Judge's comments:

The judges praised the holistic approach to the design of this biodegradable seedling tray. The simple design and careful material selection provides both sustainability and plant health benefits, alongside championing locally produced wool and streamlining the planting process.

Description:

Seedy is a biodegradable seedling punnet that provides an innovative solution to the environmental impact of traditional plastic seedling punnets. Designed to be planted directly into the ground, Seedy provides a sustainable and natural enclosure that encourages the healthy growth of seedlings.

Seedy was conceptualised through personal experience within the horticultural industry and leveraging the unique properties of strong wool. Currently, seedling trays predominantly consist of single-use polypropylene plastic, which poses challenges for recycling due to labour-intensive sorting and cleaning processes. As a result, significant amounts of unnecessary plastic waste accumulate in landfills.

Seedy punnets are crafted using a laser-cut beeswax frame with a felted strong wool lining, re-purposing these natural by-products from their respective industries. The inclusion of strong wool provides additional beneficial properties to aid a plant’s growth such as temperature regulation, water retention, root development facilitation and the release of nitrates and essential nutrients into the soil as it decomposes.

Compared to traditional plastic punnet designs, Seedy promotes the development of robust root systems by minimising transplant stress on seedlings and providing a beneficial medium for roots to penetrate. The direct planting feature simplifies transplanting processes, reducing labour and time requirements.

With its scalability and simple design, Seedy emerges as a strong contender in the global 1.4 billion USD seedling tray market. It not only contributes to increasing the value of local wool markets but also aligns with Aotearoa’s clean green identity.

In summary, Seedy is an easy-to-use, biodegradable product that aims to cultivate high-quality plants by enhancing the well-being of seedlings and their surrounding environments.