Igloo have been making passive cool boxes (those that don’t use electricity) since 1947, Igloo ECOCOOL range is the first of its kind to be made with recycled materials. They take post-consumer plastic that would otherwise end up in landfill and transform it into a recycled resin. This resin is then used to make the outside body, liner and lid of the cool boxes.
All of the ECOCOOL range are also filled with Thermcool Insulation foam which helps lower CO2 and VOC emissions. This means that the insulation inside this cooler range is 50 times better for the planet than your average cool box while still able to keep your food and drinks cold and fresh.
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ECOCOOL Latitude 52 PERFORMANCE
With the cool box in the back of the TentLife van, we headed to the not-so-local supermarket to get some supplies that would see us through the next 4 days, provided that the Portuguese heat didn’t spoil our food and our plans.
No cool box is going to work well if it is badly packed inside, so after paying for our groceries we lined the bottom of the Latitude 52 with ice and strategically filled the remainder of the space inside with food and bottles before our return to our remote location.
Did we mention that it was rather HOT? Again, no cool box will keep your stuff cool for long if you sit it in direct sunlight. We found a shady location to store the cool box and kept our fingers crossed that it would deliver on its promises.
A fully loaded cool box of this size can be quite a weight, and we found that the swinging grab handles on the sides of the Latitude 52 made it easy to move around.
Working in the heat found us regularly dipping into the cool box for a cold drink, it was becoming abundantly apparent that the Latitude was functioning very well. Chilled drinks throughout the day, and then come evening time we had fresh food to cook our meals.
We were mightily impressed with how it worked in these conditions, and come day 4 we were still getting served with chilled drinks and more importantly, fresh meat and vegetables for our meals.
The lid has 4 self draining cup/bottle holders, so come evening time the ECOCOOL Latitude found itself being used as a table and the perfect holder for our beer bottles whilst we sat around embracing the solitude of the outdoors.
It’s also been good at withstanding the knocks and bangs camping gear typically experiences on its travels. Even being loaded and unloaded to and from our van, as well as often needing to be moved about, the Latitude coped more than adequately.
GREEN +
Personally I like the ‘vintage green’ colour of this range, it’s very good looking. Clearly the colour was also chosen to highlight it’s green credentials, so not only do we have a cooler that works as it should, it’s also better for the place we inhabit.
So if you want to enjoy the outdoors off-grid whilst also reducing your impact on our beautiful planet, then the Igloo ECOCOOL Latitude cool box may be just what you are looking for.
RANGE
The Latitude 52 sit roughly in the middle of the ECOCOOL range. There’s the slightly smaller Latitude 30, but also as fully loaded cool can get rather heavy there’s also a couple of coolers that have wheels incorporated into them on the form of the ‘Latitude 60 Roller’ and ‘Latitude 90 Roller’ – All again being made from recycled plastics and incorporating the eco friendly Thermecool Insulation.
We’ve had a play with the Latitude 60, and with its telescopic handle and all-terrain wheels it’s ideal for one person to transport the ice and beers to your chosen camping spot.
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CONCLUSION
Because of the extreme temperatures that the Iglo ECOCOOL Latitude 52 cool box had to operate in, we can confidently say that it worked really well and should keep your food and drink well chilled for a good 4-5 days, providing like with all passive coolers, it’s packed correctly and and stored in a suitable place.
When comparing it to other brands it's very reasonably priced too whilst also being better for the planet.
Go outdoors, go green, go Igloo ECOCOOL.
