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Help bees to be happy

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Help bees to be happy

Bees are amazing.
These tiny insects busily buzzing around pollinate around a third of the food we eat. A future without bees won’t be a good one. But this is a possibility as bees are in decline mainly due to a loss of habitat.

New Happy Bee edition

The new addition to the Sprout family carries the message that bees are important. Our Happy Bee edition contains five graphite pencils, each engraved with inspiring bee quotes and containing different bee-friendly seeds.
Plant your pencil after use and grow a bee-friendly habitat in your garden, window box or planters – bees will love you for it.

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From a student idea to 10 million-sold seed pencils

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From a student idea to 10 million-sold seed pencils

Remember the plantable Sprout pencil that a group of MIT students invented back in 2013?

The patented pencil has become world famous. These days, the start-up behind Sprout World reaches 10 million-sold pencils in over 60 countries. With clients like Disney, Coca Cola, Marriott, McKinsey and Unilever, the U.S. born invention is hitting a demand in time for more sustainable products and new ways to communicate about them.

10 million potentially new plants like tomato, basil and sunflower growing from waste – this is Sprout World´s humble contribution to the planet. Five years after the launch of the world´s first plantable pencil on Kickstarter, this original student project seems to have conquered the world.

Since the beginning of this year, the Sprout pencil has been featured on a long list of big Facebook sites that have a total reach of 150 million followers. Without spending a dime.

The idea with the Sprout pencil is that you plant it, when it becomes too short to write or color with. This way you give it a new life by turning the stub into herbs, vegetables or flowers. The Sprout pencil is 100% natural and biodegradable, and it has become a popular green alternative to company plastic ball pens with logo.

135 million plastic ball pens a day:

“Every year, an estimate of 50 billion ball pens are produced and sold. That is 135 million plastic pens a day! A huge amount of plastic that sooner or later will end up in the landfills. If we could replace just a tiny part of plastic pens with plantable pencils, we have a good reason to be,” says Sprout founder, Michael Stausholm.

Stausholm also explains that his company is still faithful to the DNA of the student´s desire to develop a product that inspires businesses and consumers to more sustainability.

“First of all, while many start-ups move their production to Asia as they grow, we have kept the production in Minnesota to cater to our U.S. and Canadian markets. By doing this, we save CO2 and keep jobs in the U.S. at the same time. The rest of the world get pencils produced in Poland – under ethical work conditions, of course,” adds Stausholm.

“Secondly, we don´t just sell pencils. We are on a mission to be the preferred alternative, when it comes to showing that small steps matter when it comes to sustainability. If you can plant a pencil stub, what else can you do to recycle more? This is the spirit that lies in our pencils and in the mentality of the Sprout team. The story of what the pencil can do and how people and businesses can benefit is what drives the wheel,” he says.

Growing demand for sustainable products:

Michael Stausholm has great expectations to both the U.S. (Northern America) and the European markets in the coming years.

“There is no doubt that businesses today are forced to look for more sustainable products and solutions. However, they also seek good ways to communicate with partners and customers in new ways. And here Sprout is an ideal solution,” he says.

90% of Sprout´s sales go to businesses, 10% to private consumers. He expects the consumer market to grow to 15% in 2019. A goal we will reach thanks to a growing presence on Amazon, where the Sprout pencils are now being sold in seven countries, including the USA and Canada. Mexico and Japan are the next countries on the list.

Sprout World is also developing the world´s first plantable makeup pencil that they expect to launch in the beginning of 2019.

A bit about the background:

The idea of a plantable pencil comes from a group of MIT students five years ago. Today, the patented Sprout pencils are sold in over 60 countries – mainly to businesses and organizations that get their logo and messages engraved and use the pencils as green giveaways.

There is a growing trend both in Europe and in the USA to demand more sustainable products. Businesses are longing for new ways to communicate about their green initiatives.

Sprout has clients like Disney, Coca Cola, WWF, Marriott, Toyota, McKinsey, New York Highline, Spice and Tea Exchange. The Sprout pencils are also sold onboard airliners, in more than 20 different airlines shops.

