The theme of this week has without a doubt been ‘learning’. Did you know, for example, if you switch your camera off during a video call you can make a 96% energy saving? Did you know that the LEGO Group is exploring the uses for e-methanol from biomatter (yes, animal poo)? And were you aware of how much the UK gift industry can drink?
If you were there at the Gift of the Year Awards and Gift Retailer Awards last night, or – indeed – if you have any dealings with the UK gift industry whatsoever, the answer to the latter is a resounding ‘yes’. The gift sector certainly knows how to party.
And what an occasion for it last night was! Marking the 21st anniversary of the Gift of the Year Awards and the second anniversary of its collaboration with the Giftware Association to bring the Gift Retailer Awards into the mix, the party went on until the small hours as an industry came together to celebrate the achievements and innovation propelling it forwards and into a new future of business.
Products of Change had the honour of sponsoring and presenting the award for Ethical and Sustainable Gift of the Year, a category that really does showcase the best of sustainable development and pioneering business operations, and one we know caused this year’s panel of judges a tremendous amount of turmoil in selecting the overall winner. We want to give a big shout out to all those shortlisted for the award: Honest Bottle, Trashy School Bag, Elite, The Silicone Straw Company, and Go La La for taking the steps to move the needle in businesses practices and gift innovation.
On the night, however, the award went to the well deserving team at Love Coco for their Love Coco Coconut Bowls – a beautiful collection of upcycled, hand-crafted coconut bowls, demonstrating a wonderfully mindful way of capturing the value in food waste. Massive congratulations to the whole team.
It was great to catch up with our gift industry friends including the teams at the Giftware Association and Hyve Group and to celebrate a triumphant moment for Products of Change member Talking Tables whose founder, Clare Harris who was awarded this year’s Honorary Achievement for her dedication to putting purpose at the centre of business and using her business as a force for good to deliver a positive impact on local communities and stakeholders. Massive congratulations to Clare on the very well-deserved accolade.
It’s at this point of day – the day after the night before – that I am particularly glad there’s a very real environmental reason for me to have my camera off during video calls. That’s a piece of knowledge worth having in the back pocket. It arrived courtesy of a special guest speaker session we hosted this week, when Rich Brassett, the co-founder of Long Live King joined the POC community to talk through our Digital Impact and the small, simple, yet highly effective steps we can all take to reduce it.
The digital world is one filled with hidden impact. We discovered this week that it actually represents 3% of global emissions – putting it in the same league as aviation. There are 320 billion emails sent a day, each of them with a carbon impact attached. Of course, society thrives on communication and technology has opened wonderful doors in connecting people all around the world. But, thanks to Rich and his fascinating presentation (which will be available for POC members to watch On Demand next week) we will certainly be more mindful when it comes to sending the cat memes around the office.
The LEGO Group’s Sine Møller put on her Products of Change Ambassador for Toys hat earlier this week as she led her own discussion on the discussion of plastics in the toy industry. Sine delivered a fantastic talk on the latest steps and innovation in LEGO’s world of plastic and polymers, talking us through eye-opening developments into the toy maker’s use of bioplastics, recycled plastics, and a brand new venture into the world of animal poo.
Yes, the LEGO Group have partnered with European Energy and Novo Nordisk to deliver e-methanol as a lower-carbon alternative to conventional plastic production. Sine’s deeply interesting presentation is available for Products of Change members to watch On Demand.
The meetings keep on coming! We’re very excited to host our second Paper Work Stream meeting on Tuesday, May 16thwhere we’ll be joined by the not-for-profit Two Sides to hear all about paper’s sustainable story before our Ambassador for Fashion, Julia Redman hosts special guest Zak Johnson, founder of Reborn and Naeco to showcase innovations in our Fashion Workstream webinar on Wednesday, 24th May.
By then, we’ll be just about ready for Licensing Expo. And do we have an exciting agenda this year. Things are still brewing but we look forward to divulging a lot more about that in next week’s Friday Thoughts.
For now, and for everyone in full-scale Gift of the Year Awards recovery mode – let’s hope the weekend gives us some time for recuperation, with the laptop camera well and truly switched off.
Have a great weekend
