsule dissolves to expose the seeds. The pencil can then be kept in the ground and used as a label, since it bears the name of the seed it contains on the side. The producers claim that the seeds should start germinating within a week. Each packet of pencils, however, contains an instruction sheet for planting them.
But beware: if you pour liquid on Sprout, or put it in your mouth, the tip starts to dissolve. “Unfortunately Sprout ndoes not know the difference between accidental and intentional water, therefore, if it gets wet, it understands that it is sowing time. We have worked hard to create a resistant seed capsule, but it is difficult to find a compromise between the resistance to possible accidents and its dissolution in the ground ", explain the producers.
If you too cannot resist the temptation of having a 100% sustainable pencil, handmade with natural materials and "sowable", you will find the packs of eight pencils available on Amazon, costing $ 19.95 (to see the announcement click here).
Roberta Ragni
READ also:
- Sprout: stop it with the pencil! A seed in the mine for reuse
