🌱 Brands using the Doughnut: A look at how Doughnut Economics can shape your strategy
+ 3 ways you can start using the Doughnut
Happy Monday! Every Monday we suit up and get serious - digging into a climate topic, rounding up the past week’s Good(s) News and sharing updates from across FTF, so you’re never out of the loop.
Last week we celebrated Global Doughnut Days (6-9th of November). And we’re not talking the kind of Doughnuts you’re thinking of Patricia… we are talking economics of course. To mark the occasion we invited Tim to write a guest post since he is a bit of a pro at teaching businesses how to use ‘Doughnut Design’ for businesses. Not only will you be leaving with tips on how to adopt the model yourself, but you might also save some money on that power drill you were eyeing up after you read his case study!
Read on to get the latest good news from the consumer goods x sustainability world and check out what the team has been up to over the past week.
> In Focus
Not so fast moving consumer goods
by Tim Frenneaux
Did you know that, per person, the UK is the world's second largest producer of electronic waste? Or that material circularity is actually declining in the global economy?
This is the, perhaps surprising, context for the work of London-based social enterprise Library of Things, who are on a radical mission to make borrowing stuff better than buying it.
Their approach is described in a series of recent case studies that explore real-world businesses through the lens of Doughnut Economics.
Library of Things enables people to rent household items from community hubs on their local high street. They work with equipment providers such as Bosch, Karcher, Stihl and The North Face, who gain direct consumer feedback on their kit and get to engage with circular business models unavailable from their traditional retailers operating with the old linear model.
What is Doughnut Economics?
Doughnut Economics is a transformational take on sustainability that has established itself as one of the leading frameworks for brands and places to establish a systemic understanding of their impact on, and contribution to, the world.
Based on the book of the same name, published in 2017 by renegade economist Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics neatly combines globally agreed approaches on ecological limits and basic social needs, to provide a simple visual summary of where we are and where we're heading.
When drawn as two concentric circles, with the 9 nine planetary boundaries on the outside and the 12 social needs from the UN Sustainable Development Goals on the inside, the doughnut defines what Kate describes as the 'safe and just space for humanity'. And, of course, it's the shape of everyone's favourite deep-fried sugary snack!
Kate's team, the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL), have a specific methodology for applying their framework to business, called Doughnut Design for Business. This open-source methodology is facilitated through a global network of independent consultants, advisors, designers and coaches. Or Organisations in Action, as the DEAL team calls them.
The method involves mapping business activity onto the doughnut, the good stuff and the not-so-good, and then re-imagining how the business could be more regenerative by employing circular-economy and biomimicry principles and more redistributive by shifting money, power and resources around within the company, supply chains and customers.
This transformational approach goes beyond incremental tweaks to reveal just how beneficial our businesses could become when we open ourselves up to what is needed in response to this pivotal moment for life on earth.
The Doughnut in action
This is just what Library of Things have been working on since starting out in 2014 when they began iterating their approach to become a business that the world truly needs.
The Doughnut Design for Business methodology extends way past simply imagining how business can be better; it helps founders and leaders unpack how their business design enables or blocks opportunities to be better, by looking at purpose, ownership, financing, governance and networks.
Library of Things had to work this out for themselves. When they realised their initial business model prevented them from finding and working with the right type of investment, they brought Barefoot Lawyer Patrick Andrews on board to establish a mission lock on their purpose. This allowed them to secure investment, safe in the knowledge that investors couldn't disrupt their core purpose.
Library of Things are now firmly established in 19 community hubs across London and have a licensing model which allows places further afield to shortcut their learning and jump straight into giving local folk the tools and equipment they need and save money whilst they save the planet.
The Doughnut Design For Business methodology provides a similar shortcut for companies looking to transform business-as-usual and become the trusted brands of the future. Read more about Library of Things along with a host of other doughnut-aligned business case studies on the DEAL website.
