In order to support small producers, we buy most of our meat direct, and it arrives by courier. In general, it’s packed in a cardboard box and insulated with a product called Woolcool – basically a thick layer of wool in a recyclable plastic cover. Some of this has been returned to the producers for reuse, but we have also been finding new uses for it, as encouraged by the manufacturers.
There are a couple of pieces of it in the cool bag that Mr Snail carries back and forth to Reading each week with his supplies – it provides additional insulation and stops everything rattling around and falling over. I’ve also used some as mulch in the garden. I had put one piece aside, however, for a specific project which I finally got round to this week
We have an old plastic dog bed that both dogs are rather fond of. For years it’s simply had an old blanket or duvet in it, but the current blanket is disintegrating and so it’s time for a revamp. To begin with, it needs some padding in the bottom, and this is where the wool packaging comes in. The Woolcool is a long thin strip and the bed is oval, so I had to cut the strip in two and then join the pieces side by side, but there was plenty to do this. I used a little fabric glue to hold the two bits together and then stitched them using some knitting wool. As the pad is used the wool is likely to felt, so the yarn and the fleece will probably become one. I made a cotton cover out of some more of that old sheet that featured in July’s ScrapHappy because the paw prints seemed appropriate.
The off cuts of the wool went into the compost heap because I’m very keen to see how well it breaks down, and the plastic cover went in the recycling… I wish they didn’t use this, I’d be perfectly happy with unenclosed fleece. Now all I need to do is make a new blanket… I might just have a few yarn scraps somewhere for that.
The Snail of Happiness 
Kim
/ July 16, 2019Excellent! Many magazines are now wrapped in a compostable film that looks like plastic. Maybe the suppliers could be persuaded to convert to that?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 16, 2019That’s a good idea… I think I’ll send them an email.
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katechiconi
/ July 16, 2019What a great re-use, I bet the dogs think you’re a superstar. And wool has to be warmer and more comfortable than whatever padded their bed before if it wasn’t wool. Is the insulation in direct contact with the meat? If not, I’d have thought that they could use paper or fabric for the cover, and if fabric, it could be zippered so you could return it to them to be washed and reused…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 16, 2019The meat is always wrapped, so no contact is possible. I’m going to contact the company and make some suggestions about alternatives to plastic.
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nanacathy2
/ July 16, 2019More scrap happiness.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 16, 2019I did toy with leaving it until next month for inclusion as a ScrapHappy post, but I’m sure I’ll have done something else with scraps by then and I don’t want a queue forming!
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Tracy @ It's a T-Sweets Day!
/ July 16, 2019Very ingenious!! I have never heard of putting wool in the garden. I hope it decomposes well and makes your plants all green and happy:)
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 16, 2019Wool is a good slow-release fertilizer; in fact I buy compost made of wool for potting up plants.
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Helen
/ July 17, 2019My sister has been putting scraps of wool round her plants for years. I guess it has the same kind of components as blood and bonemeal.
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KerryCan
/ July 16, 2019This is great–first, I had never heard of the Woolcool before, and that seems a sensible product, but your uses of it are wonderful!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ July 16, 2019I like the fact that the company actively encourage people to find new uses for it… although that may just be a way to increase their sales (cynical?)
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Laurie Graves
/ July 16, 2019Nice!
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knittingjane
/ July 16, 2019Loving the dog mattress – very high end. And doing the envioment a favour as well 🐶
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anne54
/ July 16, 2019I love everything about this ~ that you buy your meat locally, that they encourage you to be inventive with their packaging, that you have thought laterally about what you can do, and that the dogs have a comfy bed! And that Mr. Snail’s provisions don’t rattle on the way back to the rental flat (I hate a rattle in a car!)
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CarolCooks2
/ July 17, 2019I am loving your commitment to the environment…I have never heard of wool cool but an excellent example of circular recycling…Well Done…and one happy dog with a nice new bed 🙂
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Patricia Collins
/ July 17, 2019A neighbour had something similar from Riverford. I made garden kneelers from it, plastic wrapper and all.
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Helen
/ July 17, 2019How interesting that some companies are using wool for keeping food cool in transit. Mind you, as it can be used as loft insulation, I shouldn’t be surprised.
Having now washed my third sheep’s fleece, I appreciate how much work must have gone into making the Woolcool hygienic. So good it is being re-used/repurposed. Great cushion for the dog basket!
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bigbikeshorty
/ January 20, 2021Love it! Did you wash the wool first? It has a very “Sheepy” smell to it but I now have quite a lot from our raw cat food deliveries and am deciding what to do with it. I’m thinking wash it first to see what shape I’m left with after? Many thanks.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 22, 2021Not sure whether you saw my previous answer. I would wash it gently first, or wet felt it (which will clean it at the same time) depending on what you plan to do with it.
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bigbikeshorty
/ January 23, 2021Thank you, much appreciated. I’ll give it a gentle wash. For some reason my account wouldn’t let me log back in to reply!
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bigbikeshorty
/ January 20, 2021Love it! Did you wash the wool first? I’m wondering what will happen to it when it’s washed. I have quite a bit saved up now and am deciding what to make but think I should wash it first in case it shrinks?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 20, 2021I always wash wool very gently, usually with Eucalan, which means there’s generally no shrinkage.
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Laurel Cline
/ October 4, 2022Great reading yourr post
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