This Woman Can Grow a Tree From a Pen & We Want to Know How

Innovation can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

Rollapens by Pure Living. (Photo: Pure Living)

Lakshmi N Menon was an artist in a gallery in San Francisco, specialising in paper-craft, when she was introduced to the concept of paper pens. “Back then I saw it as a fancy - luxurious product,” she says.

Upon arriving in India, Lakshmi was shocked to see the excessive use of plastic and the waste it generates. She wanted to help with this problem but did not know how to. Meanwhile, she also taught arts and crafts at an orphanage where she had to come up with a new craft each time for her students.

On one such day, she taught the kids how to roll a piece of paper into a pen. To her surprise, the kids managed very well and this led to a dimaag ki batti jali moment. What if these pens could be produced and sold as a ‘product’? mused Lakshmi. From there started this journey that has given the world Rollapens.

So, What Is a Rollapen?

A Rollapen is a pen whose body is made up of used paper – an attempt to reduce the use of plastic in our daily lives. What’s special about this pen, you wonder? Well, the surprise element is a little seed at the end of the pen, that can sprout into a tree. Yes, a tree.

And, it costs only Rs. 12.

A plantable pen. (Photo: Pure Living) 

The idea of adding a seed to the pen came from facing multiple product-design issues. First, they had a upcycled pen but no pen cap for it. Each pen would have very slight differences because they were made from paper – it was even more difficult to find an eco-friendly pen cap that would match the quality control levels.

I used to get so mad when I saw people throw away pen caps. Even if only a plastic one. 

Lakshmi N Menon

Along with being eco-friendly on many levels, Lakshmi, Pure Living’s founder, has tried to ensure a way of knowledge propagation through these pens.

However, it was noticed that 20% of the caps were going waste. Lakshmi began thinking of what she could use to cover the pen, that would fit the design requirements and be pro-environment.

Around the same time, an ongoing campaign in Kerala on organic living gave her the idea to use seeds. Initially, it was the seeds of a spinach plant that fit the size requirements of the pen. Further research led her to discover that the seed of the Agasthya tree was small enough to fit the pen too.

A plant from a pen was fine, but imagine a whole tree growing out of a small pen!

Lakshmi N Menon 

Seeds of the Agasthya. (Photo: Pure Living) 

Medicinal Benefits and Knowledge Propagation

The pen comes with a tiny leaflet that explains its purpose and the various benefits of the seed it holds. The leaves and flowers of the Agasthya are quite sought after in Ayurvedic medicine. Its seed starts to sprout within 3 days of planting.

Rollapen sprouting into a plant. (Photo: Pure Living) 

Lakshmi has also tried to ensure that the pen has more benefits than just protecting the environment. Wisdom pens as she calls them, may sometimes hold quotes of famous personalities on the body of the pen – since that space is going unused anyway.

The Pure Living team, as a tribute to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, got girls from orphanages to writes his quotes on the pens. The money that they make from selling these pens is used for these girls’ education. It will be two way learning process – the girls learn while they write on it, the buyers learn as they write with it.

In an attempt to promote regional languages, these pens also hold the alphabet of a language. They can be customised as per the state.

The leaflet that summarizes the benefits the Agasthya tree. (Photo: Pure Living)