ZERO WASTE
Vegetable Crayons
Products
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$17.95
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$7.95
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$35.02
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$28.95Original price was: $28.95.$26.05Current price is: $26.05.
What are Vegetable Crayons?
Fresh from the garden
From Japan, one of the world’s largest food waste producers, comes the new, vegan, eco-friendly, sustainable, Vegetable Crayons, made from real vegetables
Zero Waste
Introducing Vegetable Crayons, plant-based and made from the rice bran oil and wax extracted as part of the rice production process. Vegetable crayons include actual powdered vegetable mixes. The vegetables used are edible but disposed of for not meeting aesthetic standards, or are from portions cut away before shipment. This product is with a ZERO WASTE goal in mind.
Safety
Since children interact with Vegetable crayons, they are made safe, from raw materials to the production process. The main ingredients of Vegetable Crayons are rice bran oil and the rice bran wax extracted from this oil.
Both are derived from rice bran, produced when polishing brown rice.
Since Japan relies on imports for most of its oils, rice bran is a valuable, domestically-made oil source for the nation. The Vegetable Crayon series is the only one worldwide made with rice wax and oil.Since theyʼre made with rice bran oil, our crayons donʼt smell like typical crayons and wonʼt harm children who put them in their mouths. The crayons wonʼ t break easily when held and wonʼt get sticky in childrenʼs hands.
Real powdered vegetables are used to color the crayons, supplemented by pigments safe enough to be used in food. Each crayon uses less than a third of the pigments used in normal crayons.
- JIS-standard. Vegetable Crayons are made in Japan with a JIS-standard production process, including standards defining the strength and other properties of crayons.
- European standards. Vegetable crayons have passed EN 71-3*2013 (Safety of toys Part 3 2013), a European toy safety standard considered the strictest in the world. and have been awarded a certificate of safety).
Colours
A standard Vegetable Crayon pack contains ten colors, each named for the vegetable itʼs colored after, such as Cabbage or Carrot. Children form connections and learn through the fun of drawing with the colours of nature.
“What’s your favourite colour?” “Apple!”… We can already hear parents and children having this conversation when using these crayons.These colours come from the vegetables themselves, so instead of being given colour names, like “green” or “orange”, theyʼre named after the actual veggies used, like “Cabbage” and “Carrot”. Every child has their favorite (and not so favorite) fruits and vegetables, and associated colours. Our hope is that touching and interacting with these colours during play will inspire children that little bit more to like vegetables.
When children take an interest in something, the first thing they do is smell it. Vegetable Crayons contain real powdered vegetables, so some colours smell a bit like the veggies they’re made from. No extra fragrance has been added, of course, so what you’ll smell are the veggies themselves.
Try picking up a pack of Vegetable Crayons and drawing a big picture with the Green Onion colour. You might detect that faint, yet unmistakable green onion aroma as you do. No matter how rough your art is, you’ll get to feel like youʼre drawing with nature itself. Children and parents alike will get to enjoy the exciting sensation of drawing with colours form the vegetable aisles together!
Sustainability
MOVING TOWARDS ZERO WASTE
Since ancient times, Japan has embraced the culture of mottainai, the concept of reducing and reusing as much as possible. However, somewhere along the line, Japan has found itself among the worldʼs biggest food wasters, throwing out up to 6.12 million tonnes of edible food each year.
In order to develop safe products with sustainable materials, Vegetable Crayons are made with real vegetables, fruits, and legumes that donʼt make the cut for grocery shelves. For example, the Cabbage color uses the outer leaves of cabbages, often thrown out or left in the soil for compost until now, while the Apple crayons use the skins produced when manufacturing dehydrated apple chips. Farmers gather these materials and revive them for their second chance.
The rice bran wax and oil used as the base for Vegetable Crayons is also taken from rice bran, from the outer layer of the grain that is usually polished away and wasted
Example Ingredients
• Cabbage – Made from outer leaves disposed of during harvest
• Apple – Made from apple skins peeled during processing