Millions of new iPhone 13s will be wending their way to excited customers this week, with the new model’s release on Friday.
Its new and improved features include a smaller carbon footprint: the iPhone 13 represents 64kg CO2e in greenhouse gases compared to 72kg CO2e for the equivalent iPhone 12.
But trading in your old smartphone for the newest model is the worst thing you could do. According to Apple’s own metrics, 81 per cent of the phone’s lifecycle carbon emissions are released during production.
The energy required to mine the rare materials for iPhones is huge. According to one report, “buying a new phone takes as much energy as recharging and operating a smartphone for an entire decade.”
Resisting the urge to own the latest iPhone won’t reverse emissions for the products hitting the shelves on Friday, but it will help to limit how many phones are made in the future.
Halal cosmetics are gaining traction beyond the core demographic of observant Muslim consumers thanks to the vegan and ethical beauty movements. But running a halal brand has its challenges. Read more (BoF)
A report by strategic foresight consultancy The Future Laboratory, notes that the cosmetics industry creates 120 billion units of packaging a year and predicts that by 2050, the beauty industry will have contributed up to 12 billion tonnes of plastic to landfill.
In an effort to combat the plastic problem, a number of beauty brands are using innovative biomaterial alternatives. Below, we explore some of the most interesting solutions yet. Read more (Wallpaper)
More than 90 materials, ranging from recycled paper, plastic, metals and leather made from kombucha, were presented at the first workshop, which took place in December. “I wanted to create an open-source space that’s democratised in the sense that it can be added to by designers, artists and other people during workshops,” says Edwards, asking: “What is Johannesburg’s material future?” Read more (Times)
What makes the difference between a sustainability program that produces business value and one that doesn’t? A new survey identifies practices that distinguish value-creating companies from others. Read more (McKinsey & Co.)
The laundry capsules, available through the brand Omo and launching in China April 22, result from a partnership between Unilever, biotech company LanzaTech, and green chemical company India Glycols. LanzaTech, which has a commercial plant running in China that turns carbon emissions from a steel mill into ethanol, has already used its carbon recycling process to turn those emissions into jet fuel and alcohol for fragrances. Read more (Fast Company)
In hindsight, we were lucky. Many creatures of this Earth didn’t live to see 2030. Humans could not save the animals we’d damned, but at least you and I are still here, right? Some people, though, couldn’t live with the destruction and chaos around them. Others had little choice when death came knocking. I remember the last time I saw you; we sat on your new deck, thinking of the world your sweet, curly haired boy was entering. A world plagued with death—deaths that lie at the feet of elected officials who ignored and denied the many crises we faced, and who took every penny the fossil fuel industry gave them. Read more (Patagonia)
Nona Source, which launches this Monday, is the brainchild of Romain Brabo, formerly a materials buyer at LVMH-owned Givenchy. “In my role, I would go to warehouses, and I saw the multiplication of deadstocks,” he says. “I thought: on one hand, there are young designers seeking beautiful fabrics to make their collections; on the other hand, couture houses are storing materials they have no use for. How to create a link between them?” Nona is one of the Parcae in Roman mythology, Brabo explains. She spins the thread of life, and Source is a reference to “sourcing”. Read more (Vogue Business)
Investing in development without putting pressure on the outcomes is key, adds Lebanese-Canadian systems designer Céline Semaan-Vernon, co-founder of Slow Factory Foundation. Over the past year, Slow Factory has run an incubator programme called One x One with Swarovski and the United Nations, pairing three New York-based designers with scientists working on sustainable materials. Read more (Vogue Business)
