Sustainability - what do we think it all means?

Sustainability is one of the buzzwords of our age. Prompted by concerns over the climate crisis and changing attitudes to waste and pollution, businesses and organisations of all kinds are including sustainability more and more in their decision making.

Woolcool, the award-winning company behind Hortiwool, has been doing that since the inception of the company over a decade ago. Our business relies on a sustainable, natural material – 100% sheep’s wool.

Wool is sustainable, biodegradable, compostable, recyclable and reusable, as well as being abundantly available. Wool breaks down in seawater. Our products also take up less space in transit, lowering its carbon footprint too. 

In the last year alone, companies who use Woolcool products have saved over 2000 tonnes of polystyrene insulation from landfill - that’s the equivalent weight of 525 elephants.

So, after almost two decades of pioneering research and development, with millions of pounds invested in testing and perfecting our products, we understand the challenges of sustainability better than many.

Hortiwool Pads are the latest product to come out of our Innovation Department. As a smart fibre that has been shaped by Mother Nature, the garden or allotment is the perfect place to use wool, from protecting against slugs, as a growing pad or for keeping the chill of frost off young plants.

Our journey began over a decade ago and has given us a unique insight into the changing ecological landscape, as well as an appreciation of the broader impact of sustainability.

One of the myths we have dispelled over this time is that trying to be a more sustainable business model does not mean sacrificing performance, quality or increasing costs.

And those years of research have also helped us identify and avoid the passing trends and knee-jerk reactions that are common in the sustainable economy, fads and phases that are often more driven by marketing and the news agenda.

We like to keep things simple – and the use of 100% wool in our Hortiwool Pads in the garden is a brilliant example of this.

We know we’re not perfect. We are always looking to improve and learn from the latest research and discoveries, which allows us to fine tune our products and offer more choice to our partners.

That’s why we work with the UK’s top universities to build the data that backs up the remarkable properties of wool, and why we have won millions of pounds of Government funds to fund scientific research. And that’s why we have won a Queens Award for Industry: Innovation.

Sustainability is indeed one of the buzzwords of the age, driving a new era in businesses to create an ecologically-sound approach.

By finding a brilliant new use for an abundant natural material, Hortiwool Pads are a great example of sustainability in action.