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Sustainable marketing strategies

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Sustainable marketing strategies

Is sustainability on top of your company’s agenda? And do you want to communicate your green messages to existing and future customers? If yes, continue to read and be inspired to implement your sustainable marketing strategies.

A simple but fun element of your sustainable marketing strategies

We at Sproutworld believe in sustainability, and we have the clear goal to raise people’s awareness of the environment and natural surroundings. Therefore, we have created a simple, but fun feature as an element in your company’s marketing strategies – our patented Sprout pencil.
The Sprout pencil is a 100 percent non-toxic high-quality pencil that is made of biodegradable quality materials under sustainable conditions. The pencil can be customized with your company logo or slogan so you can spread your green messages to your customers, stakeholders and business partners.

Sprout pencil – the gift that gives back

The Sprout pencil in not just made of sustainable materials, it continues to contribute to sustainability even after it has been used. Sprout pencils contain a non-GMO plant seed and is ready to be planted when the pencil is too short to write or draw with.

Put the pencil stub in a flowerpot with good compost, and fresh vegetables, beautiful flowers or aromatic herbs will sprout from the compost. Sprout pencils come with a wide palette of seeds, and if your order exceeds 25,000 pencils, you are free to pick your own seeds.

The sprout pencil is the gift that gives back to nature – an obvious gift idea for your customers and a simple, but fun element of your sustainable marketing strategies.

Order Sprout pencil today and spread your green message

Give the Sprout pencil as a promotional gift in connection with product launches, conferences, seminars, trade fairs etc and spread your company’s green message to the world.

Contact us or read more here if you want to know how you get a customized Sprout pencil with your company logo and how the pencil contributes to your sustainable marketing strategies.

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Branded corporate gifts with sustainable messages

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Branded corporate gifts with sustainable messages

Although we live in a digital time, and a large part of companies’ marketing initiatives are online, analogue marketing initiatives can still be very effective. For instance, many companies choose to give branded corporate gifts to customers and employees to promote their products and services.

Increased consumer responsibility and an increasing demand for sustainable products place demands on companies’ branded corporate gifts. That is why we at Sprout have developed a simple but 100 percent sustainable idea – a corporate gift that sprouts and turns into vigorous plants. We call it the Sprout pencil – the gift that gives back to nature.

Sustainable, branded corporate gifts

The Sprout pencil is a 100 percent sustainably produced high-quality pencil that can be engraved with your company logo. Therefore, it is an obvious choice for companies that are in search of branded corporate gifts that can help spread their sustainable messages.

However, not just the materials and the production make the Sprout pencil a sustainable corporate gift. We have embedded a non-GMO plant seed at the bottom of all Sprout pencils, which is why the pencils have a secondary function. If you plant the pencil in a flowerpot when it is too short to write with, it will literally turn into new life with fragrant herbs, tasty vegetables or beautiful and colorful flowers. And the pencil – all the way from graphite and PEFC/FSC certified wood to the enclosed seed capsule – is naturally 100 percent degradable in nature.

We can hardly think of more sustainable, branded corporate gifts.

Personalize your Sprout pencil

Corporations and organization worldwide that want to spread their green message already use the Sprout pencil. Personalize your unique collection of sustainable, branded corporate gifts that turn into green life, and give the pencil to customers and employees in connection with product launches, trade fairs, conferences and other events.
Do you want to learn more about the Sprout pencil, please do not hesitate to contact the Sprout team.

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Business logo promotional items – plant your sustainable message

Business logo promotional items – plant your sustainable message

Do you use promotional items to promote your business logo? Are corporate social responsibility and ecoconsciousness important elements in your marketing strategy? Then do like corporations and organizations in the whole world and spread your company’s sustainable message with the Sprout pencil – the plantable pencil that turns into green life when it is too short to write with.

