People have used dark-lined writing paper since medieval times and over the years, a lot of bleach has been used to provide a contrasting white background. Swedish Whitelines, on the other hand, makes carbon-neutral writing paper that uses white lines against a light grey background.
Traditional dark-lined paper not only depends on the use of bleach for a contrasting background, it also can conflict with lines and letters drawn or written on its surface. Dark lines show up on photocopies too, often making for muddy, difficult-to-view copies. Stockholm designer Olof Hansson came up with the idea of Whitelines as a way to eliminate those problems. With a focus on the environmental consequences of its operations, the company tracks and labels its own carbon footprint in collaboration with NEWA, the North Environment & Weather Agency. Through a partnership with paper producer Stora Enso forged just last month, meanwhile, it uses a carbon dioxide-neutral paper as a base for its products. Whitelines now offers pads of its patented paper with a variety of bindings, including spiral, glue and saddle stitch, through select retailers in Canada, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Whitelines was named Innovator of the Year by ALMI Stockholm last year, and in January it was nominated in the New Product Innovation and Emerging Vendor categories at the European Office Products Awards in Frankfurt. With its paradigm-busting appearance, Whitelines' eco-iconic qualities are sure to appeal to the rapidly growing eco-minded masses. Remember: it's not enough to be green; you have to help consumers show the world that they are, too. Think green, think different, think iconic!
Website: www.whitelines.se
Contact: info@whitelines.se
Spotted by: Johan Lofmark
Summer music festivals tend to create recurring, short-term demand for accommodations, as we noted last year when we wrote about Boutique Camping. Now a new, student-invented contender also in the UK offers two-person festival tents made from recyclable materials.
Camping at festivals can be a soggy and uncomfortable affair, and tents often get dumped at the festival's end, sending them to landfills. myhab, on the other hand, offers waterproof accommodations that can be entirely recycled. Made from ultra-tough recycled plastic and waterproof cardboard, each myhab tent features a raised base and access from both ends. Also included are a double mattress and lockable box, along with extra space for muddy boots and other festival equipment. Festival-goers begin by reserving their myhab tents for the festival they plan to attend; pricing is GBP 240 per myhab, or GBP 120 per person. They can even personalize it with exterior graphics to make it their own, selecting a funky character online, that the myhab staff will print out and affix to the outside of their tent. Next, all they do is show up at the festival and check into the myvillage, where they receive a myhab wrist band that gains them continuing access. Tents are set up ahead of time by the myhab team, which staffs the myvillage round the clock and also maintains showers and bathrooms on-site. Once the festival is over, myhab breaks down and recycles its tents for next time.
myhab plans to be present at all the big UK music festivals this summer, with up to 250 myhab tents in each myvillage. Brand sponsorships and corporate events are also available. With additional possibilities for weddings and a multitude of other summer events, there are plenty of opportunities for a service like this around the world!
Website: www.myhab.com
Contact: more@myhab.com
Spotted by: Jack Morrell
UK book publisher Dorling Kindersley has created an imprint that aims to ‘green’ an industry whose dependence on dead trees doesn’t necessarily make it an eco frontrunner. So far, four titles have been released under the company’s Made With Care brand. All deal with eco-aware topics such, including green baby care and organic gardening.
In keeping with their subject matter, Made With Care books are published in a strictly eco-friendly manner. The paper comes from forests certified to be managed in a sustainable fashion. The paper mill recycles 91 percent of the water it uses, and the books are printed—using non-petroleum-based inks—at a plant that has cut its carbon emissions by more than half and produces its own electricity. Combined, the efforts contribute to the books’ perceived value. Other companies tout their own efforts to become carbon neutral or describe the greening of their supply chains in detail. But DK personifies that message by making it an integral part of this product line.
And therein lies a lesson for entrepreneurs: make sure that your environmental strategy isn’t just fodder for press releases, but is embodied and projected by the products you sell. For in-depth coverage of three leading trends for taking an even greener approach to business, check out trendwatching.com’s free briefing on eco-iconic, eco-embedded & eco-boosters.
Website: www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/html/features/madewithcare
Contact: www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/cs/uk/11/about/contact.html
Spotted by: Flemming Birch
Whereas many mattresses today include polyurethane, formaldehyde and other materials with questionable effects on the environment and human health, Keetsa is an eco-bedding company that takes a thoroughly green approach to mattresses and other sleep products.
Keetsa mattresses are built with sustainable components including recycled steel, scrap memory foam bits, bamboo fabrics and unbleached natural cotton, while odor control and anti-bacterial properties are delivered using EPA-approved technologies based on silver and green tea. Since different Keetsa mattress styles use varying degrees of such sustainable components, the company uses a composite score called the Keetsa Quotient to summarize the overall greenness of each one. So far, so good, but maybe not entirely unique (other companies, like Greek Coco-Mat, also tout the benefits of sleep on natural materials.)
What we liked about Keetsa is that, going beyond their component materials, they've also developed a way to compress their large mattresses so they fit into convenient wheeled boxes (made from recycled cardboard, of course). Not only does that make them maneuverable by one person, but it also reduces transportation expenses and the products' resulting carbon footprint, and gives consumers savings of between 50 and 75 percent, Keetsa says. Which makes for a very integrated eco-approach. Once the customer unpacks the mattress at home, it will resume its full, normal shape within one to three days.
Keetsa's mattress prices begin at USD 385, and shipping is free. Pillows, protectors, foundations and mattress toppers are available as well, both through the company's two California showrooms and at a few select retailers nationwide. Keetsa is hoping to sign up more retailers soon; one to bring to eco-conscious consumers near you? (Related: Eco-friendly pack and move solution.)
