Citizen Zero’s essential picks for responsible consumers
Coffee Kreis
More than two billion cups of coffee are consumed every day worldwide and 99% of used coffee grounds are treated as waste. Add that to the 250 billion single-use coffee cups disposed of every year and you realise coffee has a problem. In landfill, this waste causes greenhouse gas emissions and acidic leachate, which damages soils. Coffee Kries does it differently, collecting used coffee grounds to make these sustainable, reusable and biodegradable cups. It then repurposes them at the end of their life.
Rashki Fede
A typical leather cow-hide bag requires more than 10,000 litres of water and over 100kgs of CO2 per metre. Not so for Rashki’s Fede tote, a vegan bag made from Banofi, a banana fibre-based leather made from banana crop waste and which has a significantly lower environmental impact than both animal and plastic leather.
Bird Blackcap
There’s 12 layers of Forestry Stewardship Council-approved bamboo, beach, and sandalwood, and two layers of recycled aluminium in these unassuming sunglasses. Which sums up Bird’s approach to protecting nature by design perfectly. It operates a stringent supply chain, and makes its products from recycled and natural materials.
Stir It Up Lux
House of Marley, created in collaboration with the Marley family to celebrate Bob Marley’s love for music and planet, places its sustainable and ethical credentials as highly as it does its audio quality. Stir It Up Lux is high-spec technology. It’s also crafted from sustainable materials like cork, bamboo, and reclaimed post-consumer waste.
Dr Martens Genix Nappa
It’s leather, but not as you know it. Dr Martens’ new Genix Nappa collection is designed to tackle leather waste. Developed in collaboration with sustainable recycled leather company Gen Phoenix, it uses leather offcuts that would otherwise be destined for landfill to create a soft, durable and lower carbon alternative for shoes and boots.
Pure X McLaren
A quick disclaimer: we’re not promising you’ll be hurtling around town at the pace of this scooter’s sister F1 car. But, however fast you’re going, you’ll be doing it with zero emissions thus helping reduce air pollution. You’ll also get 31 miles range, folding handlebars, 10” puncture-resistant tyres, and 710w of power.
1352: Refreshed Sneakers
Canadian households throw away $1,352 of food waste every year. A number that Hellmann’s Canada is handily reminding people of with its 1352: Refreshed Sneakers. A partnership between the food brand and sustainable trainer company ID.EIGHT, the shoes are made from food waste from produce like apples, corn, and grapes.