The World’s Gone Potty

Behind every great vegetable, there is a great pot.

We only wish this was true.

In this blog we explore a major environmental problem with the UK horticulture industry - the huge number of plastic pots used - and what we are doing at Sprout to help. 

Pots, pots and more pots

Gardening pots come in all shapes and sizes, catering for plants at every stage of their life from a seed.

In the horticultural industry, seeds are generally sown in seed trays or seed cells. When the seeds have germinated into little seedlings, they are transferred into their own small individual pots in a process known as ‘pricking out’. They can then be transferred into progressively larger pots as they grow - ‘potting on’. All of this before they are finally planted out in their final growing positions.

The reason vegetables are grown in several different pots through their life is that it saves space and increases the chances of growing healthy plants.

A Growing Problem

However, the desire for pots which are only used for a small period in a plant’s life has meant that single-use plastic has taken over. It offers a cheap, lightweight, flexible and durable solution.

It is estimated that 500 million plastic pots are used every year in the UK, and a staggering two thirds of them don’t get recycled.

That’s a massive amount of plastic waste generated each year, putting a big black mark against an industry which has so many positive environmental intentions.

Our Solution

We scoured the market to find the best environmentally friendly pots out there – and we think we have found them in ECOPOTS.

They are awesome.

Simple and sleek in design, and lightweight and manoeuvrable - perfect for the city. Durability is key to a sustainable world, and ECOPOTS are made to last, being UV resistant, frost resistant and break proof.

Most importantly they are made from 100% recycled materials, of which 80% is plastic waste. They have also received Recycled Content (QA-CER) certificate, and both the CO2 Neutral Product and the CO2 Neutral Company certificates. Pretty cool, right?

On top of all this, we have designed our subscriptions around the pots to maximise productivity. We’ve planned it all out so you will be growing at least three different vegetables in each pot, each year.

With Sprout, you will produce more while using less.