Carbon Neutral, Climate Positive & Net Zero

The phrase 'carbon neutral', in business terms, means that a company has calculated its carbon emissions, reduced them, and subsequently paid for carbon credits to mitigate for anything it can't reduce. It means that when you take their products from raw materials to the product you hold in your hand, thanks to those calculations, on balance, no extra carbon dioxide emissions have been created. This is what it means to be carbon neutral.

Some brands say their products are climate positive. That means that after the product is made, there is less CO2 in the atmosphere than if the product had not been manufactured in the first place. This type of climate-positive innovation finds creative ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

Carbon Neutral Products

Sprout's products are carbon neutral. We have measured all our emissions and reduced them as much as possible. Our wood production, manufacturing, and logistics are located close together in Poland to avoid unnecessary shipping and emissions. We have bought the equivalent of two football fields of deforested land that the Polish State Forest will convert into a sustainably managed forest by planting 12,000 trees. We did that because we want to ensure there is a forest for future generations and because trees will help us mitigate the emissions we cannot reduce. But that's not where it ends.

The Climate Positive Pencil

You can make the pencil climate positive. How? By planting the pencil stump.

We believe that consumers can play a part in this carbon capture cycle as well. When you buy a Sprout pencil or makeup pencil, you're buying something that is carbon neutral. But when you plant it at the end of its life, you're making it climate positive. That's because when a plant grows, it absorbs carbon dioxide and gives out oxygen. So, your role as a consumer is to take our carbon-neutral pencil and make it climate positive.

Our wish for you is to see what your role is in the bigger scheme of things and how you can have an impact.

Work in progress: Sprout to be net-zero. We will achieve this through our work with The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).