Sustainable business logo promotional items

We at Sprout believe in sustainability, and we love the idea of not throwing out pencil stubs and instead giving them new life – literally. That is why we have created the Sprout pencil – a 100 percent sustainable pencil that can be engraved with your company logo and be used as business logo promotional items.

The Sprout pencil is made of PEFC/FSC certified wood and of 100 percent non-toxic and biodegradable graphite and is produced under sustainable production conditions.

However, the Sprout pencil is so much more than a pencil. All Sprout pencils contain a non-GMO plant seed which is embedded in a biodegradable seed capsule at the end of the pencil. When the pencil has done its duty, you can plant it in a flowerpot with compost, and after a few weeks, new life will sprout from the capsule.

You can literally sow your green messages with the Sprout pencil and see them turn into beautiful flowers, fresh vegetables or fragrant herbs. We can hardly think of more sustainable business logo promotional items.

Customize your Sprout pencils with your business logo

If you order more than 500 pencils, we can deliver the Sprout pencils with your business logo or message. Do like Ikea, Toyota and Coca-Cola — and give the pencil to your customers in connection with trade fairs, conferences, product launches, and spread your company’s sustainable message.
Read more about our sustainable business logo promotional items here or contact us if you want to learn more about our plantable pencil.

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Sustainable balcony garden ideas

Sustainable balcony garden ideas

Although you do not have access to a large backyard, it does not mean you cannot have green life in your outside room to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers on the balcony. If you are looking for inspiration for balcony garden ideas, read here where we focus on a fun, alternative and not least sustainable way of growing green life on your balcony.

Balcony garden ideas that focus on sustainability

Sustainability is taking care of the environment so the impact by our actions gets as small as possible – for instance recycling and avoiding materials that are not biodegradable in nature.

We at sprout believe in sustainability, and we want more people to take responsibility for the environment. That is why we have created a simple and fun, but sustainable solution: The Sprout pencil – a pencil with an enclosed seed capsule that sprouts and turns into green life when you sow the stub when it has become too short to draw or write with.

Bury the pencil stub in a flower box with good compost and make sure it gets adequate water and natural light. After a few weeks, fresh vegetables, aromatic herbs or beautiful flowers will sprout from the biodegradable seed capsule. We believe it is one of the most creative garden ideas – and it is 100 percent sustainable.

Spread your balcony garden ideas and contribute to sustainability

The Sprout pencil is an obvious gift idea to the creative soul who also wants to contribute to sustainability. The pencil is available in different colors and is made of high-quality graphite that makes it perfect to write or draw with. And all elements of the Sprout pencil – from the wood to the embedded seed capsule – are naturally biodegradable.
Take a look at our selection of non-GMO quality seeds in our catalog or contact us if you want to learn more about how Sprout pencils contribute to the environment and your balcony garden ideas.

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Sustainable business promotional gifts

Sustainable business promotional gifts

Many businesses use promotional gifts as an element of their marketing plans. More and more companies have an ecoconscious identity and make requirements to their promotional gifts. We at Sprout have the ideal promotion gift idea to those companies. The Sprout pencil – a 100 percent biodegradable and sustainable promotional pencil that turns into green life after use.

Let your business promotional gifts sprout

The Sprout pencil is so much more than just a promotional gift. You can have your company logo or message engraved in the pencil which makes it suitable when you promote your business. But whereas many promotional gifts end in the garbage bin when they can no longer be used, a Sprout pencil turns into new life when it is too short to write with.

We have embedded a non-GMO plant seed which is encapsulated at the end of all Sprout pencils – ready to sprout if you bury the pencil stub in a flowerbox with compost. With Sprout pencils you can literally let your business’s promotional gifts sprout and turn into new life when they have done their duty.

Let flowers, herbs and plants sprout

The Sprout pencil is the ideal promotional gift for a company that plans to spread its sustainable message to customers or employees. The Sprout pencil is the gift that gives back to nature.
Use it as one of your business promotional gifts in connection with product launches, trade fairs or conferences and give the recipient the joy of watching how a writing utensil with your company name turns into fresh vegetables, aromatic herbs or beautiful flowers.

