Sustainable Lifestyle Trends This Week – 12-18-20

1. home delivery of sustainably grown meat – hickory nut gap farm

As sustainable businesses adapt to our pandemic-induced homebody lifestyles, sustainably-minded consumers are the beneficiaries.

Hickory Nut Gap Farm is a working farm on the outskirts of Asheville, NC just down the road from my home. Their grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, and chicken are grown without antibiotics or added hormones. The brand does a brisk business with groceries like Whole Foods and Food Lion.

Recently, HNG started selling mouth-watering sampler boxes of its meats available for online ordering and nationwide delivery. It’s equal parts convenient and delicious.

2. solar spreading to dense urban locations – jfk airport

3. Recycled leather is going to eat cow leather’s lunch 

Or something like that. ATKO, a Korean company is at the cutting-edge of creating a legitimate eco-friendly alternative to mass-produced leather.

The company’s natural, recycled leather yarn and fabrics are made from cow leather scraps sourced from leading tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group. The closed-loop process uses no water, no toxic substances, and creates no additional environmental pollution.

Fashion brands, from the likes of Zara and Armani, are already signing up. 

4. the eco-friendliest eco-friendly reusable water Bottle

Earlier this week, I covered a select few reusable water bottles that are made of recycled materials. I felt it important to highlight them because most brands – even the most beloved reusable bottle brands, bank on our obliviousness to the fact that their products are made from finite, virgin raw materials (the opposite of sustainable).

Then I discovered Yuhme, which appears to be the most eco-friendly reusable water bottle on the planet. It’s made from naturally renewable,  sugarcane using a zero-waste production process that results in a CO2 negative footprint. From a social benefit perspective, every Yuhmi bottle purchased provides at least 3 months of clean drinking water to someone living in the Central African Republic.

5. repair is the new reuse – Allen Edmonds and more

If green is (or was) the new black, and reuse is the new recycling, then repair is the new reuse. And that’s a mouthful of sustainable jargon.

Brands are extending the useful life of their products, cultivating brand loyalty among consumers, and earning a few bucks in the process by establishing services to mend, repair, and, in the case of Allen Edmonds, the venerable, 100-year old American men’s footwear brand, recraft worn shoes.

The upshot for the environment is that fewer new products are purchased and fewer used products end up in the landfill. The benefit to consumers is that companies charge much less to repair previously purchased items, so consumers can go on wearing what they love.

A growing number of companies offer such services including Nudie Jeans, Filson, Patagonia, Barbour, Finisterre, and Taylor Stitch. Robb Report has a fantastic article on how luxury fashion houses like Hermès and Brunello Cucinelli offer mending services too.