The most exciting product to come along in a while...ellepots. This simple, basic technology can profoundly reduce the amount of plastic waste generated by plant growers.

The Danish company Ellegaard a/s has introduced to the U.S. its ellepot paper plant pots. The ellepot is a biodegradable paper fiber tube filled with potting soil. How many times have you finished gardening, only to throw away a stack of plastic pots? Nobody really wants old pots and recyclers will not take most. Ellepots are your solution as they are to be planted directly in the ground or container.

If you compare different brands of pots, you will see many different plastic recycling numbers. There are no industry standards to accomodate recycling old plastic pots. Ellepots overcome all these environmental problems associated with plastic pots by using no plastic in the end product. Single use consumer packages (nursery pots in gardeners case) end up as solid waste in a landfill; this left over trash from each and every plant has always seemed contrary to gardening principles. In our nursery we haven't been able to totally get away from plastic as we grow our ellepot crop in plastic flats. We are, however, able to reuse the flats many times, minimizing our waste.

Ellepots, being made from paper fiber, are a truly renewable resource, unlike oil. The drawbacks seen so far with using ellepots are all aesthetic; the roots are growing through the paper and the root ball is wet, sometimes algae grows on the sides of the ellepot. A finicky person might have a hard time keeping their hands clean when handling ellepots. To a gardener it is exciting to see the whole plant you are buying; gardeners get their hands dirty, therefore they should like using ellepots. The absence of plastic pots saves labor at planting and clean up.

In addition, the paper allows the roots of the plant to breath and develop in a way similar to being in the ground. This oxygen makes for healthier, stronger roots leading to healthier, stronger plants. You will be happy to know that you are not only helping your environment, you are also helping your garden!