[BC TRIPS] Research Journal #19 - Manchester

It's been three and a half years since our last research journal! Oh how time pasts…  now that it’s possible to travel again, we’re back to business and starting our research again! First stop since the last research is London; back in London for the first time in 4 years for an exhibition called The Sustainability Show. This exhibition started last year (summer in Manchester, fall in London)  After seeing the last show in London via Instagram, I had always wanted to go and see it in person, so my wish came true! In fact, we found out about Ohelo, which we carry at Borderless Creations (tumbler and bottle) through the exhibition last year.

[About The Sustainability Show]
The Sustainability Show is a consumer event - they believe there’s a better way to manage everyday life for everyone, from busy parents and stressed students, to tomorrow’s CEOs. 

The show celebrates sustainable living in a relaxed, festival-like atmosphere with music, talks, workshops, amazing planet-friendly products, and immersive features for all the family. 

Attendees can learn about how to be more sustainable every day, and leave the Sustainability Show full of ideas and confident of how you can reduce your impact on the planet. 

The two-day exhibition was full of talk shows, workshops, events for children, and other activities besides the introduction of goods. Since the exhibition has just started, there were many British companies and brands, and it seemed that there were not many buyers from overseas which makes sense. One important aspect of sustainability is "Think Global, Act Local," so the emphasis this time was on what can be done locally.

I had the chance to listen to several talks - all very informative!  It was great seeing the younger generations (teens mostly) talking about their mission and passions.  Some of the talks were:

• What A Load of Rubbish - Separating the fact from the fiction about your recycling with Recycle4GreaterManchester
• How to Tackle The Plastic Crisis - Tim and Amy Meek from Kids Against Plastic have tips for families to reduce plastic
• How To Use Your Voice to Create an Impact - How individuals can use their voice to create a positive impact for the planet
• What Local Nature Can Do For Us - And How We Can Save It - Young conservationists share how nature has improved their lives and how to get involved in saving it
• You Can Cook This! with Max La Manna - Low waste chef and award-winning author, Max will be talking through recipes, tips and tricks from his latest book

There were many different categories of brands and companies at the show.  Here are some of them that I found interesting:

banana moon clothing - Established in 1993, they are  a family company that has grown from a lifestyle craft business to an agile, responsible and visionary personalised clothing supplier operating from Yorkshire, UK.  Their mission is to create high quality personalised clothing that inspires confidence, conveys personality and unites people around the world. This is done by them collaborating with greatest brands (all sustainable brands) and their skilled designers and printers. Customers can create a positive impact on the environment as well by opting for their eco-friendly range of sustainable hoodies, tees, aprons and more. They take in both personal purchase and business purchases - I thought it would be a great idea for schools, clubs etc to create their team t-shirt etc through a brand like them to make sure that the entire process is sustainable,

ZEDIFY - The UK's largest cargo bike courier. A growing delivery market is leading to congestion and pollution. Delivery vehicles are set to increase 36% by 2030. ZEDIFY designed a logistics model that helps with traffic congestion as well - they consolidate packages at their edge-of-city hubs so they can be piped into a hyper local delivery route alongside other packages coming in or out of that area. Their base is close to each delivery area, so that they can run multiple daily routes on each vehicle and offer chosen delivery windows throughout the day.

Charity Super.Mkt- The UK's first ever multi-charity shop. You can shop for social and environmental good from a curated collection of quality, second-hand fashion and accessories, brought to you by UK's best charity retailers. I saw that the visitors spent quite a long time examining all of the items! I really liked their concept which really showed - "Imagine walking into a shop and being surrounded by retailers that only do good. Imagine a store whose sole purpose is to make a positive contribution to society and the world." 

Hoopsy - Hoopsy Midstream Eco Pregnancy Tests is 99% plastic free and 99% accuracy.  The conventional pregnancy tests are made by plastic : over 400,000 plastic tests are sent to landfills every year.  The Hoopsy Midstream Eco Pregnancy Tests is made of 99% paper and so does not take 20~30 years for it to breakdown. 

Faith In Nature - A B Corp certified natural brand from the UK established in 1974. Naturally derived care for hair, skin & home. Their products are natural, vegan, cruelty free, ethical and sustainable.  You can purchase their products from Japan as well!

Recycle4GreaterManchester / Renew Greater Manchester - Selling good quality, pre-loved household items donated by residents. Home of quality pre-loved, refurbished and upcycled household items! 

Donated pre-loved items are cleaned and repair if necessary and sold at Renew shops and online.  320,000 pounds a year from sales goes to charity, and the remaining fund supports recycling, reuse and waste reduction projects.

These are the amenities that were placed in the hotel where I stayed in Manchester. The toothpaste kit, shower cap, nail files, and others were all sustainable products. For example, the packaging was made of stone paper and the text was printed with 100% soy ink. By switching to this packaging, the carbon footprint has been reduced 60%.

Each product was described in quite a transparent manner and explained according to the 4Rs. For example:

[Shower Cap]
Rethink - reusable product with over 50% bio-based plastic from cornstarch
Recycle - recyclable

[Bamboo toothbrush]
Refuse - 0 plastic used for bamboo toothbrush handle
Rethink - with bio-degradable bamboo toothbrush handle
Reuse - reusable toothbrush 

The research in Manchester was very interesting and I felt that much has evolved and is continues to get better compared from four years ago when I last visited London.