Order your customized Sprout pencil

Customize your Sprout pencil with your company logo and plant a seed of your choice and contribute to sustainability. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Let’s celebrate international Pencil Day, March 30, 2021

Let’s celebrate international Pencil Day, March 30, 2021

Today we celebrate one of the world’s most influential communication tools. It’s not the telephone, the fax machine or the computer – it’s a much older invention: the pencil. 450 years ago, it revolutionized the world, making it possible for everyone to write down their ideas and thoughts. Today the pencil is still a tool to bring unborn ideas to life, but it’s much more than that. It’s becoming a popular symbol of new life. With the newest invention from Sprout World, the good old pencil can now grow into a new tree when you’re done with it.

Every child around the world learns to write their name with it. Architects, carpenters, cartoonists and students use it on a daily basis. In fact, everyone who needs to make a mark that’s not permanent use a pencil.

Today we celebrate the invention of the pencil and look back at how it has developed over the years.

International Pencil Day is the 30th of March each year. On this day, 163 years ago in 1858, the American Hymen L. Lipman received the patent for a pencil with an eraser attached to the end.

But the story is much older. Let’s get back to the beginning; the birth of the pencil.

In the 1500’s:

A large source of graphite was discovered in England. The English workers soon discovered that the graphite made a darker mark on paper than lead, so they called it black lead. A term that is still leading to the misunderstanding that pencils contain lead. The English wrapped graphite sticks in paper of string and sold them on the street. This new invention was called the pencil – from the Latin word pencillum which means fine brush. The best thing: it was erasable with bread crumbs

In the 1600’s:

A woodworker in England came up with the idea of enclosing graphite in wood. The two halves of wood were glued together with the graphite inside. The first wooden pencil was born. It was a big invention; it was dry, you could bring it anywhere, it was affordable and erasable.

In the late 1700’s:

The English mines were running out of graphite and a war against France put an end to the pencil supply to France. France had to find a solution so the scientist and military commander Nicolas-Jacques Conté came up with the idea to mix the two main ingredients: ground-up graphite and clay. It’s the same mix that is used in today’s pencils. To encase the lead in wood, Conté cut a groove out of an entire wooden stick, rather than first cutting a stick in half like the English did. The pencil lead was glued into the groove, and another piece of wood was glued on top of the lead
Conté’s pencil was patented in 1795.

In the mid-late 1800’s

Conte’s mixing method spread and coincided with the invention of machinery. Factories began to mass produce pencils and pencil-making became a million-dollar industry.
The German A.W. Faber company, today known as Faber-Castell, became very popular and their long-time rival, The J.S. Staedtler company, made about two million pencils per year in the 1870s. In America, the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company was on its way to becoming one of the country’s most iconic brands.

In 1858

The American stationer Hymen L. Lipman received the patent for a pencil with an eraser attached to the end. The patent was declared invalid in 1875 with the argument that a pencil and an eraser didn’t need to be attached in order to be used.

In the 1900’s

During this century all kinds of pencils are produced; just think about the mechanical “eversharp” pencils, colored pencils, golf pencils, IKEA pencils and many more. Pencils become common in every household and in every child’s schoolbag.

2013:

The pencil went through the most important reinvention for ages when a group of students from MIT, Boston replaced the eraser with a seed capsule, turning it into the world’s first plantable pencil. The company Sprout World soon turned it into a popular symbol of sustainability and new life. The idea was to plant the pencil when it was too short to write or color with and then give it a new life by planting it. The patented Sprout pencil from Sprout World can grow into herbs, vegetables or flowers.

2021:

Sprout World has completed the life circle of the pencil with the invention of a pencil that grows a new tree. Finding an easy germinating tree seed that would fit into the capsule of the Sprout pencil was a complicated process, but they managed to make a Sprout pencil that grows into a spruce tree.
A spruce can live for 100 years and you can make over 170.000 pencils out of one tree.

