“Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”
–Dr. Albert Szent Györgyi
Innovation doesn’t always kick off in a lab. Sometimes, it starts with a simple look at a trash can. We’re surrounded by waste, whether it’s materials, resources, or even ideas.
And one of the most neglected types? Paper.Used once, maybe twice, and then tossed aside. Occasionally recycled, but mostly forgotten. It seems harmless until you take a closer look. Every ton of paper demands about 24 trees, thousands of liters of water, and energy that adds up to a significant environmental toll. The weight of that toll isn’t just ecological; it’s economic and industrial as well.
But what if the issue isn’t the paper itself, but rather our perspective on it? Waste, when viewed this way, shifts from being a hurdle to a missed chance. It’s a realm just waiting to be reimagined. This is where innovation quietly flourishes. Not in reinventing the wheel, but in questioning its purpose.
That’s how a pencil made from discarded paper, embedded with seeds, came into existence. Not as a market disruptor, but as a gentle reminder: something as ordinary as paper waste can be repurposed; use it, plant it, repeat.
The narrative isn’t really about the pencil. It’s about the mindset. It’s about moving from “what sells” to “what solves.” In a time when industries are flooded with sameness, “the real competitive advantage lies not in producing more, but in creating with purpose”.
“Sometimes, the smallest ideas plant the biggest change.”