Wool Envelope
Sustainable mailer envelope padded with waste wool
Did you know 200 000 tonnes of wool goes unused in Europe every year? Woola uses such wool to replace plastic packaging. Wool Envelopes are a sustainable alternative to bubble wrap mailers, with padding made of wool that would otherwise be burned or buried. Ecommerce companies use Wool Envelopes to ship small fragile goods, such as cosmetics, skincare products, jewelry and small electronics. Wool Envelopes can be reused or recycled, and Woola also has launched a pilot returns program to keep the material in the loop.
Company/Institution
Woola OÜ
Woola’s mission is to cut 50% of global fossil fuel based bubble wrap usage by 2030. We are working towards the mission by sourcing leftover sheep wool locally from farmers and using it to produce protective packaging.
Woola employs 13 people and is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, with a factory in Paldiski, Estonia. As of July 2023, Woola has replaced 50 041 m2 of plastic bubble wrap with wool packaging.
Country
Estonia
Website
Designer(s)
Katrin Kabun
Katrin Kabun is Woola’s co-founder and Product Manager. She is a textile designer, sheep wool expert, a doctoral student and teacher at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA).
In her work, Katrin especially appreciates the functionality, simplicity and carefully thought-out use of materials. In design research, she deals with the application of wool as a valuable renewable resource in modern product design. The research is based on a certain apparent opposition – the transfer of the properties of wool as an archaic material to the language of modern design.