This is
SUSTAINABILTY
My mission...
To add value to the toy industry and help developments towards a more sustainable future for the kids of tomorrow. Adding my sustainability knowledge and putting strategy in place where it's feasible to do so. Educating the next generation and making them sustainably conscious.
To keep pushing forward to reach company sustainability goals and help keep the focus and progress. Keeping up-to-date with the latest technologies, materials and strategies that will help us to get there, from company to industry.
Constantly thinking that one step further and from different angles. To move the industry towards a circular economy and put value to waste.
The Circular Economy...
Credit Ellen MacArthur Foundation
How and Why?
Just Plastic or Wood?
The potential for the bioplastics industry is vast, but the messaging is mixed; there are consumer behavioural issues for end of life and stock reliability issue with QC, these are all potential areas we must work on as designers.
It's not just a bioplastic....
My favourite example of this is PLA, if at end of life, this material does not go into industrial composting (which we currently only have food waste bins for in some areas of the UK) this material releases significant amounts of methane, which as a greenhouse gas is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, released from its oil-based alternative in landfill. It's not enough to greenwash anymore. It's time to be wise and make the changes needed to make sure end of life is easy for the consumer to understand and do the right thing with. We are starting to see this now, collaborations are key! Alone you can run around in circles, together we can create a loop!
I was honoured to be selected as the first Toy designer to give a speach at bio!TOY 2023. I hope to inspired designers and the industry to take brave leaps 'Design is the key to sustainability'
My Work
THE PROBLEM...
Solar panels take up too much space, are too expensive and look ugly. Wind turbines spoil the landscape, they're an eye-sore.
Wind turbines are hideous and noisy and they're killing our birds, I don't want them near my house or on my land.
Look at the carbon footprint of making the cells, surely thats more than the energy it collects and the toxic chemicals used to make them, they're not recyclable end of life.
THE CONCEPT...
Credit – Solarbotanic
WHY?
'Fields covered with gray solar panels and giant wind turbines. Picture them in your mind and imagine what if they could be substituted by energy-generating trees.
Solar Botanic is not only about saving the world. It’s about making a difference with a clean, useful and beautiful solution. Something with benefits for one and for all.'
- Solarbotanic
DEVELOPMENT...
PROTOTYPING...
FINAL DESIGN.
E-Leave Solar Wind Tree
An aesthetically pleasing alternative to solar or wind harvesting power
Working in collaboration with SolarBotanic, the E-Leave E12358 tree encompasses dye-sensitised solar cell technology and piezoelectric film elements that generate electricity and are supported by a scientifically designed structure; the structure follows nature's geometry, using the Fibonacci series, forming an elegant and natural aesthetic that compliments the surrounding environment, from business parks to nature reserves.
The cost-effective manufacturing process designed, allows for minimal material losses in the
roll-to-roll production method used. The tessellation of the cell shape in this way appears from beneath as numerous leaves and casts a patterned shadow below. The prototype was created at EPFL in Switzerland where the first experiments of the cell design were conducted. This project is the start of a journey to give the public a more aesthetically pleasing alternative to solar or wind harvesting power.
So tell me
WHAT'S NEW?
Whats NEW?
Checkerspot unveils skis made from new algae-based bioplastics
- 13th July 2020
“This is an example of how we are innovating performance materials designed for specific applications with use cases across a range of industries.”
'US materials innovation company Checkerspot has launched skis called Vital 100, which are made from its newest material – Algal Cast.'
Credit – Marcus Baranow
Whats NEW?
PET bottle made from enzymatic recycling
- 31st May 2024
L’OCCITANE en Provence and CARBIOS present a PET bottle made from enzymatic recycling, the result of a European circular economy
Whats NEW?
The Importance Of A Sustainable Post-Pandemic Economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable global value chains actually are and companies are realizing that supply chains have to be more resilient than ever before. In order to be ready for the next post-pandemic economy as well as the next unforeseen crisis, businesses have to rethink, and in many ways, reinvent the way they run – to operate in a more resilient and sustainable way.
Credit to SAP
Whats NEW?
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Humans can now make Spider Silk!
Spider silk is often cited as one of the strongest biological materials in the world, and scientists have long been searching for a way to artificially synthesize this silk for human use as a textile fiber. Spintex Engineering has finally cracked the spider’s code and has developed a solution that mimics a spider spinnerets’ ability to spin fiber at room temperature without harsh chemicals, from a liquid gel. Their process is 1,000 times more energy efficient than synthetic, petroleum fibers, with water as their only by-product.