Forget Diamonds, I want a Valentine Sprout Pencil!
Sprout has created a limited edition range of flowering cards, germinating pencils and micro gardens for the perfect sustainable Valentine Gift. You can buy them here http://sproutworld.com/webshop/ –
All I want for Valentine’s Day is a pencil that sprouts marigolds, rocket or parsley at the end of its life. A gift that feeds the heart, the soul and puts strawberries on the table? What’s not to love? How different from the ‘we never had it so good’, throwaway culture that is being swept away by a new golden age of sustainability – of re-use, upcycle, re-imagine and reinvent. Reader, I can’t stop playing with the pencil I was sent as a press sample. I’ve never wanted a pencil to disappear so fast.
Did I mention I would also like a super cute, special edition, Valentine herb garden in box to match please? Oh and a strawberry pencil that declares, ‘grow old with me’.
I Don’t Want Diamonds, Faux Furs or Dinner at the Ritz
So Marilyn Monroe, I don’t want diamonds, faux furs or dinner at the Ritz. I’m head over heels at the thought of the beautiful minds that created a pencil that contains a little seed head of fecundity; the promise of food and gardening without a garden in just over a week. All that is needed is a sunny windowsill and water. How novel, useful, fun and eco innovative is that? Loved up couples can have some quality time and tend their micro gardens together.
MIT Students Dream Up the Germinating Pencil
Back in 2012, three students at MIT, Boston, came up with the invention, and put their idea on Kickstarter. Interest was immediate and global. Danish entrepreneur, Michael Stausholm, spotted the idea, invested, and landed up buying the students out. Today, Sprout sells an awful lot of plantable pencils – 450,000 a month to 60 countries around the globe to be exact.
As human’s we crave simplicity and fun. Sprout’s clever pencil captures the idea of sustainability and zero waste in a heartbeat. That’s why everyone wants one from the WWF to the Pentagon – and school kids to CEOs. Now reader, if you know the kind of paragon of a man who wants to send me a Sprout pencil, make haste, it is almost Valentine’s Day! Just saying. (Ed).
The Sprout Valentine Edition range consists of:
Sprout pencils, Valentine edition
Three new pencil variants have been engraved with love messages like Grow old with me, Be my Valentine and I © you. They will sprout into Forget me not, Sweet Pea with pastel coloured flowers and wild strawberries. The pencils are made from sustainable FSC-certified wood and contain 100% biodegradable materials. They germinate about three weeks after planting them, depending on the type of plant.
Sprout cards, Valentine edition
The stylish decorated card with the inscription “Happy Valentine” and “Will you grow old with me?” can melt the heart of even the most hardcore Valentine-sceptic. You can plant the card in its full size or tear it into pieces first. Three weeks after planting it you will see the sprouts of different wild flowers.
The paper is made from 100% recycled paper, and the seeds are non-GMO.
Tiny Gardens by Sprout, Valentine edition
The tiny gardens are carefully designed window boxes made from sustainable FSC-certified cardboard. They contain hemp mats instead of soil, which makes it easy and hygienic to cultivate your own microgreens. The seeds will grow into Mizuna-sprouts which heart shaped leaves have a fresh and spicy taste. They are ready to eat within 5-7 days.
Prices and packages:
• A 3 units Valentine pencil box – with strawberries, sweet pea and forget me not. Each has a love message engraved – £5 (6.55 euro/7.50 USD) per box.
• Love Pack # 1: 1 unit Valentine Edition 3-pencils box + 1 Valentines card – £9.12 (11.95 euro/12.50 USD) per package.
• Love Pack # 2: 1 unit tiny gardens by Sprout with Mizuna seeds (sprouts with heart-shaped) + Valentines card- £7.44 (9.75 euro/10.45 USD) per package.
• Love Pack # 3: 1 unit Valentine Edition 3-pencils box + 1 Valentines Card + 1 unit tiny gardens Valentine edition with Mizuna seeds – £11.64 (15.25 euro/16.45 USD) per package.
Buy Sprout Products Here
Our limited edition Valentine’s range is available in the Sprout webshop – http://sproutworld.com/webshop/ – until Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2016.
More Ethical, Fairtrade and Sustainable Valentine’s Ideas Tomorrow.
