One of the most annoying things in the world? Pencil stubs — the kind that are so tiny you can't hold them correctly to write, but there's still enough wood and graphite left over that you feel wasteful throwing them out.
And even though we live in a digital age, about 15 billion pencils are still produced — and thrown out — each year. That makes for a lot of waste — too much, some MIT students decided.
So they set out to try and turn all those pencil stubs into something useful. And what could be more useful than something that produces food?
True, it's not a ton of food, but it's enough to add a bit of extra flavor to any recipe, especially something that requires an herby kick.
The end product was the Sprout Pencil, a pencil made of biodegradable materials like plantable cedar, with a little cap full of seeds in place on an eraser.
When the pencil becomes too small to write with, it's simply stuck, writing point up, into a pot of dirt, and soon edible plants are growing!
(h/t: My Modern Met)
In place of an eraser, the pencils are topped with these biodegradable green caps. Inside the caps are seeds of various flowering and edible plants. The pencils are labeled so you know exactly what you're getting.
When they become to short to write with, just stick them in some dirt, give them some water and sunlight, and watch your garden grow!
Seeds include tomatoes, green peppers, sunflowers, a variety of herbs, and more.
Many of the plants, including the flowers, are edible — which means that when they're big enough, you can enjoy the satisfaction of home-grown food.
The students who designed the Sprout Pencil teamed up with the company now known as Sprout World, which was looking for a way to illustrate sustainability to consumers, and found that the pencil was the perfect product to do that.
After all, it is a pencil. Perfect for illustration!
And don't worry about the lead. For one thing, pencils are graphite and clay, not lead at all. For another, the actual writing material doesn't come in contact with the seeds, so you're good.
The plants do quite well in a pot on a sunny windowsill, and are perfect for small homes or apartments without garden access.
Not to mention, they're absolutely adorable.
And the label on the pencil serves as a handy reminder of what kind of plant you can expect!
So if you think you don't have room for a garden, think again. These are also great for getting kids interested in growing things — and the habit of not wasting.
To see a child learn the important lesson of recycling and giving back to the earth, be sure to watch the adorable video below.
// <![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>
My’s first sprout pencil. The joy of planting a seed has no age. Little My from Denmark is 3 1/2 years old, and is planting her first Sprout pencil. She loves the idea of making a seed into a beautiful flower. My would rather not eat the herbs from a plant, because she ain’t no rabbit. Make it sprout with children and Sprout World — Learn your children about germination of seeds and how plants grow. #makeitsprout #sproutworld #sproutpencil #mysfirkstsproutpencil #herb
Posted by Sprout World on Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Please SHARE if you think these pencils are brilliant!
