IDEAS FOR GOODThe 87th Tokyo International Gift Show Spring 2019 was held for 4 days at Tokyo Bit Sight from February 12th-15th. It is the largest international trade show in Japan, exhibiting products such as personal gifts and housewares.
“LIFE x DESIGN” is a co-located event of this gift show, exhibiting the latest design products and homemaking under the theme of “life, design, new era”. The exhibition also showcased product ideas to fit various lifestyles.
“BIO HOTEL™️ STYLE” is an exhibition area in “LIFE x DESIGN” which gathers products and services based on the concept of sustainability.
Sustainability is likely to become the next standard in society. Here is a report on the thoughts and trends of enterprises that take sustainability seriously and adopt the essence of the concept in their products and services.
“BIO HOTEL™️ STYLE”, where radical meets sustainability
“BIO HOTEL™️ STYLE” is a concept booth hosted by BIO HOTELS JAPAN. The BIO HOTEL is authorized by “Die BIO HOTEL”, the only association in the world to establish a strict BIO standard on hotels. The hotel satisfies that standard with its high level of awareness on sustainability and health.
Inside the exhibition area, 17 enterprises set up their booths. They align with BIO HOTELS JAPAN’s concept, creating sustainable products and services that satisfies as both ‘affluent life’ and ‘social problems solution’. Crowds gathered at each enterprise to check their products and to listen to their stories.
In the back of the venue is the exhibition area, where enterprises displayed their sustainability themed products.
All of the exhibits are “beneficial for the environment and humans”, well designed and attractive, thus catching the eyes of many passerby.
This tumbler is from Berlin made from coffee grounds. It is eco-friendly and stylish, with a slight aroma of coffee beans. Amazingly light in weight but durable at the same time, it also boasts convenience is one of its attractiveness.
Is it chocolate…? No! Surprisingly, it is an aromatic material made out of charcoal. Ceramic charcoal (wood from thinning the forest) are molded into shapes of chocolates. Therefore the charcoal are reborn into unique items people would want to use in their daily life. This displays an important key for a sustainability themed product: making it easy for people to adopt them in their everyday life.
Switching from ethical consumption to circular economy
Kazuhiko Nakaishi, representative director of BIO HOTELS JAPAN and host of “BIO HOTEL™️ STYLE” shared the purpose of the exhibition. The aim was not only to ‘suggest adopting sustainable lifestyles’, but also to increase the number of enterprises and people who will empathize with the concept of ‘circular economy’.
Circular economy is a concept that aims to solve environmental problems as well as to bring about economic development and job creation. To do so, socio-economic systems need to be reexamined from the basis so that resources and products will ‘circulate’ during the process of production and disposal.
The back wall of the venue showed explanations and examples related to circular economy. One example was Herman Miller, who is well-known for their office chairs. At Herman Miller, dismantling and reusing products that are no longer functional is always a consideration in their designs.
The interpretation on the wall expressed circular economy as “the largest revolution in the history of Capitalism in the last 250 years”.
How is circular economy different from ‘ethical consumption’, which has just spread in Japan in the recent years? According to Kazuhiko, the important aspect in circular economy is whether people ‘want to use the product in daily life’.
“When creating products, the important point is to keep the same function, price and design as conventional products. If the function or design is inferior to conventional products, customers’ eco-friendly consumption does not last long. You want consumers to pick up the product because they like it. The hidden story can be told after that.”
Enterprises want to appeal to the customer on how eco-friendly their products are. However, they must first convince consumers that they want to use it. Ingenuity to create this first step is the important key to spread circular economy.
European countries have already adopted the concept of circular economy in their national strategies. It is evident that there is a huge impact on economic activities in the future, but the concept is still not widely spread in Japan at present.
“I want people who come here to move on from organic/natural to the next level – circular economy” says Kazuhiko.
Enterprises contributing to circular economy
Before we conclude our report, here are 3 products and services from the exhibiting enterprises contributing to the circular economy.
Rice ink made from rice bran (SouGo Co., Ltd.)
SouGo Co., Ltd. is a company primarily engaged in the printing business. It is the only company in Japan producing bamboo paper from 100% bamboo pulp. The company is also promoting the use of rice ink made from rice bran, which is more environment-friendly. Rice bran, which would otherwise be wasted, also reduces carbon dioxide emissions from transportation since rice bran can be obtained domestically.
Why does a printing company engage in circular economy? Kawamoto, who works for SouGo Co., Ltd. explained, “Our corporate philosophy is ‘to be useful’ for both customers and the environment. We try to produce quality products, not just avoiding work mistakes and competing in price, which are common in the printing business.”
Also, SouGo group sells “Kamitsure”, a cosmetic brand, manufactured with domestic organic chamomile. It also runs the first hotel in Japan certified by BIO HOTEL called “Yaesusou” in Nagano. This enterprise is not only engaged in printing, but is a unique company expanding its environment-friendly business.
Human- and environment-friendly architectural renovation (Re x S)
Atelier DEF Co., Ltd. builds houses using domestic wood and soil. In 2018, they launched a new renovation division called “Re x S”. Its concept is “sustainable renovation”.
In Japan, the number of vacant houses is growing. Tons of energies are consumed to tear down these houses, discharging a great deal of refuse disposal. To confront this issue, Re x S puts efforts into developing a cycloid type of renovation: using domestic natural materials that have less environmental impact to repair old houses.
Buildings renovated by Re x S are not only environment-friendly but human-friendly too. According to Kojima from the renovation division, some residents who had allergy symptoms inside the building experienced symptomatic relief after renovations. One of the reasons is Re x S uses domestic solid wood and soil for building materials to eliminate generation of toxic chemical substances.
Currently, most of their renovation work are in Nagano Prefecture, but they plan to develop business in Tokyo in the future. “Because the distance from nature is far in Tokyo, making houses with old-fashioned natural materials are much-in-demand. To create a sustainable society, I want people to feel the rich nature from within their living environment: home.”
Entering a new era of energy choice (Minna-denryoku)
Minna-denryoku’s booth had conspicuous presence full of environment-friendly “products”. This company provides electricity from renewable energy sources, which comes from across the country. Minna-denryoku hopes to attain more business and individual consumers. There are advantages for enterprises who exercise energy choice: it does not only reduce electricity rates but develop positive impression through sustainable behavior.
A significant feature of Minna-denryoku is that the ‘electricity is supplied face-to-face’. Transparency was common in production of vegetables, but Minna-denryoku carries this out in supplying electricity too; it makes the supplier, power production and the producing district open. Moreover, it has built a platform for power trading using blockchain, which enabled electricity supply from specific power source. In the new era, anyone can exercise an energy choice.
Marking a transition into a circular economy
“LIFE x DESIGN” exhibition embodies the transition into the new era, from ethical consumption to circular economy.
The concept of circular economy may take time to spread in Japan. Thus, the sequence of consumption is important in this transtion: what the consumer’s preferred products turns out to be environment-friendly. In fact, creating such products will become the greater perspective for enterprises in the future.
This article was originally published on IDEAS FOR GOOD.
Translated by Chisato Shizume.
