Disposing of packing materials gets harder and harder. Recycling them starts with the problem of identity: is this horrible white stuff that sticks to everything polythene, polyurethane, polypropylene, polystyrene? I think we should be told. And why can’t protective packaging be biodegradable? It’s bad enough with the space available in the country to handle it and store it while you figure out what to do with it, but in a city flat it is a serious problem.
Why this here? Because I have just received a parcel of handsome white hellebores from Woottens Plants in Suffolk www.woottensplants.co packed in what I first took, with chagrin, to be expanded polysomething, and quickly discovered is nothing of the kind, Michael Loftus of Woottens uses a product called Bionatura pellets made of corn and potato starch that dissolve in water. They are supplied in 75 litre bags by a company called Macfarlane Packaging. I give the details in the hope that everyone who sends fragile goods by carrier or post will consider them. Wine-merchants please note, too.
