Category: General

A little challenge: How long can you manage NOT to open a sagaan tin that arrives at your home? 1, 2, 3… It’s almost impossible, isn’t it? It was impossible even as a child on birthdays, and it’s probably something deeply ingrained in us: when we see a chest, a box, a package, we want to lift the lid and see what’s hidden inside.

Alright, you can shake it. And smell it.

And then: Drumroll... flourish!

Blog Series „Inner Values“, Part 1: Anne and Lusatia

Eh?

Precisely, and fresh at that, from the fragrant summer meadows that lie between Anne's farm and the Neisse.

But let's start at the beginning. Although, where is the beginning, really, when we think in circles?

Anne, in any case, is a big fan of circular thinking: that's why she gave us the hay, and that's why she heads up marketing at the birch bark company nevi. And who knows, perhaps it's for this reason too that she ended up in Lusatia: the cycle of life has brought her to this phase in a double sense. Back to the roots The story goes:

Anne inherits an old cottage in Lusatia near the Polish border from her grandmother. She doesn't want the house to fall into disrepair. At the end of 2020, Anne moves from Berlin to the countryside to make a statement for birch bark, for a better society and a colourful world. Because a lot is happening here in the former coal region. With the idea of processing renewable raw materials such as birch bark, companies like sagaan and nevi are actively participating in the structural change, offering smart green alternatives to the dinosaur-like major industries in this region. And Anne is right in the middle of it: she mows the meadow between her grandmother's cottage and the Neisse river by hand with a scythe, letting the hay dry in the sun. She finds it a shame to just let it rot. At some point, she has an idea:

Oh, hang on, that's packaging material!

...And then she gives it to Sagaan. We think that this represents a perfect symbiosis of two brilliant natural materials. We are grateful for this completely sustainable packaging material instead of industrially manufactured fillers such as paper or starch chips: Haven't had things packed this well in a long time.

For all those who love renewable packaging materials, we are happy to include fresh Neisse hay in the packages – with virtually no ecological footprint and ideally for reuse. For this purpose, we automatically add a free product to your basket with every order.*

And you? What are you doing with the hay now? What's next with the circular economy? Are you mulching your balcony tomatoes with it? Are you feeding your rabbits with it? Or are you leaving it to the kids and their imaginary herd of horses? Craft enthusiasts and Ecosia think you can also weave wonderfully beautiful wreaths with it. Write to us on Facebook!

Perhaps you're also allergic to hay or urgently need a refill of paper. No problem, with one click you can delete the free product from your shopping basket and your cans will arrive as usual in sustainable packing paper.

While stocks last!

**The hay is a natural product. We are not liable for the quality.

Yeah, that's fantastic. Because it shows that „our“ idea (we had it 20 years ago, others 5000 years ago) is finally ripe - after all, it stands for the many, initially small things that each individual can do to make the world a little bit better.

Movements such as Fridays for Future, zero waste campaigns and the increasing popularity of unpackaged food shops - everything indicates that the rethink has reached the centre of society. We feel encouraged in our work and hope that, as pioneers of plastic alternatives made from renewable raw materials, we can continue to point the way towards a resource-conserving lifestyle.

Be part of it: Simplify!

Sometimes our own desire to orientate our lives towards sustainability can feel incredibly exhausting ... And yet this is an opportunity. The chance to find our way back to a simplicity that often makes the good life possible in the first place.

Our aim is to keep the design of the food containers so classic that they fit into modern life and yet contribute to a pleasant living atmosphere thanks to the properties inherent in the natural material alone.

What has really come into its own recently (even in small towns, unpackaged shops are flourishing and bakery and market vendors are no longer surprised by takeaway containers) is the 3-in-1 effect of our lightweight and robust tins, namely that they can be used so wonderfully for packaging-free shopping. And for serving. And for storage.

But they don't just make our lives easier as everyday helpers. What is fascinating about the cans is not only the material but also the very simple production process. Many a sustainable product - developed by experts in the laboratory and later manufactured in industrial plants - leaves many questions unanswered. In contrast, the sagaan tins are also available as a DIY set: the manufacturing process can be easily reproduced here. In this way, we want to counteract the alienation from qualitative material values associated with virtualisation and enable a moment of positive materiality.

Holds after ... and holds ... and holds

From the very beginning, the sagaan idea has fascinated people because it utilises a resource that is up to 100 % renewable and 100 % returnable to nature, which also has a very long lifespan over generations. The important resource 'food' is protected in the same way. The contrast to the plastic that threatens our planet could not be greater.

At the same time, a relationship characterised by fair give-and-take developed with the producing artisan families through close personal cooperation from the outset.

And not to forget: The sustainable effect that the containers have on the lives of the people who use them in their everyday lives is also enormous: some of them are made of 100 % antibacterial natural substances and are processed to protect food and therefore health.

Full doses of life

One of sagaan's main contributions is to provide an impetus, to show that it is possible to live the good life sustainably and in a simple way. And to consider not only the resources of the environment and our fellow human beings, but also our own. After all, living sustainably also means making sure that you don't run out of steam yourself because you lack simple, tangible solutions.

Despite their simplicity, it is important to us that our products are well thought out from the ground up. The manufacture and use of high-quality natural products still means an intervention in the ecosystem, despite all sensitivity. Thanks to the economical use of materials, circular economy with nature and the almost infinite lifespan of our products, they have been fulfilling the demands placed on modern products and production processes for centuries.

But perhaps there is more to it than that. Just as the birch symbolises new beginnings, for us it also stands for fresh ideas. We ourselves were able to familiarise ourselves with the protective properties of the bark on the tree and for the food and in this way try to have a preserving effect for the old Siberian craftsmanship and for our environment, but also to offer impulses for rethinking and to develop something new from an old material.

You can find an overview of all nominees here.