Who said sustainability can’t be fun?
Find out more about the equestrian-inspired Fayton concept car at Yanko Design.
| Tags: electric vehicles, Fayton 
Post a Comment | in Design, New Consumer, Sustainability, Uncategorized
Ever wonder how much good you’re doing–and money you’re saving–with that reusable water bottle? Aftefact’s Fernd Van Engelen did, and he’s come up with the 999bottle–a concept bottle that lets the user keep track of how many times it’s refilled. An app interprets the number and presents it in a visual way (e.g., at 147 bottles, you’ve saved $326 and seven gallons of oil by replacing a stack of plastic bottles that would run 15 stories high). Social media is also integrated into the concept, with groups of friends able to visualize their collective contribution.
Read more about it on Artefact.
Euro RSCG Worldwide’s just released The Big Little Book of Nexts cites a number of companies taking a more responsible approach to transportation. Take a look:
Mobius One is a no-frills SUV designed for safe, affordable travel in Africa. It’s an attempt to mobilize a population that struggles daily to access distant supplies and services, including clean drinking water, healthcare facilities, and jobs.
Click to read more…
Happiness is much on people’s minds these days, what with governments talking about Gross National Happiness and “happiness economics” increasingly a subject of study. Our global study of the New Consumer found that a majority of people surveyed–including nearly two-thirds in China and three-quarters in Brazil–are actively trying to figure out what really makes them happy. In a TED Talk last year, Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister shares his thoughts on the topic–along with some very cool designs.
Click to read more…
Respondents to Euro RSCG’s New Consumer survey are tired of living in a culture of “throwawayism.” Just more than half (54 percent–ranging from a low of 48 percent in the U.S. and Japan to a high of 75 percent in China) are making an effort to buy fewer disposable goods, and around three-quarters (72 percent) said reducing the amount of waste they create makes them “feel good.”
Assisting in the cause is a young British designer named Samuel Davies, who hopes to spark what he calls a “repair-ware” craze that will inspire other designers to build products consumers can actually fix themselves.
Click here to read more about the repair-ware revolution on AlterNet.
Image credit: Creative Commons/postbear@flickr.com
Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study uncovered a movement toward “intelligent simplification”:
• 70 percent of the global respondent base respect/admire people who live simply (minimal purchases, debt free, etc.), while only 19% respect/admire people who live a high-luxury lifestyle.
• 67 percent believe most people would be better off if they lived more simply.
Click to read more…
Seven in ten global respondents to Euro RSCG’s New Consumer survey said saving money makes them feel good about themselves, yet a majority (56 percent) have trouble saving as much as they’d like, and 43 percent admit to sometimes feeling bad about themselves for overspending. To the rescue: three prototype high-tech wallets designed by MIT Media Lab’s Information Ecology group. Each wallet automatically connects to the user’s bank account and makes it easier or more difficult to spend money based upon the available balance.
Click to read more…
Across the globe, environmentally friendly fashion is becoming ever more fashionable
Eco fashion got a high-powered boost with the announcement that Harry Potter star Emma Watson is teaming with Alberta Ferretti on an eco-friendly line. Perhaps the popular British actress will help turn her countrymen’s perceptions of green style around (recent research indicates that European consumers view eco-fashion negatively, while North American buyers perceive it as young and trendy). Serendipitously, the Museum at FIT in Manhattan recently housed an exhibit called “Eco-Fashion: Going Green,” while the New York duo Costello Tagliapietra landed a first-place spot in the latest Eco Challenge. Efforts also are being made to bring sustainable fashion practices to India and Singapore, even for luxury goods.
Whoever said it’s not easy being green?
A version of this piece originally ran on Euro RSCG Worldwide’s social media blog.
Have you felt the end of the recession yet?
It’s officially been over for quite a bit but, you and I both know, the global economic crisis is far from over.
The economy is in a period of great reset. The old ways will fall away and new ways of commerce will prevail. This isn’t a far-flung prophecy; it’s an observation of changes taking place already.
Click to read more…
| Tags: cause marketing, conscious consumption, consumption, CSR, culture, DIY, excess, financial crisis, freelancing, frugality, green, John Gerzema, mindful consumption, mindful spending, New Consumer, provenance, Recession, Retail, Scoutie Girl, self-employment, service economy, simplicity movement, sourcing, Sustainability, Tara Gentile, thrift, transparency, values Post a Comment | 1 Comment | in Community, Consumerism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Design, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Prosumers, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Shopping, Social Media, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Value, Values
Euro RSCG global research shows that three-quarters of consumers believe businesses must be completely open and transparent, and seven in ten are much more aware these days of the nutritional/health value of the foods they eat—and yet only one-third actually trust the food industry to provide them with healthful products. A good first step in building trust would be to make it easy for shoppers to know what they’re really buying.
This post originally appeared on Co.Design and is reprinted with permission.
Infographic of the Day: Food Packaging Tells You Exactly What’s Inside
Ingredient lists make no sense. Infographics, to the rescue!
Ingredient lists on food, once thought to be a benefit to consumers, are a joke these days. Take the Gatorade sitting on my desk. Just some sugar water, right? It contains monopotassium phosphate, glycerol ester of rosin, and sodium citrate. Huh?
Click to read more…
| Tags: accountability, Anne Dahlin, Cliff Kuang, Co.Design, conscious consumption, Euro RSCG, Fast Company, food, ingredients, labels, mindful consumption, New Consumer, packaging, transparency Post a Comment | in Consumerism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Design, New Consumer, Purposeful Pleasure, Responsibility, Shopping, Uncategorized, Values
