These Eco-Friendly Pencils That Bloom Into Plants Would Put Any Transformer To Shame

Entrepreneur Renuka Shah has devised an innovative way to get her children to eat their vegetables — they have to write with them first.

Shah has invented eco-friendly pencils that contain a tiny seed bomb at the bottom. These can planted once they're all written out to produce five different types of vegetables (tomato, brinjal, celery, lettuce, and chilli) or herbs (tulsi, coriander, tej, chive, and dil).

Posted by Jalebi: on Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Aside from these 'Grow Me Plantable' pencils, Shah's label, christened 'Jalebi', also offers a plethora of eco-friendly products, including plantable coasters, boxes, bookmarks, bags, and even water-proof notebooks made of stone paper. Manufactured from mining waste and plastic water bottles, this paper is made sans wood, and requires very little water. "It is also recyclable, insect-proof and tear-resistant," said Shah.

Also Read: What The Bloom! These Greeting Cards Flower When Potted

Mumbai-based Shah, who used to be a home-furnishing designer, came up with the idea for developing this label while working on her earlier brand Ankh. "Sometimes I really wonder what if all the trees disappear by the time my kiddo grows up," she said. "When I look around the city today, green spaces are only decreasing."

leaf book

A basil leaf notebook

Shah called her brand Jalebi, because the shape of the popular Indian sweet reminded her about Karma and it's boomerang effect. "If you do a good deed, it will come back to you... like planting a plant will give you something good in the future," she said. Shah also plans to add eco-friendly storage shelves, kitchenware and other products that incorporate seed paper (a kind of paper that is manufactured out of waste, not wood, and contains live seeds that germinate into plants) to her collection.

ecofriendly bookmarks