Back in February 2023, we buried an old Swanndri Bushshirt on top of a hill at The Wandle in Central Otago. Basically, we wanted to see how it would biodegrade. To show that wool, the natural fibre that makes Swanndri's so comfy, hard wearing and long lasting, can eventually return to its roots and give all its goodness back to the soil. The Bushshirt in question belonged to Tara, the farm manager at The Wandle in Middlemarch.

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While reluctant to part with it, she admitted that it had been hanging at the back door for a while, so eventually agreed for it to be used as a test case. Of course, to actually see how much biodegradation had occurred, we had to dig it up. So we headed back up there with Tara, her family, and Hadleigh Smith from The New Zealand Merino Company Limited. Thankfully, we marked the spot well. Then we all grabbed a spade and got digging. Amongst the worms and the dirt, the results were quite surprising.

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