Fun facts about pencils:

• More than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year.
• Pencil sales in the United States increased 6.8 percent in 2018, according to a study by the NPD Group.
• Pencils don’t contain lead.
• Karl Lagerfeld is said to have preferred to draw his designs with a pencil
• Goethe preferred to write with a pencil rather than a pen
• Star architect Norman Foster first put all the designs of his buildings on paper with a pencil

Fun facts about Sprout pencils:

• They are 100% natural made from sustainably harvested wood, graphite and clay
• You can get them with 10 different seeds, including basil, cherry tomato, spruce tree or sunflower
• Sprout makes both plantable graphite Sprout pencils and colored Sprout pencils
• The Sprout pencil is patented
• It’s perfectly safe if you accidentally chew on the capsule—it’s a 100% natural product

About Sprout World:

Sprout World is the company behind the world’s first plantable pencil. It was founded in 2013 by the Danish entrepreneur Michael Stausholm and has sold over 30 million Sprout pencils to 80 countries. The patented Sprout pencil has a capsule in the end and can grow into flowers, herbs, vegetables or trees when you plant it.
Sprout’s mission is to inspire people and companies to take more sustainable actions, no matter how big or small they are. If you can plant a pencil after use, what else can you do to leave a positive impact on the planet?
Sprout World wants to offer a green alternative to the 135 million plastic ballpoint pens that are being produced in the world each day.
The Sprout pencils can be customized for companies that use them as green giveaways. As a new service, it’s also possible for private consumers to customize their pencils for weddings, birthdays, workshops, baptisms etc.

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Eco-friendly alternatives to promotional pens for business

Eco-friendly alternatives to promotional pens for business

Does your company use promotional pens to promote your business? And would you like a more sustainable alternative? If yes, we are pleased to introduce the Sprout pencil – a 100 percent sustainable pencil that sprouts after it has done its duty as a writing utensil.

Environmental drawback of conventional promotional pens for businesses

Promotional pens for business contain plastic and ink – materials that take centuries to degrade in nature. And as the pens are rarely refilled with ink when they dry out, people throw them away when the pens can no longer write.
There can be environmental costs related to pens, so there is a good reason to consider alternatives to conventional promotional pens to promote your business if your company has corporate social responsibility and environmental awareness in your DNA.

The Sprout pencil – the plantable and 100 percent sustainable pencil

We at Sprout we believe in sustainability, and we want more people to care about our environment. That is why we have given our own humble contribution to improve the environment. We call it the Sprout pencil.

Above all, the Sprout pencil consists of sustainable and biodegradable materials. However, the pencil continues to contribute to sustainability, even after its last stroke. All Sprout pencils contain a biodegradable seed capsule with a non-GMO seed inside which sprouts and turns into colorful flowers, fresh and delicious vegetables or aromatic and fragrant herbs if you bury the pencil stub in a flowerpot.

We can also produce the Sprout pencil with your company logo so you can spread your green message to your customers – and inspire them to contribute to sustainable initiatives.

For the ecoconscious company the Sprout pencil is a 100 percent sustainable alternative to ordinary promotion pens for business marketing. Read more about how you can use the Sprout pencil in your marketing plans here or contact us if you want to learn more about the plantable promotional pencil.

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Creative pencils with company logo

Creative pencils with company logo

Does your company use promotional gifts in your marketing plan? And are you in search of gift ideas that are of interest for the recipient and increase your company’s recognition value? If so, we are pleased to introduce the Sprout pencil – pencils with company logo that turn into vigorous plants.

Sustainable pencil with your company logo

The Sprout pencil is a high-quality pencil that is made of non-toxic and biodegradable materials. If you order more than 500 pencils, we deliver them with your company logo, and the Sprout pencil can be used as an element in your marketing plan.

However, the Sprout pencil is not just another promotional pencil. We have integrated a biodegradable plant capsule at the bottom of the pencil which contains a non-GMO plant seed. Bury the pencil in the potting compost when it is too short to write with, and let new life sprout from the enclosed seed capsule.

