Golf ball box as insect hotel
A package of golf balls from a Finnish company can be reused as an insect hotel. This innovative idea and packaging solution is a concrete example of a successful circular economy, where a product is given another function after its first use before it ends up in recycling.
The idea of Golf Coat Ltd. from Finland, which won a prize in the New Wood project competition, wanted to work with Finnish design company Metsä Board to create a packaging solution for its golf products that supports biodiversity and promotes the circular economy.
The empty packaging turns into an insect hotel. This folding cardboard can be provided with leaves, sawdust or dry grass, and thanks to separate cardboard parts in the envelope provides shelter for insects, pollinators and larvae. The packaging was produced by PackageMedia Oy, a Pyroll Packaging company, using MetsäBoard Pro FBB Bright folding boxboard.
In Germany, the product is available either by mail to the manufacturer (aki.kuivaniemi@golfcoat.fi) or through the German companies Lock Trade GmbH (www.loick-trade.de) and Ajobu Werbemittel (www.ajobu.com).
Shelter for insects and pollinators
“Our goal was to create a simple, smart and cost-effective structure that could be easily assembled and filled with, for example, leaves, sawdust or dry grass after its primary use as a golf ball box. Metsä Board and its partners have developed insightful packaging that provides an artificial nesting structure and shelter for insects and pollinators,” says Aki Kuivaniemi, CEO of Golf Coat Oy.
The design process involved Golf Coat as the originator of the idea, packaging design company Futupack, packaging manufacturer Pyroll Packaging and designers from Metsä Board. “The insect hotel is a good example of how we can support biodiversity in the city. You can help pollinating insects by placing an insect hotel, for example, on your balcony or in your garden in a sheltered and sunny place,” says Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director EMEA and APAC at Metsä Board.
