Despite the latest IPCC report declaring it’s now or never to stop a climate catastrophe, some companies are still engaging in petty shenanigans.
In an effort to reduce E-waste the EU brought in a law requiring all electronic devices sold in the EU to have a universal charge port. Seems sensible? Yes?
Despite this eminently sensible rule Apple is rumoured to be considering adding a chip to it’s devices that prevents users of their devices from using non-Apple cables, which flies in the face of the spirit of the EU legislation.
And then we have the Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia, who have partnered with repair specialists iFixit to release the smartphone G22, a repairable phone that comes with spare parts and a toolkit for DIY maintenance.
Be on the right side of history ……… be Nokia, not Apple
For hear about enlightened companies that will be on the right side of history read on.
Construction & Furniture
Finnish companies Koskisen and Stora Enso have produced the world’s first new entirely wood-based furniture board, made entirely from by-products of both companies’ production processes.
Composite stone may be banned in Australia due to health concerns
A McKinsey report concluded that a circular economy of concrete and cement could produce €110 billion in net value and avoid or mitigate two billion tons of CO₂ emissions by 2050
US based Forust are on a mission to make 3D wood printing more affordable
Fast-growing grasses that are turned into construction panels use nine times less land than traditional timber products
This Oslo workplace Is made of 80 percent upcycled building materials
Developments in wood technology results in a material that absorbs carbon even after it’s make into building structure or furniture
Andreu World, a Spanish company, is the first in the design sector to have all its furniture collections become Cradle to Cradle Certified® and made from 100% FSC® wood range
Form Us With Love and Samsung replace the sofa with textile “watching platform”
Italian company Dyaqua has developed a way to produce solar panels so that they resemble the barrel clay tiles common on the roofs of buildings in Italy.
One way to support material reuse on buildings is to use dry-stacked bricks like those from Versa lok
Ingenuity
This self-drilling wooden seed carrier is inspiring (see video at the top of this newsletter)
A man in American is offering free 3D printed repairs with his solar powered mobile printing studio
Fashion
Ever Dye’s uses organic and non-organic materials to dye textiles with zero heat and 5 times quicker than traditional dying
Special tracer fibre with unique information about a fabric’s composition and origin can now be woven directly into a fabric and read much like a barcode
The surprising impact of the climate crisis; unpredictable weather makes fashion forecasting impossible
Zellerfeld release fully recyclable 3D printed shoes
Researchers measured the impact of buyers and designers traveling to attend international shows during four major fashion seasons and found the amount of carbon emitted in one year was about 241,000 tons — or equivalent to the energy used to light up the Eiffel Tower for 3,060 years
River Island to put roll out take-back scheme to all it’s UK stores
“We don’t want guidelines. We need to ultimately, at some point, say ‘no’ to someone because they don’t live up to our standards,” Copenhagan fashion week gets serious about sustainability
Supply Chain
Kheoos is an AI powered platform the helps companies optimise spare parts by tracking inventory and the marketplace
Legislation
The EU are considering requiring companies touting environmental claims for their products to carry out a science-based assessment of a product’s environmental impact, or have the claims verified under an environmental labelling scheme
Paradoxically the existence of a sustainability committee in companies was found to have little effect on their greenhouse gas emissions in countries without strong environmental legislation
Food
Nocoa is cocoa-free chocolate made from fermented oats
Uncommon CX has launched its self-funded project The Yellow Sticker Cookbook, which helps people put together meals from supermarkets’ reduced sections, thereby helping with cost and food-waste
Sainsbury’s to save “450 tonnes” of plastic per year by vacuum packing it’s beef mince
Co-op ditches “best-before” dates on fresh fruit and veg
A study finds that portion size is the main reason for food waste when eating out
Lidl GB has become the first discounter to pledge to work with WWF to halve the environmental impact of the average UK shopping basket by 2030
Energy
Heat from a washing-machine-sized data server is used to heat a public swimming pool in Devon
Transport
The Tyre Collective has developed a device that captures microplastics that come off vehicle tyres, while in motion
EV100 is a global initiative aiming to make electric transport the new normal by 2030
Electronics
Asda introduces smart drop off kiosk for Magpie in store
Currys ramps up refurbished tech offering online
Networks
Techies Go Green is an Irish movement of tech-oriented companies who are committed to decarbonising their businesses with the main aim of helping every signatory become carbon neutral by 2030
Resources
How the UK’s Design Council reduced the carbon footprint of it’s brand
If you’d like to discuss any of these issues feel free to get in touch via our contact page.
Elaine
Circular Design Institute 