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durability

Artwork for circular economy podcast episode 144

144 Chris Allen of Decathlon: ever-evolving circular design

Chris Allen, Sustainability Leader and Head of Circular Business Development at Decathlon UK. You’ve probably heard of Decathlon, which is the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, with over 1,700 stores in more than 70 countries. It’s a family-owned company, founded in 1976, and inspired by the belief that the best sports products should be accessible to everyone.
Chris Allen has 15 Years experience in Decathlon spanning various retail management roles, including several years in Category Management and Head of Outdoor before being appointed to his Sustainability role in 2022. Chris has a degree in Sports Engineering and is an advocate of all things outdoors, and loves being out on his bike or at the local climbing wall.
Decathlon describes itself as specialising in the creation and production of innovative sporting goods designed to delight and move people through the wonders of sport, including cycling, hiking, running, swimming and football.
Decathlon sees its mission as ever-evolving and high-performance design, the best quality at the lowest possible price, and expert advice that customers of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels can access in-store or online, from anywhere, at any time.
Decathlon has an integrated business model, with over twenty in-house brands as well as supplying well-known brands including Asics, Adidas, Garmin, Puma, Quiksilver, Reebok, Salomon, and many others.
In the UK, Decathlon offers a 2-year warranty on its own brand products, has buy-back programme so customers can save money and trade in their old gear. It sells through it’s retail stores and online, and offers a 365-day returns policy, giving customers a whole year to decide if something is right for them.
Chris will talk us through Decathlon’s approach, including how the buy-back, second-life and repair programmes work in practice, and how he’s working with the in-house and external product and design teams to implement a whole-systems approach to sustainability.

Circular Economy Podcast artwork for episode 128

128 Tara Button: products that say ‘Buy Me Once’

Tara Button is the founder and CEO of Buy Me Once, a platform which helps people buy the longest-lasting products on the planet.
If you’ve heard me talking about the 3 essential strategies for circular businesses, you’ll know that one of those 3 strategies is Keeping things in use for longer, through durability, repairability and resellability. I get frustrated by how difficult it is to find good examples of companies doing this, and so it was brilliant to discover Buy Me Once, which is all about finding products that meet that criteria and helping people find them.
Back in 2015, Tara was a frustrated advertising creative, tasked with increasing the chocolate consumption of children, when the gift of an heirloom cooking pot sparked the idea of Buy Me Once.
The platform went spectacularly viral in 2016, allowing Tara to leave Ad Land. Since then, Buy Me Once has partnered with 100s of ethical brands to help consumers buy for the long term, for a wide range of products from kitchenware to bedlinen, home furnishings to electronics, and for clothing.
Tara explains what led her to start Buy Me Once, and the ethos underpinning the choice of featured brands and products.
We hear what is driving the push for more durable, repairable products, and how the feedback from customers can help brands to improve their products.
Tara has also become a disruptive voice, speaking about product durability at events, on TV, podcasts and BBC radio. Tara’s early career in marketing and advertising meant she could unpack the psychology of consumerism, and she has written a very engaging and insightful book on mindful consumption, A Life Less Throwaway, published by Harper Collins. We touch on aspects of what’s in the book, which has some great tips to help us spot the various kinds of marketing tactics before we get sucked into the ‘buy it now’ decision.

Circular Economy Podcast Ep76 Isolde de Ridder – Circular Jewellery

76 Isolde de Ridder – Circular Jewellery

Isolde de Ridder is a circular jeweller and goldsmith. She founded her business – Isolde de Ridder Sieraden, in 2017, to create high-end jewellery with the greatest care for both people and planet. Isolde gives discarded metals and other materials a second life, contributing to a better world for future generations.
Isolde began her education to become a goldsmith in 2006, to combine her passion for gemstones, creativity and working with her hands. She’s inspired by Nature, gemstones, ancient civilizations and also more recent art movements.
We talk about why reusing discarded precious metals is more complicated than it sounds, and how Isolde is encouraging people to bring old jewellery back to life, using her storytelling and design skills to help people repurpose jewellery and other materials into things they will treasure, and that remind them of their loved ones.
Isolde tells us about her early interests, and how they led her to start this business, how she became disillusioned with the ethics of Fair Mined and Fairtrade Gold, and how that sparked the ideas for becoming a circular economy jeweller.
Isolde describes some of the kinds of jewellery she designs, and how she uses old objects to embed precious memories into the finished product.