Christmas is almost here. Omicron already is!

Our David has just tested positive which means that he, Lorraine and the girls will be in lockdown over Christmas.

It’s getting to the point where constantly wearing a mask and talking about limited gatherings feels like it will never change. It will of course, brighter days are coming.

I came across this site and it put a smile on my face. Just look at these - face masks filled with flower seeds.

Dutch brand Marie Bee Bloom has developed a version that could help to reduce plastic pollution. These face masks are made from rice paper embedded with wildflower seeds, so once they've been used they can be planted in the ground.

From daisies to baby's breath, when planted into soil and watered, the seeds start to germinate in around three days and will ultimately grow into a small patch of wildflowers.

"After weeks of tripping over all the blue disposable face masks on the street, I woke up one morning to the idea of a biodegradable mask with flower seeds in it – happy Earth, happy bees, happy nature, happy people."

Fabricated in a small community workshop in the Netherlands, the mask itself will biodegrade whether placed in a garden or a landfill.

The designers created the product as an alternative to disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) made from plastics, which takes up to 450 years to biodegrade and breaks down into microplastics ingested by fish, other marine life and ultimately humans. Rather than just mitigating this pollution, de Groot-Pons hopes to actively regenerate the natural environment by cultivating flowers beloved by bees and other pollinators.

According to de Groot-Pons, the seeded paper offer as much protection as other homemade masks.

The logo printed on the outside is rendered in biodegradable ink, which she claims contains no harmful chemicals, while the ear loops are made from spun sheep's wool.De Groot-Pons hopes to expand the brand internationally with seeds that are appropriate and beneficial to the various local ecosystems.

At the moment they can only ship the Marie Bee Bloom masks in Europe, but they are looking into how they can set up local productions in other countries and continents, of course using native seeds.

Such a blooming wonderful idea : ]

Queen Marie

x

Faces and flowers...

"After weeks of tripping over all the blue disposable face masks on the street, I woke up one morning to the idea of ​​a biodegradable mask with flower seeds in it – happy Earth, happy bees, happy nature, happy people."

"After weeks of tripping over all the blue disposable face masks on the street, I woke up one morning to the idea of a biodegradable mask with flower seeds in it – happy Earth, happy bees, happy nature, happy people."