Because Coolstuff Community was founded from a motivation to help solve climate problems, and because we are providing a product with environmental benefits, getting the packaging right has been an important piece of the marketing puzzle.

The ideal would be a container that is strong enough to hold up to transport and handling, and does not break down in the presence of damp, microbe-laden material. So that ruled out plain paper and hessian sacks. But could a liner solve this?

We didn't want a single-use plastic liner, but needed something to act as a moisture barrier. A suggestion was to use compostable bin liner material made from cornstarch. That seemed to do the trick.

At first....

But after less than a month of testing, we discovered that the cornstarch material was very effectively broken down by the hungry wee beasties in the biochar. So, this meant that a petroleum-based plastic was looking unavoidable. We found a bag design that used a polythene inner layer, which could easily be removed so that the paper would safely decompose in a home garden setting.

We set about ordering and found out that because the bags are made overseas, and thanks to logistics breakdowns in post-COVID shipping, an order would take months to arrive. Back to the drawing board.

We settled on the ubiquitous woven polypropylene bulk sack, which can at least be reused many times before it gives up. If kept out of sunlight, these bags are relatively long-lived and Coolstuff Community will accept returns in good condition for reuse. Just post them back to our mailing address:

25 Worcester St, Ashhurst 4810