How do businesses make simple changes and communicate their sustainability initiatives, without boring customers? Michael Stausholm, CEO and founder, SproutWorld, has one simple – but ingenious – solution.
SproutWorld’s journey began in Massachusetts in 2013, when a group of robotics students at MIT came up with the concept of a plantable pencil, featuring a seed capsule that could be planted once used up.
When SproutWorld founder Michael Stausholm saw the pencil on a crowdfunding website, he loved its simplicity and sustainable innovation, spotted its commercial potential, and bought the patent and global rights.
He explains, “For example, as leisure and business travellers the world prioritise sustainability, hotels and travel providers can create change at every level.
“87% of travellers want to travel sustainably according to booking.com – and while there are some elements to travel that are bound to build a carbon footprint, small tweaks can be made in the traveller journey that can bring genuine joy and make a real difference to the sustainable element of a trip.
It’s something we’ve discussed with our hotel clients. How do hotels make simple changes and then communicate their sustainability initiatives, without boring guests?
“An increasingly common answer to this question is: plantable Sprout pencils.
We work with hotel chains like The BoTree, The Set Collection, Guldsmeden, and Scandic who all use plantable Sprout pencils to communicate their sustainability commitments and steer customers away from plastic pens.
“Those plastic pens are often the typical gift in hotel rooms or conference settings, but by replacing them with one of our plantable pencils, clients provide guests with a modern, original, and sustainable souvenir as well as a practical and useful alternative. Guests can use the pencil during their stay and then take it home to plant in a pot, growing herbs, fruits, or beautiful flowers.
“We’ve received very positive feedback. Guests remember to take them home and sometimes even send pictures of the sprouting pencils back to the hotel!
“SproutWorld holds the global patent for ‘plantable writing instruments.’ We are B Corp certified, ensuring high sustainability standards, and we manufacture our products in Europe under ethical working conditions.
“SproutWorld pencils are simple to use – once they are too short to write or colour with, the stub is planted into soil, with the capsule end down. That capsule contains seeds which can then grow into a range of plants – basil, sage, coriander, daisy, sunflower, forget me not, cherry tomato, melon, eggplant, cucumber or even a spruce tree.
“We recently collaborated with the Scandic Sydhavnen hotel in Copenhagen on the Make Room for Nature initiative. This hotel wanted to promote biodiversity in a busy urban area, and one of the most effective ways to do this is to encourage bees.
“According to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, 2024 was the worst year on record for Britain’s bumblebees, which plummeted in numbers by 72%. While the main reason cited is climate change, small efforts can make a difference.
“The hotel planted a field of bee-friendly flowers which means this spring, the ground outside will be covered with wildflowers, attracting the pollinators to what would otherwise be a challenging environment.
“The biodiversity message is carried on in the hotel where guests are given engraved plantable pencils contain the same bee-friendly wildflower seeds.
“The pencils come complete with information about biodiversity, information cards and planting instructions, engraved with bee-friendly messages.
“We don’t just work with hotels, of course. SproutWorld has sold over 80 million Sprout pencils since 2013. Each one has a seed capsule attached which can grow into flowers, herbs, vegetables, or even trees!
“The pencils offer an ecological alternative to the incredible 135 million plastic ballpoint pens produced worldwide every day.
“It’s not just an ethical decision to make this kind of simple swap, it’s a sensible business one. Using hotels again as an example, 64% of people are prepared to pay more for sustainable tourism options, according to McKinsey and Co.
So everyday changes really do make a difference, even down to using a sustainable pen!
