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Contenders included plastic waste products, a peat-free alternative and a compost loo...
To coincide with the Chelsea Flower Show 2021, the RHS has announced the winner of its first ever Sustainable Garden Product of the Year Award.
The panel chose Ocean Plastic Pots as the winner. The long-lasting, durable plant pots, which are made from discarded rope and fishing net, are designed in Glasgow and made in Scotland. The judges praised Ocean Plastic Pots for raising awareness of the devastating ocean plastic pollution problem whilst providing a more sustainable pot solution for the UK’s gardeners.
Chairman of the judging panel and sustainability expert, Chris Harrop OBE, said: 'This is a business with heart, Ally the creator really cares about the environment, the raw materials are recovered from ports around Britain and Europe and the products are manufactured in Britain. Everyone who buys one of his plant pots has a powerful daily reminder of the need to recycle and in particular look after our oceans.
'The judges were impressed by each and every one of the entries and were unanimous in judging Ocean Plastic Pots to be RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product of the Year 2021.'
This year, the annual Garden Product of the Year Competition focused on green credentials, bringing sustainability to the forefront and reflecting the increasing preference of gardeners to use more environmentally friendly products to help minimise their impact on the planet.
The shortlisted products promote the use of alternative, more sustainable materials and addresses the challenges that are facing us all; climate change, plastics and pollution.
'After 10 successful years of the RHS Chelsea Garden Product of the Year competition we felt now was the time to turn the focus to sustainability with an aim to help promote eco-friendly and ethical consumerism within the gardening sector,' said Katherine Potsides, Head of RHS Shows Development.
The 10 shortlisted products were judged by a team of experts – including entrepreneur and Dragons' Den investor Deborah Meaden – on their carbon footprint, environmental best practice, durability, biodegradability and recyclability, as well as design innovation, functionality and quality.
The RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show takes place from 17 – 21 May 2021. The main show has been postponed to September (buy tickets here) but shortlisted products will be on display in the Great Pavilion at the September show.
These plant pots are made from discarded rope and fishing nets. Manufactured in the UK, the circular economy product raises awareness of the ocean plastic problem.
Dalefoot Composts' peat-free range now has a hat-trick of performance-packed natural ingredients – comfrey, bracken and sheep's wool to give gardeners a truly sustainable option to their growing.
DuraOcean® is the UK’s first commercially available chair made exclusively from 3.5kgs of recycled ocean plastic waste, including fishing nets and ropes.
Inspired by the Sweet Chestnut tree, the Woodland Low Oval Table takes its template from nature, making each piece as unique as the tree that it came from.
A pretty and transportable compost loo.
PlantBox is designed to bring walls to life and life to walls. This cleverly simple, modular and stackable vertical garden system is manufactured in the UK from 100 per cent recycled materials.
www.biotecture.uk.com/bioextra/plantbox/
High performance, yet easy to use, this robotic lawnmower is suited for smaller lawns, handling both narrow passages and slopes up to 40 per cent with perfect results.
The Sneeboer Maintenance kit keeps all quality hand-forged stainless steel tools in perfect condition, no matter the garden soil types and conditions.
Twool naked is a naturally coloured British wool garden twine, giving the strength and durability required of an all-round garden twine together with the aesthetics of blending naturally and harmoniously with planting.
The new Vegebag by Vegepod has been improved to incorporate wicking bed and water reservoir technologies into a compact sized, fully contained grow bag.