The Wool Packaging Company has won the award for Eco-friendly Product in the Green Business Awards 2010, for its system of wool-based insulated packaging.
The Awards celebrate innovative, ambitious and effective initiatives by UK enterprises for achieving environmental and smart business practices.
The product called Woolcool was the brainchild of packaging designer Angela Morris, who was asked by the National Trust to help its tenant farmers by finding a more environmentally friendly means of keeping their home deliveries chilled during transit.
Her idea was to use sheep's wool - an abundant and sustainable natural resource. Ms Morris identified that sheep's wool is a 'smart fibre' with hygroscopic properties that absorb and release moisture from the air to create consistent temperatures.
Woolcool has been taken up by suppliers and retailers such as Daylesford Organics, Abel & Cole, and DHL. It is claimed to perform better than oil-based alternatives and will keep chilled contents below 5°C for at least 24 hours.
