Scottish inventors design eco-friendly pot plant that can be posted

A pair of Scottish inventors have designed a revolutionary new eco-friendly plant pot that can be sent in the post as a letter.

The polypropylene pots come folded up for easy postage but are easily erected with the pull of a string that also acts as a wicking straw to feed the plants

The quirky creation, which comes in two sizes, is the world’s first flat-packed, self-watering plant container.

And not only does it look good, with its eye-catching geometric design, it has been engineered to have as small an impact on the environment as possible.

It is made entirely from recycled materials, while its flat-pack nature creates lower greenhouse gas emissions during shipping than a traditional plant pot.

The flat-pack plant pots are the brainchild of product design engineers Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, who met while studying in Glasgow

Its origami-style construction allows for easy assembly with one pull of a cotton cord, creating a three-dimensional pot capable of holding water at its base.

The cotton cord, which is available in five colours, acts as a wicking straw to feed water to the plant.

The pop-up are the brainchild of product design engineers Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, who met while studying in Glasgow and set up POTR Pots.

“Inventions are all about solving problems,” Mr Flynn said.

“It’s so rare to receive a letter these days, but when you get one that’s not a bill it’s a nice surprise.

“We began to think how we could make that moment even more special.

“When someone receives an envelope containing a POTR Pot they’ll have a beautiful plant pot within seconds and will be able to look after their plants easily because it’s self-watering.

“The semi-transparent finish also makes it easy to see when your plants are getting thirsty, which takes the guesswork out of watering.”

The pots, which are constructed from polypropylene, are very durable and will not break if knocked over.

The designers, who are now based in Bristol, say environmental factors have been at the heart of all their development decisions.

The pots are manufactured in the UK from 100 per cent recycled materials sourced from within Europe.

And the concept behind the green pots is already grabbing attention from members of the public.

The Scots recently launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign with the aim of raising £600 to fund their first production run.

However, keen investors have already promised more than five times that amount.