Eco-design isn’t a colour.
It’s a decision you can open up.

A repair service and a second-hand shop, run by the brand that sold you the jacket.

What’s goodFree repair guides, paid repairs, trade-in and resale of used gear — plus advertising that openly asks you to buy less.

Why it worksIt changes the unit of value from “a sale” to “a garment’s lifetime”. A jacket worn nine years instead of three is roughly a third of the footprint per year of use.

The business bitResale keeps the brand in the conversation at a lower price point, which is how younger buyers get in. The repair queue is also the best product-failure database a company can own.

A smartphone you open with an ordinary screwdriver and fix in minutes.

What’s goodScrews instead of glue, replaceable battery, screen and camera modules, spare parts sold openly, long software support.

Why it worksFor a phone, most of the carbon is spent before you switch it on — in mining and manufacture. Keeping one alive for five to seven years beats almost any recycling scheme.

The business bitIt sells a stance, not just a spec sheet, and earns margin on parts and modules instead of forcing an upgrade cycle. Proof that repairability is a product feature people will pay for.

Every part numbered, labelled with a QR code, and for sale on its own.

What’s goodMainboard, ports, keyboard and screen can be swapped by the owner. You can upgrade the guts and keep the shell — the old mainboard becomes a little desktop.

Why it worksUpgrade paths delay the whole-device replacement, which is the single most expensive environmental event in a laptop’s life.

The business bitA parts marketplace turns a one-off purchase into a decade-long relationship, and the repair community does a large share of the marketing for free.

Used lorry tarps, seatbelts and bike inner tubes, cut into bags. Every one different.

What’s goodThe waste stream is the material palette. Scratches and stains become the selling point rather than a defect to hide.

Why it worksIt sidesteps virgin material entirely and makes uniqueness — usually expensive — a free by-product of the sourcing.

The business bitScarcity and one-of-a-kind pricing support premium margins, and the story travels without an ad budget. Constraint became brand.

A shelving system from 1960 that still takes today’s parts.

What’s goodDesigned by Dieter Rams to be added to, moved house with, and never outgrown. The company will help you re-plan it decades later.

Why it worksBackwards compatibility over sixty years is the purest form of waste prevention: the product that never needs replacing.

The business bitCustomers return again and again for extensions, and a strong second-hand market keeps the brand desirable. Slow growth, extraordinary retention.

Replace the worn square by the door, not the whole floor.

What’s goodModular tiles, recycled and bio-based yarns, take-back at end of life, and decades of published progress on carbon per square metre.

Why it worksModularity matches replacement to actual wear. In an office, traffic ruins maybe a fifth of the floor — so you renew a fifth.

The business bitLower lifetime cost is a genuinely winning argument to a facilities manager, and it opened the door to leasing floors rather than selling them.

Sachets, coatings and edible pods made from seaweed and plants.

What’s goodIt disappears naturally — no microplastic tail, no special industrial facility required for the film versions.

Why it worksIt targets the packaging nobody can realistically recycle: tiny, wet, single-use formats. Seaweed also grows without land, fresh water or fertiliser.

The business bitSells into takeaway and event catering, where plastic bans and venue rules are already forcing a switch. Regulation is the sales team.

Mycelium grown around farm waste, in a mould, into protective foam.

What’s goodGrown in days at low energy, home compostable, and it replaces expanded polystyrene — the stuff that outlives everyone reading this.

Why it worksSame protective job, radically different end of life. The customer’s behaviour doesn’t need to change at all.

The business bitLicensed to manufacturers rather than sold direct, so it scales through other people’s factories. Brands buy it to remove polystyrene from their shelf story.

Repair shops inside the shops. Bring the jeans back, they patch them.

What’s goodFree repairs, repair kits by post, and resale of worn-in pairs. The mend is visible and treated as beautiful.

Why it worksIt attacks the fastest-moving waste stream there is, and it teaches customers that clothes are meant to be maintained.

The business bitA repair visit is a store visit. It converts a warranty cost into footfall, loyalty and a very sticky brand story.

The building buys light. The manufacturer keeps owning the fittings.

What’s goodBecause the maker still owns the hardware, it wants luminaires that last, that can be serviced, and whose parts come back.

Why it worksOwnership is the incentive. Selling a product rewards replacement; selling performance rewards durability.

The business bitRecurring revenue instead of lumpy sales, plus reclaimed components. The classic proof that circularity can be a business model, not a cost centre.

Lost a screw, a cam lock, a bracket? Order the part instead of the sofa.

What’s goodFree spare parts, buy-back and resale of used furniture, and flat packing that halves the air shipped in every lorry.

Why it worksAt vast scale, one small fitting keeps an entire piece of furniture in use. Logistics efficiency is unglamorous eco-design that genuinely counts.

The business bitCheap goodwill, fewer returns, and second-hand channels that pull new customers into the ecosystem.

The catch Volume is the elephant in the flat-pack. Repairability helps most when it actually slows replacement.

Everyday brands in durable containers. You return the empties; they’re cleaned and refilled.

What’s goodThe milkman model rebuilt for supermarkets, with a deposit that gives the packaging real value again.

Why it worksReuse beats recycling, because the object survives instead of being melted down. But it only pays off after many cycles — the return rate is everything.

The business bitDeposits and reverse logistics are expensive. Where it works, it locks in repeat purchase and gives brands a premium container people don’t bin.

A 1994 chair updated with recycled content instead of replaced by a new model.

What’s goodRecycled and ocean-bound plastics in the frame, parts available for decades, a warranty long enough to make repair the obvious choice.

Why it worksRefining a classic rather than launching a successor keeps every existing chair serviceable and desirable.

The business bitAn enormous refurbishment market exists precisely because the chair lasts — and every resold Aeron is an advert for the next new one.

Intercepted plastic waste spun into shoe uppers and kit, at millions of pairs a year.

What’s goodIt proved a recycled-content supply chain can operate at global sportswear volume — the hardest part of any material claim.

Why it worksScale is the point. A boutique gesture changes nothing; a default material specification changes an industry’s demand curve.

The catch A shoe is still a glued mix of materials, so it can’t be recycled again. Recycled input is a start, not a loop — and this is exactly where you should get sceptical.

Skip the logo, the dye, the decoration and most of the packaging.

What’s goodSimplified processes, unbleached and irregular materials accepted rather than rejected, refill culture, plain design that dates slowly.

Why it worksThe cheapest impact to eliminate is the one you never add. Subtraction is the most underrated eco-design tool there is.

The business bitLower material and process cost, an instantly recognisable non-brand, and products that stay sellable for years because they were never fashionable.