That means that with the Sprout pencil you can create awareness to your company by spreading your sustainable message and watch it turn into beautiful herbs, flowers or vegetables.

The Pencil with company logo which your customers want to keep

Although many companies use pencils with company logo as an element in their marketing plan, the gifts do not always serve their purpose. The pencils may disappear in the recipient’s drawer – along with the awareness of your company.

With Sprout pencils wearing your company logo your customers are most likely to keep the pencil – and remember your particular company. The Sprout pencil is a fun and sustainable gadget that will inspire the recipient to create new life.

Give it as a gift to customers or employees in connection with trade fairs, conferences and product launches or in connection with festive seasons or special occasions.

Order Sprout pencils with your company logo

Read even more about Sprout pencils here or contact us if you want to order your own tailored collection of sustainable pencils with your company logo.

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Personalized business gifts for sustainable companies

Personalized business gifts for sustainable companies

Numerous companies use personalized business gifts as an element of their marketing strategy. Business gifts help recognize your customers, employees and other stakeholders, and they often feel more appreciated when they receive personalized business gifts from your company. Business gifts are perfect for personal greetings, but also suitable for creating awareness of your business and your messages.

We at Sprout have created the perfect business gift to ecoconscious companies that want to display their sustainability to others. We call it the Sprout pencil – the promotional pencil that sprouts and turns into a plant when you bury it in a flowerpot.

Plantable personalized business gifts – gifts that give back

The Sprout pencil may be a humble business gift. In return, it is one of the most sustainable personalized business gifts there is.

The pencil is made of reusable, biodegradable and non-toxic materials such as graphite, wood and clay and is also produced under sustainable conditions. However, not just the materials and the production alone make the Sprout pencil 100 percent sustainable.

In all Sprout pencils we have embedded a biodegradable plant capsule. The capsules contain a non-GMO seed that turns into vegetables, flowers or vegetables when the pencil stub is buried in the soil after it has been used.

Long-lasting and biodegradable materials

Above all, the Sprout pencil is made to write, draw or design, and the pencil is made of quality graphite which means that your customers get a long-lasting product when your company uses it as one of your personalized business gifts. At the same time, the pencil is 100 percent biodegradable, and it will turn into compost if you bury it.
Sprout pencils are sustainable all the way from production to sprouting.
If you want to know more about how your company can use Sprout pencils as personalized business gifts? Please contact Sprout and learn more.

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Recent trends in green marketing

Recent trends in green marketing

Does your company or organization focus on sustainable marketing, and are you curious about recent trends in green marketing? We at Sprout have a simple but fun idea as to how your company can stand out to future and existing customers — and at the same time give back to nature.

Sprout pencil – a recent trends in green marketing

In the last few years the environmental movement has gained attention in the corporate world, and companies are trying to keep up with the recent trends in green marketing.

We at Sprout believe in sustainability, and as we want more people to care about our natural surroundings, we have sowed a green and sustainable idea that numerous large-scale corporations have embraced — and it has even become a recent trend in green marketing.

We call it the Sprout Pencil – a 100 percent sustainable pencil with an optional logo which after use turns into fresh vegetables, fragrant herbs or colorful flowers.

The promotional gift that gives back to nature

The Sprout pencil is so much more than a recent trend in green marketing. And your company can spread your green message through the pencil in connection with product launches, trade fairs, conferences and other similar events.

But the Sprout pencil is so much more than a pencil. All Sprout pencils contain of 100 percent biodegradable seed capsule with a non-GMO plant seed inside. When the pencil becomes too short to write with, put it in a flowerpot, and green life will sprout from the stub.

With the Sprout pencil your company gets a promotional gift that gives back to nature. It does not get more sustainable than that.

Customize your Sprout pencil

Read more about how your company can use the Sprout pencil in your marketing campaign, and how you can make the world a greener place by clicking here. If you want to learn more about our contributions to recent trends in marketing, please do not hesitate to contact the Sprout team

With the Sprout pencil your company gets a promotional gift that gives back to nature. It does not get more sustainable than that.

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