Five sustainability trends in 2022

Greenwashing, a term that is used when companies attempt to portray themselves as more sustainable than they are, became a widespread phenomenon last year thanks to social media and the media in general. Both journalists and consumers have become more critical of green statements and promises. This is a positive development because it means that the only way to fight greenwashing is through documentation.

At Sprout World we’ve seen an increasing interest for documentation from our customers over the past 1-2 years and this has led us to invest in further documentation of our green statements. So, to give you an example, when we say that we work on reducing our CO2 footprint, what does that mean? We had a Life Cycle Assessment by a third party of the CO2 emissions of our Sprout pencils so we can see exactly what we emit and where to improve. This year we will continue documenting every step we take forward.

Greenwashing, a term that is used when companies attempt to portray themselves as more sustainable than they are, became a widespread phenomenon last year thanks to social media and the media in general. Both journalists and consumers have become more critical of green statements and promises. This is a positive development because it means that the only way to fight greenwashing is through documentation.

At Sprout World we’ve seen an increasing interest for documentation from our customers over the past 1-2 years and this has led us to invest in further documentation of our green statements. So, to give you an example, when we say that we work on reducing our CO2 footprint, what does that mean? We had a Life Cycle Assessment by a third party of the CO2 emissions of our Sprout pencils so we can see exactly what we emit and where to improve. This year we will continue documenting every step we take forward.

Another positive trend that continues this year is the growing demand for sustainable products. A study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), commissioned by WWF in 2021, shows a 71% rise in popularity of searches for sustainable goods over the past five years (2016-2020) with continuing growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report titled “An Eco-wakening: Measuring global awareness, engagement and action for nature” shows a surge in consumer clicks for sustainable goods in high-income countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Canada.
This trend will continue in 2022. Sustainability has gone from niche demand to mainstream for many consumers.

Covid-19 paused the trend of reducing packaging and single use plastic and despite the pandemic, the trend is back.

A good is example is France banning plastic packaging for nearly all fruit and vegetables from January 2022. The government published a list of about 30 fruits and vegetables that will have to be sold without plastic packaging.

It estimated that 37% of fruit and vegetables are sold with packaging and it is expected that the measure will prevent more than one billion useless plastic packaging items per year.

Also the UK Government aims to reduce (virgin) plastic. It has announced a new tax from April 2022, which will apply to any plastic packaging made or imported into the UK that doesn’t meet a minimum threshold of at least 30 per cent recycled materials.

Several brands in the cosmetic industry have looked into minimum packaging, recycled packaging or have in-store drop-offs in partnership with a company like TerraCycle, which specialises in hard-to-recycle packaging and materials.

At Sprout World we haven’t only looked at how to reduce packaging but also how to create products with a minimum waste. This goes both for our plantable Sprout pencils and makeup pencils that can have a new life after use instead of ending up in the trash.

Technology is our best friend when it comes to finding solutions to the climate crisis, and with each year, technology improves and becomes more affordable.
Traditional industries with a heavy climate footprint are implementing new, greener technologies faster than we thought possible – with a huge impact as a result.

An example is the world leading Danish shipping conglomerate Maersk (where I started as a trainee many years ago). Maersk will introduce the first in a groundbreaking series of 8 large ocean-going container vessels capable of being operated on carbon neutral methanol. The vessels will have a capacity of approx. 16,000 containers. The series will replace older vessels, generating annual CO2 emissions savings of around 1 million tonnes.

Maersk is a first mover in the industry, but more will follow, simply because the clients demand a more sustainable supply chain.

One of the key words when it comes to sustainability is transparency. Being transparent as a company means to show both clients and partners where you are now, what your goals are, how you are working on them and what you can improve. Nobody is perfect, so it doesn’t mean that you have to be 100% sustainable in all aspects, it just means that you invite your clients onboard on your journey.

At Sprout World we are working to implement blockchain technology that makes it possible to track down every part of our products. You will be able to see where the tree from the pencil comes from and this goes also for the seeds in the capsule. This gives both our business clients and private consumers a chance to know more about the product they are buying.

Michael Stausholm was born and raised in Denmark, one of the most sustainable countries in the world, which makes sustainability a natural business approach and value for him.

Stausholm has been working with sustainability in the business world for more than 20 years. He has lived in Asia for 14 years where he worked as a consultant for companies such as Nike and Walmart. He founded Sprout World in 2013 and is the founder and CEO of the company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Michael Stausholm was included in the Worthy List in 2021 by the American publisher Worth Media. It’s a list that honors 100 entrepreneurs in the world who run their business and do good at the same time.

Sprout World is a company which mission is to inspire more sustainability in everyday life. The company has 30 employees and offices in Copenhagen, Denmark and Boston, USA. Sprout World has sold over 35 million plantable Sprout pencils in 80 countries to brands such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Ikea, Marriott, WWF and Michelle Obama. In 2021 Sprout World expanded their patent on “plantable writing instruments” to also cover plantable high quality makeup pencils. Consumers and businesses can get more information and purchase the products on out website