designed for the way women work.
Root Pouch: Making A Difference One Fabric Pot At A Time
Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener", Strong Women Building A Gentle World, Tools & Techniques
Ashley Fromm, the youngest member of a four-person partnership at Root Pouch in Hillsboro, Oregon, didn’t set out to change the world when she graduated from college in 2008, but that’s exactly what she and her partners are doing. Ashley, along with her godfather, his wife and her sister, are equal stakeholders in a company that manufactures fabric growing pots made of recycled plastic bottles. Their company is so in sync with the times that the words “landfill” and “gardening” no longer seem incompatible.
Root Pouch got its name when the founders decided to use the kangaroo as a metaphor for their product because both of them ‘protect their young’, says Ashley. This led to the tagline “Better for the plant, better for the planet.”
Early on they formed a partnership with the Ye family in China, combining the horticulture expertise of the Root Pouch team with the Chinese expertise in recycling and geotextile technology. Ashley calls them their ‘mirror family’ and the close bond they formed continues to flourish.
The arguments for fabric pots versus plastic pots, which are still the standard in most places, are dizzying. At the end of my conversation with Ashley I was a convert to the “Better for the planet” brand promise.
Here are some of the facts:
- Root Pouch last year alone removed 1,200 metric tons of plastic water bottles from circulation that were otherwise destined for landfills.
- Each 5 gallon pouch they produce prevents 2-3 bottles from going to landfills. In contrast plastic pots, even if recycled, will use some petroleum-based fossil fuels.
- Root Pouch pots can be folded and ‘baled’ so that they take up about 1/6 the amount of space in shipping and transportation that plastic pots do, saving millions of gallons of petrol.
We all know what it’s like to remove a plant from a plastic pot and find it is rootbound, its roots encircling the plant at the bottom of the container. With a fabric pot, by contrast, when the roots hit the fabric sides they shoot out dense fibrous roots which encourages plant health. This is the “Better for the plant” part of the equation.
Ashley grew up in Idaho, went to college in the Bay Area of California, and studied international business. For the past year she has been working from home, sharing office space with her husband of almost 2 years, and a new sheepadoodle puppy, who sits quietly on her lap through our phone interview. She loves that her real office in Hillsboro is dog-friendly and looks forward to bringing him in to meet the other dogs. She says she misses meeting with customers and traveling to trade shows, which was a big part of her business lifestyle before the pandemic. She’s a VP with responsibilities for sales and marketing.
Part of her job is educating customers and prospects about the benefits of a fabric pot but also about the special properties of her fabric pots. Root Pouch pots are the only ones made with recycled plastic bottles plus a blend of natural fibers, making the pots more breathable. The fabric has been engineered to offer thermal protection to roots too, making the plant warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
The exact properties of the Root Pouch blend are the ‘special sauce’ says Ashley, and treated as a family secret recipe. All of their fabrics are BPA and toxin free.
Ashley has her own vegetable garden at home, all planted in Root Pouch fabric pots. She grows tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, carrots, as well as herbs such as rosemary, cilantro and basil. Root Pouch makes containers that are 100, 200 and 300 gallons in size for raised beds. Like all the others, at the end of the season you dump out the soil, wash the fabric and fold it up for storing until next season.
Womanswork carries the 5 gallon container from Root Pouch. It is called degradable, not biodegradable. They are not meant to be planted in the ground, but used like a typical pot would be, above ground. Wash and fold them for storing at the end of the season and you will get several seasons out of them.
For more information about Root Pouch visit their website at https://rootpouch.com/
This is an amazing story of creative thinking and acting to recycle. It saves the environment and improves people’s lives.
The entire idea of RECYLING IS FANTASTIC! I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HAVE A FEW OF YOUR BAGS ALSO. I ENJOY YOUR PRODUCTS SO i KNOW THESE WILL BE JUST AS YOU HAVE DESCRIBED!
I’ve been really wanting to try these recycled bag style planters!
I would love to try this seed starting kit. I feel confident that if Women’s Work endorses the product then it will be great.
Just about all gardeners grow plants for the joy of flowers and vegetables and also because they know that even weeds in the field do more for the planet, than we do. These pots are another step in helping gardeners to help our beloved planet!
Your growing kit looks like a great and innovative way of growing plants, I would really like to try it to see how it works.
Also, using plastics to grow food that would otherwise end up in garbage landfills, or even worse, the ocean killing and maiming marine life, is something the food growing industry desperately needs to learn about and utilize.
Great story! I would love to try these out.
What an inspiring story and company! Thank you for introducing me to Root Pouch!
I love this environmentally friendly idea! I’m all about recycling and reducing landfills. I’m definitely going to have to get some of these.
Brilliant idea.
Great use of plastic. Thank you for your commitment to the planet.
This sounds like a fantastic product – would love to give it a try 🙂
The idea is solving two problems and may rapidly become a standard . I am very interested in the story of the ‘finding’ of a friend and business partner in a foreign country. Our planet needs these creative young people. I have been trying to use plastic water bottles to protect bulbs from the squirrels and other wildlife. It has been difficult to cut them. I have wished for a clear pot so that I could ‘see’ if root vegetables were progressing. Best wishes to all, and Thank you, Woman’s Work.
Learning of Root Pouch couldn’t be more timely as I am just now struggling to find ways to safely recycle the MANY plastic plant pots I have accumulated over the years!! As a volunteer with Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweep I was dismayed to learn how much plastic is in oceans around the world harming marine life. Root Pouch is a brilliant concept – wishing you tons of success!!
I love anything that uses recycled materials
I love this! Working with our planet is the ultimate in sustainable gardening.
I’ve been wanting some of these!
It is a wonderful idea, practical and easy! Thank you for sharing.
What a great and inventive idea!
An excellent way to keep plastics out of the landfills and waterways – we need more products like this!
I have a couple of bouch and would like to get some more
Thank you for keeping plastic out of landfills!
inventive, intriguing and instant hit with me!
Thank you so much for what you are doing , I have been gardening for about 25 yrs now & Im so thankful for you & what you doGOD bless you & your work
I’m always looking for ways to “reduce, reuse and recycle.” I have been concerned with all of the plastic pots that I go through while getting my gardens up and going each spring. I’m happy to find an alternative. I’m looking forward to using these bags!
So wonderful when intellectual sense meets common sense!
Thank you for an idea that will take us one step closer to saving our planet.
So wonderful when intellectual sense meets common sense!
Thank you for an idea that will take us one step closer to saving our planet.
No, I have not sent this comment before.
Root Pouch is the answer for growing vegetables at my home up here in Hill Country Texas! Instead of ‘raised beds’ I will use several of these and the ‘wash/store/use again’ feature is fantastic!! As a note, Womanswork prices are the lowest for the sizes they offer.
I’m encouraged by the many positive comments I see here. I wish there were some reviewers who have actually used the pots successfully and would relate their experience. Perhaps my post will encourage some to do this!
I have used the pots and they’re great.
Just discovered this site thru researching fabric pots; newbie gardener here! I am so inspired by Root Pouch’s story and philosophy. Looking forward to learning all that is gardening and growing, literally! Thank you Womanswork and Root Pouch.
This is incredibly encouraging to see. I would love to help get this product into some of our local growers and gardening centers here in Stuart Florida.