Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Outdoors

This Eco-Friendly Trekking Pole Plants Seeds as You Hike

Jahla Seppanen
By

FytoStick is a bamboo trekking pole that does more than steady your step. Each time the pole stabs into the ground during your hike, it releases a seed.

First launched on Indiegogo in 2017 by PalmPrint Innovations out of Baltimore, the FytoStick is a smart and efficient way to diminish your carbon footprint by playing Johnny Appleseed. (Fun fact: The CEO of PalmPrint, Tyler Mackechnie, is a distant relative of the pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to much of the United States).

Recommended Videos

“We aim to be a collective crowd of modern-day Johnny Appleseed-like friends of Earth,” say the founders.

Related
FytoStick

During its fundraising campaign, FytoStick raised $31,287 to begin production on the hiking stick that can “save the bees and trees from extinction and mass deforestation.” The first round of poles was set to be delivered September 2018.

How Fyto works is simple: The downward motion of your hand on the hiking stick burrows a hole in the soil and tucks the seed safely away underground. Some hikers have brought up concerns of planting trees in the middle of forged paths. The guys at PalmPrint say it’s best to use your FytoStick on the perimeter of an official trail. However, if your pursuits lead directly through the wild green yonder, you can plant anywhere.

Wildlife lesson: Invasive species are any kind of living organism, from bacteria to plants to seeds, that are not native to an ecosystem and can cause harm to both the environment and people who live there.

A second concern brought up by consumers was the potential risk of spreading invasive species.

“This is something we’ve thoroughly thought through and will minimize this risk through a few different coverage options to ensure the safety net is as large as possible,” FytoStick says on its Indiegogo page. “No. 1. The terms of agreement in the MyFyto app will very clearly state and warn about the users’ responsibility to plant safely. No. 2. Users will be able to register which seeds they’re planting and the app will not function if that seed isn’t naturally part of that area. No. 3. When ordering seeds through PalmPrint Innovations LLC, we will not ship seeds to a region those specific seeds don’t belong.”

The only questions for you that remain: where to hike and whether to plant flowers (for the bees) or trees (for all that oxygen).

1 of 2
fytostick app
FytoStick
fytostick app
FytoStick

Fyto is smart, not just because it has a hidden release spear that plants individual seeds as you trek, but because it has the ability to pair with the aforementioned app (not yet released) called MyFyto. One part MapMyRun and the other Garden Plan Pro, MyFyto will track both distance, altitude, and calories burned along with seeds planted on a map. Since it’ll take a while for your oats to sew, MyFyto is a comforting reminder that you really are making a difference (see all those little seed icons!). And, of course, it’s compatible with Facebook so you can brag about your planting superiority and hopefully inspire others to not only get out into nature but help it thrive.

Not only do we love the ease of use that FytoStick allows when it comes to planting (no back-breaking bends), but we dig (ha!) the idea of taking it all around the world and planting indigenous seeds that, decades later, we can come back and see as real, tall, handsome plants and trees. This is the type of legacy men like Ron Swanson and Ralph Waldo Emerson seek. Not material fortune, fame, and empty stardom, but physically building the natural world into a place that is flourishing and strong.

Now, for the right hiking boots.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jahla Seppanen
Jahla Seppanen
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Born and raised off-the-grid in New Mexico, Jahla Seppanen is currently a sports, fitness, spirits, and culture writer in…
The 5 best scary movies about hiking (and the lessons you can learn from them)
The best scary movies about being on the trail
A Haunted, scary trail

When a scary movie takes away all the trappings of modern life and places its characters in the woods, the stakes are higher. There are no police to call or cozy neighborhoods to hide in. It is man versus nature, even if nature is a scary monster or deranged murderer. An emergency on the trail is scary enough without supernatural or psychopathic terrors hiding in the trees.

However, many of the problems in the best horror movies about hiking, camping, and outdoor sports start long before the monsters hit the screen. When the most knowledgeable and experienced member of the group takes a risk, the entire group often winds up suffering, and the monsters are simply exacerbating a problem that could have been avoided.

Read more
This is why your Gore-Tex jacket isn’t keeping you dry
What does breathability really mean, and how can Gore-Tex keep you dry?
A man in a yellow GORE-TEX jacket walks past a lake

Gore-Tex. It's become the brand name synonymous with waterproof outdoor gear. Sure, other brands offer the same thing — eVent, for example — and increasingly, brands are making their own, but Gore-Tex is still the market leader; there's no denying that. However, with great power comes great responsibility — not to mention a hefty price tag. In this sense, Gore-Tex's responsibility is to keep you dry.

That's what Gore-Tex promises: Waterproof and breathable materials, but it just doesn't match up. You spend hundreds of dollars on a Gore-Tex waterproof jacket, only to find a few months down the line that you're finishing your hike almost as wet inside as you would be without it. Sure, some of this is bad luck or manufacturing faults; always be sure to check your warranty, as it could be worth it. Sometimes, though, it might just be that all that glitters isn't gold, or perhaps those naysayers on forums worldwide are expecting a little too much from their outdoor gear. I've hiked, ran, skied, backcountry snowboarded, canoed, and done just about everything else you can imagine in Gore-Tex layers, and I've learned a lot along the way.

Read more
Dust off your gear, it’s time to hit the trail: The spring hiking tips you need
These spring hiking tips will keep you safe and comfortable on the trail
tips for hiking in the spring hike

I don't know about you, but I love the fact that spring is here, and I can hit the trail again. I went out the other day without having to load up in all of my outdoor layers and enjoyed a trail run along some snow-free tracks. It's that time of year when you can dust off your hiking boots, dig out your trekking poles, and start to make some hiking plans. But spring isn't all sunshine and dry tracks. A little like fall hiking, spring trails can be muddy, and some of the wettest, coldest days I've had on the trail have come in springtime. Maybe it's not quite a time to pack away all that warm gear after all.

Spring is changeable. That's what I'm getting at. It's perhaps the toughest time of the year to pack a hiking pack because, on any given day, you might need to change layers four times. The days are long enough to get a good hike done, but you can still find yourself caught out after dark if you're not careful, and once that sun drops, the temperature goes with it. In return, though, spring rewards us with those golden hours at sunrise and sunset — the outdoor photographer's dream — raging waterfalls as the snow melts off, and the sounds and sights of nature coming back to life after a winter's hibernation. It's great if you get it right, and if you follow our spring hiking tips, you won't go far off track.

Read more