How can you start using the Doughnut Economics framework?
Generate regenerative ideas for your business by viewing it from a completely different perspective - what would these different voices say about it? Local communities? Nearby forests and rivers? Workers in the supply chain? The air and soil? Employees? The living planet? Customers? Future generations? Investors? Who else has an opinion that isn’t typically heard? Stretch suggestion - act out these perspectives and use them to generate radical visions for your future.
Print out these ‘Seven ways to think like a 21st Century Economist’ and host short stand-ups to discuss each one. Stretch suggestion - start a Doughnut Economics book club by reading and discussing a chapter each week/month with colleagues.
Give the Doughnut Design for Business methodology a go yourself using this 2-hour taster session framework. Stretch suggestion - work with an ‘Organisation in Action’ to reimagine your business
> Follow up with…
Case Study: Library of Things: Doughnut Design Case Study, DEAL
Tool: Doughnut Design for Business - Core Tool, DEAL
> Last week in consumer goods x climate…
The Good(s) News
» Challenger brands
🎯 Revo Foods and Paleo announced their new partnership to develop plant-based salmon alternatives containing precision-fermented myoglobin. This is designed by using 3D structuring technology where it is backed by €2.2m EU funding.
🎯 Good on You announced their new Beauty Sustainability Scorecard, providing ratings for beauty industry in their platform. It provides insights on how the industry scores on timely sustainability issues.
🎯 The Resilience Project announced its partnership with LUSH, where LUSH stores will become a central location for their community youth-led programmes. These free spaces are designed for young people to share their experiences in response to rising Climate Anxiety.
» Bigger organisations
⭐ Tetra Pak and Lactalis Group announced their launch on first-of-its-kind packaging solution using recycled polymers from used beverage carton, certified by ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification PLUS. This ensures the quality and sustainability of materials using mass balance method to trace them through the supply chain.
⭐ Too Good to Go announced its Food Waste Gap Report 2024, revealing insights to the gap between food waste awareness and action among consumers and businesses in the UK. This report is in partnership with Opinion Matters, where they found 68% of consumers feel more aware of food waste then they did five years ago.
⭐️ eBay Ventures announced their Circular Fashion Fund, inviting circular fashion business that are looking to scale with mentorship and investment to participate. The funds is launching in the US and Germany, along with UK and Australia. They are collaborating with British Fashion Council, Australian Fashion Council, Council of Fashion Designers of America and Fashion Council Germany. Application opens until November 15, 2024.
⭐️ REI announced its new approach to sizing their product line, providing broader size range of clothes that consumers will buy and leads to less stock and waste. This is due to their price parity across all its brands and products regardless of size where traditionally, sizes XXL and above would have an extra cost.
⭐️ Patagonia announced their implementation of Trove’s new Resale Plugin, a tool that allows brand to integrate pre-owned items alongside new products on the e-commerce site. This offers shoppers a streamlined way to browse both options as part of its expanded Worn Wear programme.
Want good news sooner? We post our top 5 stories in our LinkedIn newsletter every Friday! If your CPG brand has good news to share, let us know.👇
> In case you missed it
Want more? Here’s what’s happening across FTF at the moment…
Busy out and about: Ellie spoke on a panel about working in climate as a marketer, Laura spoke in a workshop at Design for Planet Festival about getting buy in from leaders for sustainable design, and James was busy with the 2024 Earthshot Prize events.
We internally announced another amazing new team member! You remember Aurore who wrote last week’s amazing Fake Farms article? Well we are excited to welcome her to the core team and we look forward to making a wider announcement on LinkedIn soon.
We shared a little video throwing back to our event at Nudie Jeans earlier this year. Check it out!
Want more? Hang tight for ‘The Check-Out’ this Thursday for the latest brands in our basket. In the meantime, if you have any topics that you would like us to dig into, ping us an email on info@followingthefootprints.com to say hi!
Much love,
Team FTF