Moral Origin: The Cork Wallet

The ‘wallet’ is an everyday item for millions of people. Traditional wallets come in a bi-fold format and often made from leather. However, Moral Origin have producing a unique looking sustainable and ethical wallet, so I thought I would get one and review it. The reason I believe the wallet is so important is because it is the quintessential accessories for the majority of people. The fashion industry can be very toxic and unethical, so having an accessory like this, which I believe is categorised under fashion is a great step forward. Anyway, here are my thoughts on this quirky but brilliant wallet and the company behind it.

Moral Origin has created a sustainable wallet using, as the title suggest, cork. Cork is the primary material of the wallet, which is all sourced in an ethically and sustainable way. Even Moral Origin detail how ethical cork is by highlighting the following:

• 100% Natural

• Chemical free

• Incredibly low ecological footprint

• Recyclable

• Biodegradable

• Vegan

• Fights global warming

• Protects endangered species

Cork is a great sustainable resource because of it properties and it other ethical characteristics detailed above. It should also be noted that it is a sustainable material in it itself. Cork is harvest by shaving the bark of the Cork Oak tree and then left to grow and harvested again. This means the tree do not have to be cut down, leaving them in the area for the local wildlife.

Moral Origins not only ensure their product is ethical they also make their packaging 100% recyclable, further increasing its sustainable reach. Finally, as they are all about the ethics they ensure their production is ethical by giving you the option to assembling the wallet yourself or the small team who run Moral Origin assemble it for you. As for fashion and especially wallets you probably won’t get a company that is more ethical.

You can purchase their new wallet fully assembled for £15.00 or if you want to save some money and feel capable (you should, it’s fairly easy) you can get the self-assemble set, which costs £12.50. They also offer a purse that can be brought assembled or for self-assembly. If you decide to go for the self-assembled optioned (like I did), here is what you get in the box:

• The cork cut out to make the wallet

• Three sets of (what looks like brass) screw pins that hold the wallet (you only need two sets).

• Business card sayings thank you and where to go for a set-up tutorial video.

The assembly itself is very easy, after watching the tutorial video and following it for 5 minutes, I was easily able to assemble the wallet. However, if you do not want to know how it is put together or save yourself some money you could just pick it up already assembled. Once assembled it creates a bi-fold wallet, which is a little bit bigger than a typical bankcard. It has a little pouch on one sides behind a section for card to put any change (coins) into it and the other side only allows for card but you can easily store a few notes behind them.

I have had the wallet for well over a year and it is incredibly durable. I thought over time it would get scratched or worn out and start to fray but no, it’s still going strong. Now for the important bit, well, for me at least. I hate it when I get a nice looking wallet but it can only fit 6 cards in it, I’m not sure about you but I defiantly have a lot more than that. Additionally, I don’t want to have more than 6 cards and it become the size of a brick and I believe Moral Origin have done a great job at beating this. At for the amount I managed to fit the following in the wallet:

• 9 x plastic cards

• 4 x card/paper cards (like business cards)

• 2 x bank notes (even the larger notes used in the UK)

• 4 x Pound coins

This was achieved comfortably; using both sides to hold my cards and fitted everything my old traditional bi-fold wallet could. Granted if I had a large number of notes, it would struggle, unless I got rid of some cards but this is not so much of an issue with bank cards and contactless payments. I believe you could fit up to 11 plastic cards in this case and have room for a note or two and some change, which is more than most wallets can do. Due to this, I was pleasantly surprised that a minimalist wallet like this was able to hold all this and change.

Overall, this is a unique and interesting minimalist wallet with a great look that is also ethical and sustainable. I believe more support should go to companies that put ethics and sustainability at the forefront of their product. One of which is Moral Origin, who have the goal to achieve “a future where ethical is the norm”. I would defiantly recommend picking this wallet up not only for its sustainability aspect but because I believe it is an amazing looking, well designed minimalist wallet that is ideal for most.