Bringing Design and Sustainability to the Public

For a year now the EYE OF THE STORM has focused on different aspects of design and sustainability, and the importance of both for people, companies, and the environment. Live Love & Prosper is a new company designed to further the mission of bringing Design Literacy and Sustainability to the general public outside of the packaging and design industries.

For a year now, Butterflies & Hurricanes has been discussing the importance of design and its ability to address and solve not only business problems, but also larger problems that are facing the world and the Earth. We have discussed many of the benefits for companies who transition to sustainable ways of doing business. And we have discussed the importance of increasing the design literacy of the general population.

So, we decided to "Put our money where our mouth is," as the Americans say. We have just launched a new side company, Live Love & Prosper, who's purpose is to bring great design and sustainability to the general population.

After much consideration and research we settled on the idea of an e-shop. E-shops use less resources than brick and mortar stores, and can reach far more people, and allow us to be more agile; and, via social media and data analytics, we are able to extend the brand relationship down to, practically, an individual level.

Meet Lolo Prosper. She is Live Love & Prosper's Mascot. She is a good, but sometimes mischievous, little fairy.

Above: This is one of the videos used to demonstrate the Sustainability Criteria that Live Love & Prosper uses to judge its products. The animations are done by local animator Ken Nash.

Here is a peek into a few of the products that demonstrate Sustainable Design, which are now being sold on the Live Love & Prosper website. The site itself is open for business, but still under construction with daily improvements based on customer feedback.

As you can see the site's design incorporates many elements of the undigital trend, into a fully digital shopping platform.

STOP THE WATER WHILE USING ME is a line of all-natural products that combine sustainability and design.

They use no silicon, paraffin or other petroleum-based raw materials, no synthetic colorings or aromas, and are not tested on animals, and the bottles are refillable.
They are designed to raise awareness of the global concern over water conservation.
Their minimalistic packaging design only reinforces the simplicity and purity of the product.
And, because "Giving Back Is the New Black", with every purchase they donate to fascinating new water projects around the world, like installing fog collectors in Tanzania.

Above: Stop the Water While Using me, rosemary and grapefruit shampoo, and cucumber lime soap.

BEE'S WRAP is an exciting sustainable product for food storage.

It is an alternative to plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
It can be washed and reused many times.
Bee’s Wrap is biodegradable and compostable.
The fabric and printing is GOTS certified.
The beeswax is sourced from sustainably kept hives and only organic jojoba oil is used.
Bee’s wax and jojoba oil have natural antibiotic properties to protect food.
It provides local bee farmers another source of income, during trying times.
And it comes in several styles and colors to suit personal tastes.

Above: Bee's Wrap, sustainable food storage made of certified GOTS cotton, bee's wax and organic jojoba oil.

Live Love & Prosper’s motto is, “Giving Back is the New Black”. A portion of every purchase goes to a registered charity, and has the unique customer-centric element of allowing the customer a choice to which charity the donation from their purchase will go.

Above: Kraft paper bags that are as rugged as leather and waterproof, bamboo pulp dishes, burial urns that grow a tree from your ashes.

A quick look around the web will reveal the rapid growth of this new GIVING BACK trend in business, because data have shown that people want it.

The number of companies that, as a normal part of their transactions, give a portion of the purchase price to charities is growing daily. This is not just cynical marketing. Yes, large profits are being made, but at the same time they are helping where help is needed, and are building stronger brand relationships because of it.

There is even a search engine, Ecosia, that puts at least 80% of its surplus income into planting trees in and they have already planted over 3,000,000 trees.

Projects of this type are profitable in part because they are their own marketing campaign and companies save millions on advertising. This is happening at companies in many countries.

Above: Discarded vinyl records cut into clocks, up-cycled textile boxes, up-cycled wooden furniture. Local designers can sell their up cycled creations on the LIve Love & Prosper site.

This is the smartness of the sustainability model: Business and finance are not seen as the enemy – as they have been for decades – they are seen as an equal and necessary third leg of the sustainability table. And everyone benefits.

A business or product is considered sustainable when it maximizes, in equal portions, the benefits for business, society, and the environment, both in the present and in the future.
Sustainable design considers the whole life of a product, from the raw materials used, their transport and processing, all the way through to the end of the product's useful life, and where the materials end up after that. It also considers the energy and water used in each and every step of the production process.
Sustainability “enables all people to realize their potential and to improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the Earth’s life support systems.” –Forum for the Future.
Sustainability is the cornerstone concept of the Circular Economy, which finds new value streams from previously worthless materials and waste, therefore reducing waste, creating jobs and new economic opportunities.

Designer dishes are made of 100% biodegradable bamboo pulp that is fused into a light porcelain-like material that you have to touch to believe. They are virtually unbreakable, contain none of the petroleum, bisphenol A (BPA), or other inorganic compounds found in plastic dishes which can leech into food.

Bamboo is a renewable and sustainable resource. It is harder than oak, and one of the fastest growing plants in the world. A full sized bamboo stalk grows in only 5 years and can be harvested without damaging the root system, so it grows back.

Above: A bamboo forest in China.

Above: Designer 8Pandas bamboo pulp dishes designed by Simon Busse and Pino, pink child's set, and white dinner set.

Though the site isn't yet complete, Live Love & Prosper is focused on customer-centricity, and is trying to create a new type of online shopping experience.

The Live Love e-shop has a number of special features. Below shows how products are rated for their sustainability. Each green button can be moused over for text information, or clicked on for Lolo videos which explain them in a fun way.

The effects of making and using the product are judged in six categories:

Water
Climate & Energy
Use of Resources
Effects on people and societies
Health effets
Effects on biodiversity

An overall Sustainability Score is then calculated. This customer centric element allows people to get as much or as little information about the sustainability of the product as they want, so that they can make a well-informed buying decision.

ABOVE: The Sustainability Score card for food storage.

And for customer-centricity we are most focused on making going sustainable, not only much easier, but fun.

This is because the environment, health effects and all things related to it are such a heavy topic, and for many so frightening that they avoid it all together, that people need to see that there is a lighter side. Going eco- can not only be fun and exciting it can change

And FINALLY, You are cordially invited to the Live Love & Prosper Pop Up Store.

The opening night party, with live music by Adrian T. Bell is the evening of Friday November 27th.
The store will also be open Saturday the 28th, and Sunday the 29th of November in Prague 7.

Pop Up Stores are a new customer-centric trend in the age of e-shops, and they aid company agility, because shops are not tied to a single location, they can move to where the customers are without the expense of maintaining a permanent brick-and-mortar store.

Not only do Pop Up Stores allow e-shoppers to touch, feel and even try products they otherwise wouldn't be able to online, they are perfect for social media promotion.