NEW DESIGN MEANS EVERYONE CAN NOW GET THEIR HANDS ON THE WORLD’S MOST SUSTAINABLE PLANT POT
The world’s most sustainable plant pot – which has been out of stock since October – is available to buy once again with a new design that’s more environmentally friendly than ever before.
After a successful crowdfunding campaign, POTR Pots launched its range of self-watering, flat-packed origami plant pots in 2019, and quickly sold out of its first manufacturing run of 6,000 units.
Despite huge demand, the company hasn’t been able to fill any orders since October 2020 as a result of its manufacturing partner shutting down due to the twin challenges of COVID-19 and Brexit.
But with a new design by the company’s founders Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, and a new manufacturing partner, the company is now able to supply more than 100,000 orders per month – which means everyone can now get their hands on the world’s most sustainable plant pot.
The pair of product designers have gone back to the drawing board by making the manufacturing process even more efficient, and even less energy intensive.
The makers have also redesigned its retail packaging to ensure the absolute minimum of single use packaging.
Andrew Flynn said: “As a designer, there’s nothing better than making something people want. But then there’s nothing worse than not being able to give it to them.
“Our mission is to ensure every house plant gets a greener home. Now we are able to do that.
“The previous design required us to manually fold and assemble each pot by hand – which was exhausting and created a bottle neck – so we’ve gone back to the drawing board.
“As product designers we feel we have a real responsibility to ensure that the products we are creating are not having a negative impact on the environment.”
“Throughout the redevelopment process we’ve worked hand in hand with our manufacturing partners to ensure we could exceed our sustainability goals.”
Andrew’s fiancé Eilidh – who helped hand-pack the pots during the initial run – is so convinced by her partner’s passion and the product’s promise that she’s left her position as a marketing manager at Dyson to join the company on its journey.
And with the eyes of the world on Glasgow ahead of COP26, the pair have decided that Glasgow’s the perfect place to grow their product, which has already sold to shoppers in 49 different countries.
The brand’s new range of origami plant pots maintain the unique flat pack design which means the product can be posted like a letter. That, together with the fact it’s made of recycled polypropylene which would otherwise end up in landfill, means it’s more than 100 times more carbon efficient than a traditional plant pot.
Andy added: “Our ethos is to do more with less. We always try to use as little material as possible through our entire process.
“Sustainability starts with design – the vast majority of an object’s carbon footprint is decided at the design stage.
“Thanks to the culture and to places like Glasgow School of Art, the city has such an incredible design community, and with COP26 coming up, this is the perfect place to grow a sustainable design business.”
The range was exhibited at Milan Design week after being spotted by world-renowned Italian designer Rossana Orlandi and POTR has been invited to exhibit at the London Design Festival in September.
While the business will now be run from Glasgow, the pots are currently manufactured, assembled and fulfilled in Bristol – where Andrew and Martin were based while working at Dyson. The business is currently looking for retail opportunities in Glasgow and beyond, investors and a Glasgow-based manufacturer.
