A gift that keeps on growing: these Spread the Love eco pencils grow into plants

(Image credit: Sprout pencil basil plant)

published 8 February 21

When it comes to looking for things to buy loved ones there's always that hunt for something special - that's not going to be an offensive birthday gift. How about a pack of pencils that grow into plants? Sounds like something out of a fairytale, like Jack and the Beanstalk, doesn't it?

You might be familiar with sustainable face masks but Sprout pencils have devised a special pack of sustainable plantable pencils as an unusual 'thinking of you' gift that keeps on growing. Available in pencil form, and soon you'll also be able to snap up their sustainable eyeliner pencils too.

The five graphite plantable pencils each engraved with special love quotes – perfect for sharing your valentine with more than one. That’s one for your mom, partner, best friend, colleague, and neighbor. And when the pencils become too small to use, simply plant the end and it'll grow into herbs, veg, or flowers - like magic!

Available in eight different colors and nine seed types. Sprout pencils are the perfect gift for all ages. Great for birthdays, holidays, and other occasions.

Write, draw, doodle and design until your pencils become too short to use. Then simply turn them upside down, plant the stub and enjoy watching them grow into fragrant herbs, beautiful flowers, or fresh vegetables. They’ll begin their second lives as a plant in as little as 1-2 weeks.

On contact with water, the green plant-based capsule dissolves and releases non-GMO seeds. Your pencil stub then acts as a plant tag so nothing is wasted.

Sprout pencil close up of capsule with seeds

Made from 100% natural materials including biodegradable graphite, clay, and cedar wood, these pencils sprout into forget-me-not flowers, carnations, daisy, thyme, and sage.

More than 14 billion pencils are produced worldwide each year – imagine if all these pencil stubs could turn into plants in the way these pencils do.

But if someone you love is not that lucky when it comes to growing plants then maybe Barry's Cactus Club hard-to-kill plant subscription box would be better.

But it's not just pencils, Sprout has launched a special plantable eyeliner - with its plantable Sprout®LINER - great for perfecting that winged eyeliner hack.

Sprout reveals on its website: "After the success of the plantable Sprout pencil, we asked ourselves: why not develop a plantable makeup pencil too? And now, two years later, it’s here. And it’s patented globally just like our Sprout graphite and color pencils.'

Developed in collaboration with the world’s leading makeup pencil producers to ensure the best possible result. It is exclusively made of natural materials including sustainably harvested wood and natural ingredients, including minerals, jojoba oil, and E-vitamin. And most importantly it's not tested on animals.

Selina Maycock

Selina is a Senior Entertainment Writer with more than 14 years of experience in newspapers and magazines. She currently looks after all things Entertainment for GoodtoKnow, Woman&Home and My Imperfect Life.

Before joining Future Publishing, Selina graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2006 with a degree in Journalism. She is fully NCTJ and NCE qualified and has 100wpm shorthand. Having spent the start of her career working on local newspapers and online, Selina spent six years as Acting News Editor and Entertainment Reporter at the Scunthorpe Telegraph where she dug into hard news stories, conducted interviews, covered court reporting, features, and entertainment, whilst going to gigs in her spare time.

Whilst at the paper she was awarded an O2 Media Judges' Special Award for helping a terminally ill cancer sufferer realise his dying wish and marry his childhood sweetheart through a successful newspaper campaign. Things like this are close to her heart when it comes to using journalism to make a positive difference in people's lives.

Selina later branched further into all things celebrity to became a Showbiz Writer at Heat magazine, covering red carpet events, showbiz parties, and various launches before going freelance for two years. One of her biggest celebrity achievements - aside from generating celebrity exclusives - was interviewing Take That (including Robbie Williams) and bumping into Simon Cowell so much at events she told him 'I'm calling you my showbiz dad!'

In 2017 she joined TI Media as a senior reporter on Woman, Woman's Own, Woman&Home, Woman's Weekly celebrity desk before branching online in 2020 when Future gave her the opportunity to focus on digital-first.

When she's not interviewing celebrities you can find her exploring new countryside walking routes, catching up with friends over good food, or making memories.