SPROUT: A holiday gift that will grow on you
(KSLA) - The week of Thanksgiving has become the biggest shopping week of the year across the United States. Many people have felt overwhelmed to find that perfect gift for the kids or loved ones, but ultimately end up coming home with the same old present.
Adria Goins will spend the next month tracking down unique holiday gift ideas for shoppers in her Spending Smarter segment. First, she’s taking a closer look at a product that will grow on you.
It’s called the Sprout Pencil. Michael Stausholm, founder of Sprout World which is the company that makes the pencils, explained how they work.
“It’s a very simple product. It’s a pencil with a capsule at the end. Inside the capsule are seeds. You write with your pencil like you normally would. When you’re done, you have the stub left and instead of throwing it out you plant the pencil and the capsule in soil in a pot.”
The pencil sells on Amazon for around $11.95.
Stausholm said once you water the pencil and capsule it will dissolve and the seed will start to grow.
“You give it lots of water and lots of love”
“When we make pencils, we cut down one tree and of course we replant immediately. In that one tree we make 175,000 pieces of Sprout pencils. When we put spruce tree seeds in the Sprout pencil, you actually cut down one tree and it potentially becomes 175,000 new trees.”
Stausholm said he has heard several success stories, from emails to social media, of children and adults who planted the pencils. He said he often gets pictures or thank you notes.
“They say we’re saving the planet. We don’t actually save the planet, but the inspiration and people understanding - kids understanding - that you can actually make a difference, that’s really worth it.”
The idea for the Sprout pencil came about by three MIT students who presented it on Kickstarter. That’s when Stausholm bought the product and started selling it worldwide in 2013. Since then he’s sold hundreds of thousands of pencils to help change the way we replenish the planet.
“We cannot save the world as individuals but by doing small things in our everyday life we can, when we put it all together, actually make a difference.”
Sprout pencils come in packs of five or eight. They’re also available in a packet of colored pencils. When you buy them, you can choose between herbs, flowers, or tree seeds.
“What’s great is with the spruce seed you can plant one and in about three of four years have your own Christmas tree.”
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