There are pencils that turn into
plants when you’re done using them.
The ‘Sprout Pencil’ is the first sustainable pencil in the world that can be planted after use.
“We have chosen the seeds for our pencils with great care, and they germinate quickly: i.e. within 1-3 weeks, depending on the seed variety. Most plants can be grown both indoors and outdoors.”
It’s made of natural materials: the body is cedar wood, and the “lead” is a mixture of clay and graphite.
Sprout pencils are available in 22 varieties, including sunflower, mint, lavender, sage, forget-me-not, cherry tomato, sweet pea, cilantro, and wild strawberry.
What to do
“When the Sprout Pencil has become too short to write with, it is ready to be planted. Follow the simple instructions below and see your Sprout pencil sprout.”
They are also available in the colored pencil variety, which makes me oh-so-happy!
Linguee This website is honestly the bomb.com. You can input almost any word/phrase/etc (even rather rare/unusual ones) and it will spit out web-searched example sentences with both the original content and the translated version. A real powerhouse of a website. I’m under the impression that the French <–> English platform is the most established.
PurpleCulture Can find you a wide variety of words and sometimes short phrases as well. Gives you the pinyin of the sentence (color-coded by tones) and allows you to click on each individual word to redirect you to its dictionary if you don’t understand the character.
Languages: Mandarin Chinese
Tatoeba You can search up example sentences contributed by users, which are in turn translated by users into multiple different languages. Probably the most versatile of these websites.
Languages: The majority of the world’s most widely-spoken languages
Forvo Not an example sentence site, but I think this one is definitely worth throwing on here. You can search for an individual word in your target language, and native speakers post audio examples of them speaking it. Really great for getting the hang of pronunciation in general and also getting used to the way people pronounce words in the real world.
Languages: The majority of the world’s most widely-spoken languages
If you know of any other sites, it would be awesome if you could add them below!! 😊
The man who served in the U.S. Congress longer than anyone else in history has died.
John Dingell, a Democrat who represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 1955 until January 2015, died Thursday at the age of 92, his wife, Rep. Debbie Dingell, confirmed. John Dingell served for 59 years in Congress and cast more than 21,000 roll call votes. He was undefeated in 30 elections.
Debbie Dingell wrote, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of John David Dingell, Jr., former Michigan Congressman and longest-serving member of the United States Congress. Congressman Dingell died peacefully today at his home in Dearborn.
“He was a lion of the United States Congress and a loving son, father, husband, grandfather, and friend. He will be remembered for his decades of public service to the people of Southeast Michigan, his razor sharp wit, and a lifetime of dedication to improving the lives of all who walk this earth,” she said.
