What a marvelous idea I came through surfing on one of my favorite social networks LinkedIn! “When it’s too short to use, plant Sprout to grow fresh herbs for your cooking”.

The story starts in the USA and drives us until Denmark, when Michael Stausholm Christiansen and Jonathan Loew discover the great idea of an American student Mario Bollini through a crowdfunding website. What if our pencils were not only simple pencils but sprout pencils? And they made it a reality, the Sprout pencil is 100% non toxic and comes out in 7 different herbs: basil, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, Rosemary, Sage and Thyme, all you need to cook!

How does it work? It is so simple! When your Sprout pencil is too short to write with, put it in the soil and water regularly like an ordinary plant. After 14 to 28 days, the chosen herb should sprout. Amazing! And the innovation does not stop there, the pencil’s body is made out sustainably harvested cedar and the writing material is graphite and clay. This means, the pencil does not contain any lead; it is 100% natural and non-toxic for human or soils.

The Danish company of the Sprout Pencil is a great example for many innovators/entrepreneurs in sustainable development, continuously trying to improve their Carbone footprint, Plant Your Pencil not only certifies the conditions of work of employees but also review its own processes and has two challenges to solve: bring production site in Europe, since it comes from the USA it would for European market reduce significantly the footprint and find a great idea to use the remaining stub (you have an idea? go to http://www.plantyourpencil.com/#!sustainability/ck2x). Sprout has just been named World’s Most Ecofriendly Product of 2013 by the largest Global Procurement Promotional Organization – IGC.

Sprout is a good solution as much as for equipment in your home and office, but also as a promotional tool. Innovation is good solution to get out of the crisis, let’s hope that our innovators in Greece will develop ideas that can change the course of actions.

Don’t wait and learn all about the Sprout pencil, the pencil that wants to become a plant on the official website of Plant Your Pencil www.plantyourpencil.com