Website: www.keetsa.com
Contact: joe@keetsa.com
Spotted by: Frank Marquardt
We've already written about premium and female-friendly auto shops and dealers, and now a San Francisco-based company has created an upscale, hybrid-focused garage with a thoroughly green approach.
Founded last year, Luscious Garage is situated in a historic warehouse on San Francisco's Clementina Street, complete with original brick frontage, a cozy mezzanine with arched windows, and a clean workshop filled with natural light. Specializing in hybrid vehicle technology, the woman-owned garage features an open workshop where customers are encouraged to look around while their cars undergo maintenance or repairs; there are books to read, art on the walls and a developmentally appropriate children's play area mingled into the space, which also features plants and carefully purified air. Luscious Garage uses no service advisors; rather, customers communicate directly with the technicians who work on their cars. Pricing is clearly spelled out on the garage's website, and just as hybrid vehicles are designed to be green, so the shop itself strives to be sustainable. Using San Francisco's Clean and Green Certification as a baseline, Luscious Garage aims to follow a strict sustainability plan based on The Natural Step. All administration is done online to eliminate paper and toner, while other office products come from a green supplier. Shop tools are electric, appliances are energy-efficient and furniture is second hand. Recycling is continuous, and zero waste is the shop's goal. A variety of green-focused community events are also hosted at the garage.
Luscious Garage is only open four days a week—a testament to the rewards and flexibility that follow when you are green with an appreciative clientèle. A model to follow in wealthy urban settings around the globe!
Website: www.lusciousgarage.com
Contact: www.lusciousgarage.com/index.php/home/contact
Spotted by: Frank Marquardt
It's a fact of life in the business world that companies in urban areas tend to require frequent, small deliveries of merchandise and other goods from the city outskirts and beyond. That's a recipe for inefficiency, traffic congestion and pollution, as so many delivery trucks make their way in and out of town with partial loads again and again. French La Petite Reine has come up with an alternative, greener approach to business deliveries by using truck-sized cargo bikes instead.
La Petite Reine maintains a fleet of about 60 Cargocycles for hire by businesses that need to make small to medium-sized urban deliveries over a distance of up to 30 km. Weighing only 80 kg (as opposed to a tonne or more for most delivery vans), each Cargocycle can transport about 180 kg of merchandise in its 1,400-liter cargo space. (For larger loads, La Petite Reine also has electric trucks suitable for deliveries that size.) Cargocycles' small footprint lets them travel anywhere on the roadways, including bus and bike lanes, and they can park easily between two cars. Cargocycle deliveries are faster than those made via traditional truck, and also 10 to 20 percent less expensive, La Petite Reine says. Perhaps most significant, however, is that they are completely nonpolluting—in terms of both emissions and noise. Cargocycles are also available for lease or sale, as well as for advertising space and use at special events.
Paris-based La Petite Reine was founded in 2001, and has since expanded to Bordeaux, Rouen, and Dijon. It now makes some 2,500 deliveries every day for clients including DHL, ColiPoste and Monoprix. The company is interested in signing up franchise partners--one to bring to an urban area near you?
Website: www.lapetitereine.com
Contact: contact@lapetitereine.com
Spotted by: Pavi Ani
Back in 2006 we wrote about Babyplanners, a UK firm that helps parents-to-be prepare for the arrival of their first baby. Now Oregon-based Itsabelly provides similar services but with an eco twist.
Launched last year, Itsabelly offers personalized plans that can include whatever services an expecting couple needs, such as identifying the best baby items to buy or request as gifts; help finding a good doula, midwife, birthing center or prenatal yoga classes; guidance on baby-proofing at home; maternity clothes shopping consultation; private cooking classes focused on making homemade baby food; and assistance designing and decorating the baby's nursery. For families interested in taking a green approach to raising their children, Itsabelly can also help choose baby products that are eco-friendly and made from natural products—the Itsabelly Boutique has collected a range of organic and natural products from a variety of manufacturers. Itsabelly offers a complimentary consultation to discuss expectant parents' current situation and lifestyle needs, while the Itsabelly VIP Hotline offers clients unlimited consultation via phone or email. Pricing for Itsabelly's services can be by the package or a la carte.
Itsabelly currently serves families in the Portland and San Francisco Bay areas—which leaves how many other markets still to be tapped...? To make it easy, Itsabelly offers a Baby Concierge in a Box Kit to help entrepreneurs launch their own services. One to bring to your neck of the woods!
Website: www.itsa-belly.com
Contact: info@itsa-belly.com
Spotted by: Nancy Grossman
We've already written about the use of playground equipment as a means of pumping fresh water for African villages, and now a British student at Coventry University has come up with a way to use see-saws to generate power.
Daniel Sheridan, a student in consumer product design, won three separate awards amounting to GBP 5,500 earlier this year for his see-saw design, which can create enough electricity to power a classroom by capturing the energy generated when children play on it. It would take just five to 10 minutes of play on the see-saw to light a classroom for a few hours, BBC News reported, though the energy gets transferred to an electrical storage unit via underground cable, so it would be up to the school to decide how the power is used. Sheridan was inspired by a volunteer project he worked on in Kenya last summer that included building a school. "The current need for electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa is staggering," he explains. "Without power, development is extremely difficult. The potential market for this product is huge and the design could be of benefit to numerous communities in Africa and beyond."
Sheridan's plan includes recruiting the local community to build part of the device and also install it, thereby creating involvement and reducing logistical costs. Late last month he reportedly left for a village near Jinja, Uganda, to test and finalize the prototype using locally derived parts. Alternative energy entrepreneurs: what are you waiting for? This one's for you! ;-) (Related: Playing for water and Hippo water roller.)
Website: www.coventry.ac.uk/cu/d/199/a/6110
Contact: danielsheridan@yahoo.co.uk
Spotted by: RK
