Made in Britain’s Sustainability Matters webinar series continues, with a focus this month on Sport and Leisure. We were joined by Judith McMinn, Founder at Rezon, Wesley Clarke-Sullivan, Marketing Manager at Icon LifeSaver and Charlotte and Sophie Wilson, Founders of Yana Active. The panel was hosted by Green Growth Programme Manager, Victoria Page.
This month’s webinar opened with a round of applause for Judith and the team at Rezon, who were still celebrating their recent win for Product Innovation PPE of the Year at the Health and Safety Awards. Rezon is an – award winning! – protective headband for use in multiple sports, including rugby and football to protect the brain from injury.
Rezon were joined by Yana Active, an ethical, sustainable women’s activewear brand launched by sisters Charlotte and Sophie. And finally, Icon Lifesaver removes viruses from water, making dirty water safe to drink. Wesley Clarke-Sullivan led with an incredible statistic – 843 million people do not have access to safe water to drink, and global water scarcity is becoming an increasing threat. Icon LifeSaver is helping to address that problem. Especially during times of natural disasters where infrastructure is affected, Icon LifeSaver works with governments and international aid organisations to help make clean drinking water accessible and available.
Yana Active has an equally interesting story, with one of their products using old fishing nets which are turned into nylon thread. Termed the ‘endless regeneration cycle’ Yana Active is determined to use materials that are better for the planet than virgin raw materials. Similarly, Rezon is working hard to educate consumers too. Each product is fully upcyclable or recyclable and Rezon provides full transparency over how products are made and how to care for them. For Rezon, providing this kind of information to customers is very important, and the brand has found that more and more people are asking these questions and expect answers. Rezon also offers a take back scheme, incentivising users to return their products in exchange for a discount on future purchases.
For Icon LifeSaver, the brand underwent a reappraisal in recent years and established their audiences as hikers, climbers, fishermen and others interested in outdoor pursuits. Of course, these people are also the most passionate about protecting the areas they love to explore and so sustainability is top of mind. In response, Icon LifeSaver reviewed how they could become a more sustainable business and removed all unnecessary plastic from packaging.
Both Yana Active and Rezon are also big believers in sustainable business. Both have explored sustainable certifications such as Organic and BCorp, because certifications provide a mark of validation for the customer. Judith commented, “We can’t mark our own homework” and this is true for every business wanting to make a difference.
Sustainability Matters webinar series is part of Made in Britain’s Green Growth Programme.
The Green Growth Assessment and Programme are designed to help every manufacturer become more sustainable, by understanding their progress and then taking concrete steps to improve. The service is free to all Made in Britain members via their Member Profile and is completely confidential. To find out more about joining Made in Britain, visit here.
By Made in Britain 1 year ago | By Made in Britain