Easter Ross firm Prickly Thistle's tartan-weaving mill embraces upcycling with help from oil, gas and timber firms, including panels from Norbord's Inverness-shire site
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THE eco credentials of a fledgling Ross business have received a boost after it created an innovative display for its pop-up mill using recycled materials sourced from the oil, gas and timber trades.
Tartan weaving start-up firm Prickly Thistle is set to open its own mill on the Black Isle in the near future after a successful Kirkstarter crowdfunding campaign earlier this year.
In the meantime the Evanton business, which runs the only tartan-weaving mill in the mainland Highlands, established a pop-up mill in the town’s industrial estate in March last year.
And it has created an upcycled memory box at the pop-up mill to showcase its tartan designs and unique story to visitors from across the world.
The upcycled ‘Black Box’ design features inside a former oil and gas shipping container that had been repurposed for the site.
Everything in the feature is made entirely with natural, locally-sourced, recycled and environmentally-friendly materials, including twenty 9mm boards from the Norbord wood panel mill east of Inverness.
Clare Campbell, founder at Prickly Thistle, said: “Our Black Box values everything that we want to champion as a company. Our style isn’t your classic ‘tartan’ product display, it’s what we call rebel style, not following the norm, and we wanted to showcase this in a way that captures our company image.
“We are very committed to making a positive contribution against climate change and sharing knowledge around the impact of a disposable culture, the Black Box being a small step for us. I’d like to personally thank the Norbord team so much for helping us.”
David Connacher, marketing manager at Norbord, added: “We’re always looking to support local businesses wherever we can, so as soon as we were approached, we were more than happy to help.”
