Scots invent pop-up plant pot to reduce cost to planet
A pair of Scottish inventors have designed a revolutionary eco-friendly plant pot that can be sent in the post as a letter.
The quirky creation, which comes in two sizes, is the world’s first flat-packed, selfwatering plant container.
And not only does it look good, with its eye-catching geometric design, it has been engineered to have as small an impact on the environment as possible.
It is made entirely from recycled materials, while its flat-pack nature creates lower greenhouse gas emissions during shipping than a traditional plant pot.
Its origami-style construction allows for easy assembly with one pull of a cotton cord, creating a three-dimensional pot capable of holding water at its base.
The cotton cord, which is available in five colours, acts as a wicking straw to feed water to the plant.
The pop-ups are the brainchild of product design engineers Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, who met while studying in Glasgow and set up POTR Pots.
“Inventions are all about solving problems,” Mr Flynn said.
“It’s so rare to receive a letter these days, but when you get one that’s not a bill it’s a nice surprise.
“We began to think how we could make that moment even more special.
“When someone receives an envelope containing a POTR Pot, they’ll have a beautiful plant pot within seconds and will be able to look after their plants easily because it’s selfwatering.
“The semi-transparent finish also makes it easy to see when your plants are getting thirsty, which takes the guesswork out of watering.”
The pots, which are constructed from polypropylene, are durable and will not break if knocked over.
The designers, who are now based in Bristol, say environmental factors have been at the heart of all their development decisions.
The pots are manufactured in the UK from 100 per cent recycled materials sourced from within Europe.
And the concept behind the green pots is already grabbing attention from members of the public.
The Scots recently launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign with the aim of raising £600 to fund their first production run.
However, keen investors have already promised more than five times that amount.