#3 Weekly Round-up
Wild
Wild are working to re-address the throwaway culture in the UK with their eco deodorants that don't compromise on efficiency, freshness or ethics. Founded in 2019 by Freddy Ward and Charlie Bowes-Lyon and in spite of the challenges the pandemic threw at them, they have made a success out of Wild.
They boast that their reusable applicator lasts a lifetime and all you have to-do is pop your new deodorant into the applicator and away you go (it's also 100% compostable and biodegradable) - each time you're saving 30 g of plastic from going into the landfill or the oceans.
They sell 7 different scents derived from natural ingredients that are paraben, aluminium, and sulphate free - they also don't test on animals.
Every deodorant sold they have planted 300,000 real trees with support of ONAMISSON.
In the future, they are hoping to diversify their offerings guided by their customers' needs and put an end to the use of pointless plastic and chemicals in personal care products across the board!
Oddbox
Oddbox is on a mission to fight food waste in the UK … as much as 40% of food gets wasted every year across the world … yup that's right… 2.5 billion tonnes of food is wasted around the globe each year. Not forgetting the amount of water and energy (it's estimated that food waste is responsible for around 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions) that goes into growing our produce.
Worse still, the environmental footprint of food waste is 248x more damaging than plastic to our already fragile planet.
25% of food is wasted even before it gets to us in the supermarkets because it's deemed too odd or too much - Oddbox is working with farmers to break down the stigma around imperfect fruit and veg!
Husband and wife duo Deepak and Emille started up Oddbox after a trip to Portugal in 2016 where they tasted a wonky tomato at a market, and they did some digging into why we only ever see perfect produce on supermarket shelves and discovered the reality of food waste.
They help families waste less by including a low waste recipe in every box, easy to follow recipes (without any fancy ingredients) and sharing tips about how your food can go further.
Through their partnership with FareShare at the end of every week they donate all waste products to families in need.
Sustainability is in the very fabric of their business as a B-Corp - they never import veg, they go for local growers, use recyclable packaging, plan their routes carefully so as to keep CO2 emissions as low as possible, and they are aiming to have a complete fleet of electric delivery vans by 2025.
“The biggest benefit [of Oddbox] is that you don’t have really tight specs. And that’s what people need to understand – a wonky veg that’s “too big” or “too small” doesn’t taste any different.”
Alex, MWW Farms
So far the Oddboxer’s have rescued 38,000 tonnes of fruit and veggies from going to waste!
Mosevic eyewear
Cornwall-based inventors; Jack Spencer and Alex Boswell started up their own business making luxury eyewear out of preloved denim, sourced from their local charity shops.
They are actively spreading awareness of the issues that the textile industry circulates, by using recycled cardboard packaging, preventing denim from going to landfills and polluting our oceans.
“The charity shop receives donations of second-hand clothing from the public, and we buy the items that the charity shop cannot sell, usually because of damage. We do pay for the jeans, and this money goes directly to the charity that the shop supports.”
Jack Spencer, chatting to the Huffington Post
They have, like every true mavericks, adapted their designs over the years and handcrafted them so that they are the perfect fit.
By gradually building up the layers of denim patches, allowing the fibres to soak up the “bio-based resin”, cut to size, stone-washed to give them that refurbished look, then as if by magic form sunglasses. It’s such a wholesome process to watch.
Of their six collections, all are inspired by nature - Titan for example - “is named after Saturn's largest moon, but unlike the tantalising world of liquid oceans, these sunglasses are made of blue denim with brass details and polarised lenses.”
Bower Collective
Based on the simple idea of ‘refill, reuse, repeat’ Bower Collective are evolving the waste-less movement. They offer a complete range of natural refillable household products - anything from hand sanitisers and washing tabs they sell it! Genius!
This is how it works:
You share with Bower your household cleaning routine.
They come up with a tailored shopping list just for you.
Place your order.
All of their products arrive at your door in either a reusable dispenser or in plastic-free packaging.
Fill up your refills.
When you're done send back the pouches the products came in a prepaid envelope.
Bower then aggregates the packaging so that it can be recycled with the help of their specialist partner so that very little goes to waste - including those pesky caps, lids and pumps, which are normally, a nightmare to recycle. Or if the products you ordered came in their new BowerPack™ reusable packaging ... you can keep using it for a very long time.
You'll then get a reminder, 3 days before your next order arrives so that you can make any adjustments to your order - so it's completely flexible.
Unsurprisingly, Bower Collective is a B-Corp, partnered with MCS and is carbon-neutral - the Bower community even meet up to do beach cleans!
They are also working to develop a ‘Plastic Calculator’ so that you can figure out exactly how much plastic waste you are eliminating from your own home - there is no denying the plastic problem is a big deal.
Read their fab blog about the difference between reusing and recycling - such a useful guide that disseminates such a complex problem.
Reuse or Recycle: Which is Better? A Bower Collective Special Report
Green Toys
Green Toys, a California-based company, have been turning old milk bottles (100% recycled materials) into eco-friendly kids toys since before it was trendy to do so. They say that ‘every day is earth day’ - and so it should be.
For more environmentally friendly toys for kids give this super guide from Green Child Magazine a read.
Olio
Why not have a clear-out this half-term so that you can make room for the things that matter to you - it's worth downloading Olio! Olio is an epic platform where you can make swaps with people in your local area. Your neighbours can list their pre-loved items too, and you can simply trade something with them. Saving millions of unwanted food items and household stuff like children's toys from going to landfill or being wasted.
Beam
Beam is a social enterprise and B-Corp set up to support homeless people and refugees across the UK, they believe that when people come together millions of people feel the benefit, motivated by kindness.
Their founder Alex Stephany, began Beam after he made friends with a homeless man living at the Tube station that Alex would use every day on his commute into the city. Alex would go and purchase a pair of socks or a hot drink but quickly realised that his friend's condition was deteriorating - he suddenly had a heart attack. In the time his friend was in the hospital, Alex tried to figure out a way to help him out, so he started up a funding page and the idea for Beam was born.
Anyone struggling to build a stable home or career can ask for some support to do so.
Their service is also completely free for charities giving them a more expansive reach.
Local authorities even use Beam to deliver support to some of their most vulnerable residents.
Beam Recruitment helps to get talented people into work - giving them a new start.
