Guldkannan AB manufactures and sells Guldkannan Towa, a combined watering can and pot for very valuable plant nutrition and for an ecological cycle in our everyday life. Swedish design by Åsa Lövberg. We want to inspire cultivation and to fertilize consciously, as well as inform about nature, cycles and climate. It requires resource-efficient production and a conscious choice of materials for the Guldkannan.
The gold jug must be ergonomic, i.e. easy to carry and pour out and stable to sit on and at an appropriate height, not too heavy and at the same time support a weight of up to approx. 150 kg. Also durable over time. The construction must work for industrial production and the Guldkannan must of course also work chemically with urine and have a reasonable price for the majority of possible users. A lot to take into account.
The overall best alternative was plastic - with manufacturing in Sweden. But not just any plastic. There are many different types of plastic and they are just everywhere around us from paint, the automotive industry and medical technology to packaging.
The gold jug is made from a plastic called Polypropylene (PP) which in turn is made from crude oil. Polypropylene (PP) is made up of carbon and hydrogen. This does not count among the harmful chemicals in any way. The production is resource-efficient and none of the additives are dangerous either. The plastic is recyclable – a thermoplastic that can be ground down and used to make new plastic parts. However, we want to reduce the use of crude oil and we want to reduce plastic in our everyday life. We manufacture at Mälarplast in Eskilstuna.
The dangers of plastic are its additives and the colossal amount of single-use plastic packaging that is thrown into forests and land and into our oceans, where it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to break. Therefore, all producers and consumers must find alternatives as far as possible and we must sort in the correct way. We don't want the tiny microplastics in our ecosystem, thank you!
Initially, we added lime to the plastic for the Guldkannan, it was in 2010, but after a while the material unfortunately became too brittle and cracked. Other ideas and materials excluded: Zinc, stainless steel, wood, ceramic, concrete, glass, rubber, stone, textile, enamel, for various practical and environmental reasons.
Development has now progressed and we are investigating alternative materials, so-called bioplastics, and we hope to be able to return to that. The criteria are as above, and we will constantly improve what is possible in both materials and construction.
The gold jug's packaging is manufactured at PacsOn in Ljungby, who work continuously with environmental aspects in their manufacturing. It also has to last, both as shipping packaging to all corners of the world and as a storage box for the Guldkannan. Also as sign material in stores and fairs. Multifunction = environmental thinking.
We aim to have as lean an organization and distribution as possible and are constantly looking for the best shipping companies. Today we have the Guldkannan transported with PostNord, which has sustainability work high on the agenda and Nordic Ecolabelled transport.
It costs money to be at the top and to be environmentally conscious, but it's worth it - for soul and heart. Our price policy is adapted to as large a target group as possible, because our goal is for many people to discover the advantages of their own organic hobby farming and in turn teach their children and grandchildren. Growing plants is also growing oxygen, you could say.
Urine contains pretty much everything a plant needs. It's free and close at hand, we don't have to manufacture, package and ship animal manure - which is good for the environment. Dilute five to fifteen parts with water and you have your own plant nutrient, sometimes called golden water. Now you can consider yourself a wise environmentalist. And - the myth that the useful plants would take up any medicines is greatly exaggerated, there is no scientific evidence for this, according to research at Sweden's University of Agriculture. However, we should not flush antibiotics and hormones into our lakes and seas! So don't wash away the world's best plant nutrition.