Sam Altman Admits OpenAI Missteps, Promises Major AI Comeback Focused on User Freedom 
US Inflation Expected to Ease in June, but Fed Rate Hike Risks Persist Amid Middle East Tensions 
Nikkei Plunges 5% as AI Stock Selloff Spreads Across Asia 
China Home Prices Fall Again in June Despite Slower Pace of Decline 
Gold Prices Head for Biggest Weekly Loss Since June as Fed Rate Outlook Weighs 
ECB's Kocher Says No Inflation Spillover Yet From Iran Conflict, Warns Risks Remain 
xAI Sues Man for Allegedly Using Grok to Generate AI Child Abuse Deepfakes 
U.S. Imposes 25% Tariff on Select Brazilian Imports After Section 301 Trade Investigation 
NY Times Challenges Trump Administration Subpoenas Over Air Force One Report 
IEA Warns China Rare Earth Export Curbs Could Threaten $6.5 Trillion in Global Production 
Dollar Slides as Softer US Inflation Dims Fed Rate Hike Expectations 
Asian Currencies Stay Rangebound as Middle East Tensions, Weak China GDP Weigh on Sentiment 
Gold Price Holds Near Record High as Cooling U.S. Inflation Offsets Fed Caution 
PayPal Rejects $53 Billion Stripe-Advent Takeover Offer as Too Low: Report 
Malaysia Q2 Economy Grows 5.8%, Beating Forecasts on Strong Tech Exports and Domestic Demand 
Sodexo Unveils Shift & Grow 2030 Strategy, Targets Over 5% Revenue Growth by Fiscal 2030 
Seven & i Eyes Żabka Stake in Major European Expansion Push 
Mizuiro Inc., a Japanese company, founded by Naoko Kimura, a designer, created a crayon that is very safe for kids to use. They are not the traditional crayons as they were made from all-natural ingredients.
The coloring material that is mostly used for kids’ art projects is called the Oyasai Crayons, and they are also known as vegetable crayons. These are produced from food waste, so they are more sustainable and safer to use compared to the pigmented wax version that everyone is familiar with.
The introduction of eco-friendly crayons
The Crayon Collection project that was set up to make sure that all the children around the world would have access to crayons and develop their creativity stated that every year, around 150 million crayons are disposed of in the United States alone.
Environmental Leader noted that most of the crayons are not eco-friendly as well, and unfortunately, these are the types that are being sold in the market. These crayons are made of paraffin wax, where petroleum is one of its main components. This is a toxic chemical and obviously not safe for children, especially if they are accidentally swallowed.
What’s more, if these types of crayons are not recycled, they always end up in landfills and never decompose, so they remain as waste. Now, the Oyasai Crayons were introduced, and apart from the appearance, this is nothing like the traditional crayons.
How the plant-based “vegetable” crayons are made
These are made from rice and vegetables, so they are 100% all-natural. The rice bran oil and the wax from the rice bran are the main ingredients. The rice oil and wax are said to be byproducts of the rice polishing process, so the crayons are basically made from waste.
The pigments are from recycled materials as well, and leaves of vegetables are used for this. The discarded or rejected vegetables are collected during harvest periods and processed to create the color pigments in the plant-based crayons.
Since the crayons are made from vegetables, each color is given a name of the vegetable where it was actually made from, such as Japanese yam, corn, carrot, green onion, burdock, long potato, apple, purple potato, takesumi (a bamboo charcoal) and cassis.
As per Inhabitat, these pigments are the same ones that are used as ingredients in food. While this is not edible, it is surely all-natural, so parents can allow their kids to use crayons without any worries.
