"The Wearwoolf garment is a great development at a time when we need more common sense coming into the sustainability debate.  It seems bizarre that woollen jumpers have been sidelined by synthetic alternatives, when we know how miraculous nature is when it comes to design.  After trying one on I was amazed at how warm and how light it was.  It's the kind of thing you can wear all day.  Consumerism has huge impacts on the planet, so if we support our locally grown produce when it stacks up as a sustainable option, we can help local communities and the environment, while enjoying the product itself.  Such a simple thing to do, but such a big impact on the planet.  Best of all, unlike synthetic alternatives, there is no compromise to your comfort."
eric bottomley Eric Bottomley
Sustainability Projects Team Leader at CERES Environmental Park and joint co-ordinator Sustainable Schools Victoria.
CERES
Winner of the 2007 Premieršs Sustainability Award for Community Excellence
Winner of the 2005 Allen Strom Eureka Prize for Sustainability Education
Finalist for the 2005 Banksia Award
Winner of Community Award 2004 and runner up 2005 Savewater Awards
Winner 2005 Werner Strauss Achievement Award (Community) - Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand ­ Vic/Tas Branch
www.sustainability.ceres.org.au
Ben:
When it was time for our kids to start attending school, we made our first visit to the uniform shop. Until then we had always dressed them as much as possible in natural materials, mainly cotton but with some wool jumpers and jackets. Not out of any desire to make a statement, that's just what we wear ourselves. Natural fibre is more comfortable, looks better, smells fresher, lasts longer, and is better for you (and the environment). If you look around and buy carefully, wearing real materials doesn't have to cost you more. But virtually everything on offer at our school was made from synthetics, only the shirt was made with a poly/cotton blend. There wasn't even a knitted jumper on offer, just polyester or polar fleece jackets. They since re-introduced a wool blend v-neck pullover, but as in so many schools, it's terrible - coarse wool, heavy, itchy, and so expensive! No wonder hardly anybody wanted to buy it.

When I saw some of things being done with superfine Merino fabrics for the high-end sports and adventure markets, I was amazed. Like so many people who now experience wearwoolf for the first time, my first reaction was: 'I can't believe this is wool!' People who do things like climb Everest, sail around the world, or cycle over the Andes need to wear clothing that will be comfortable and dependable in every conceivable situation, and wear it day in day out. So they choose the best material available, and they're prepared to pay for it. And now the new cutting edge, hi-tech, material for performance wear is... you guessed it: wool!

My idea was that if we were able to do garments from this quality of material at an affordable price, and instead of marketing to cashed-up adventurers we aimed to get our clothes onto regular kids, then we might achieve nothing less than introducing a whole generation of Australians to our own, home-grown miracle fibre.