There are 854,000 sheep in the Netherlands that produce 2.5 million kilos of wool per year. More than 1.5 million kilos of this is destroyed every year, including the wool of the Drents Heideschaap. These sheep graze the heath in the Drenthe nature reserves. Anita from House of Basics wants to save this wool from destruction by having it made into beautiful wool products such as sweaters, socks, plaids and shrouds suitable for natural burial grounds. This helps both the environment and the sheep farmers. The pure wool is 100% natural, 100% sustainable and 100% biodegradable.

During the TT Festival, Anita tested people’s interest in products made from this wool and what price they were willing to pay. Visitors were often unaware of the wool destruction and thought it was important to prevent this. There was a lot of interest in shrouds for animals in particular. The willingness to pay for the different products varied, visitors were not well informed about the costs of sustainable production. As a result, they were not always willing to pay the cost price (or more). To bridge this gap, Anita is considering storytelling and the use of influencers to promote Drentse wool and to increase awareness about the benefits of sustainable products. Not many people were interested in a returnal option for recycling. Visitors indicated that they would rather give away sweaters and cardigans to someone they know. All these insights are crucial for Anita to further develop and market her products.