Brilliant Brands Sharing Stories of Sustainability
From around the world, each in a different industry, all committed to daring to do business differently.
Image with permission from Atelier Ellis. Photographer Ellen Christina Hancock
1. ‘complex and deep, but also quiet and cocooning’
Paint Company - Atelier Ellis
‘the colours are deeply rooted in the natural world, as well as personal memories, marks, and fragments.’
Atelier Ellis makes quiet, beautiful, handmade paint. Everything is done with exceptional care and thought and a deeply personal touch, including their hand-painted paint charts.
There is a calm confidence to their brand presence, with words and images rich with atmosphere and feeling.
‘Inspired by the way we live in nature, cities, and society, the distinctive shades are designed to create quiet, joyful backdrops to people’s homes and lives, helping them tell their unique stories of home.’
Describing themselves as a ‘human-scale business, ’ founder Cassandra Ellis is aware of the responsibility of running a business and its impact.
“How we consume affects not only an individual’s life but also our society and the environment…I believe in true stewardship - taking care, being in service, producing what we need, and communicating the benefits clearly and simply.
Their paint, ‘True Matt Emulsion,’ is now made using a bio-based formulation, including vegetable oil, sugar, and bio ethanol. Based in Bath, 90% of their materials come from the UK, the remainder from Europe.
The ultimate stewardship is to make the best quality paint in unique colours. As an independent business, we are free to choose best practices and materials, while manufacturing in a fair and equal way.’ - Cassandra Ellis
Image with permission from Silo
‘A Restaurant without a bin.’
The world’s first Zero waste restaurant - Silo
‘Imagining a world without waste.’
A story of daring to think differently and find a better way. ‘Silo’ is the determined vision of Chef & owner Doug McMaster who believes, ‘waste is a failure of the imagination.’
‘a restaurant that doesn’t have a bin: from that simple limitation grows a big tree.
At Silo we choose to provide quality through purity, adopting a more primitive diet with techniques both modern and ancient. Zero waste Silo is a restaurant designed from back to front, always with the bin in mind.
The production of waste has been eliminated by simply choosing to trade directly with farmers, using re-usable delivery vessels and choosing local ingredients that themselves generated no waste. Any remaining scraps of food are then composted, closing the loop.’
It’s not just the food, every detail from the furniture to the plates have been made using recycled materials, developed through experimentation, innovation and of course, imagination.
As well as deliciously creative food (how does quaver and vegetable treacle sound?), there’s a book, ‘The Zero Waste Blueprint’ which is part cookbook, part manifesto.
For more inspiration, this film is definitely worth a watch…
Film by Matt Hopkins of Progress Film Company as part of their series ‘England Your England’ which focuses on individuals in society who are breaking ground from an underdog position.
Image with permission from New Dawn Traders
‘buy less, buy better, buy local, by sail.’
Food Suppliers - New Dawn Traders
‘From across the oceans by the power of the wind, we welcome a new dawn for shipping cargo under sail.’
New Dawn Traders is a Cornish company, that wants to change global trade, offering an alternative and more sustainable way to transport goods.
An estimated 90% of the world’s goods are transported by sea. For many of us, it’s only when a significant event occurs, like a ship getting stuck or a route closing because of war, that we give much thought to how the things we buy have reached us.
New Dawn Traders is working to change that.
‘We trade in wild ideas and delicacies, working with sailing cargo vessels to import produce from across the Atlantic Ocean and along European coastlines pollution-free. Inspired by people, projects, and businesses that promote resilience in local food systems….with our network of ships, producers, and allies, we are building new models for supply chains that put the planet and people first.
New Dawn traders want to reconnect with the journeys of the things we buy to encourage us to focus on what we really need and what can be found locally…playing our part in the global movement to bring food trade to a human scale & consumerism to a conscious level.
The cargos that WE choose to sail over from distant lands are of value because they are products that cannot be grown in England and are of cultural significance and curiosity – the luxuries in life that are worth savouring; like coffee, chocolate, and rum.’
Definitely an idea we can get on board with.
Visit their website to read more about their values and vision. A truly seasonal business, always planning their next voyage and awaiting a favourable wind.
Image with permission from Rootfull
‘Growing lighting fashion and sculpture with biology.’
At the intersection of science, art and design - Rootfull
‘Rootfull cultivates root textile and bridges two seemingly separate worlds from underwater to underground whilst blending artistry, material science, and sustainability.’
I gasped the first time I discovered the work of Zena Holloway and her business Rootfull.
Zena is an incredibly talented underwater photographer. As a diver, she saw the realities and devastating consequences of plastic pollution in our oceans, witnessing marine life being destroyed by climate change.
Zena didn’t look away, instead she dared to question the way things are made and from that curiosity the idea ‘took root and grew.’
She set up ‘Rootfull’ an innovative business that’s seeking to disrupt the material choices we make.
‘Rootfull is a material innovation company developing a new generation of root textile solutions for the circular economy.’
Through exploration and research, Rootfull is developing ways that we might grow new materials. Using wheatgrass seed she’s creating art, sculptures, textiles and even wedding dresses. But more importantly she’s daring to imagine another, better way inspiring more sustainable solutions that could help to slow or reverse climate change.
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