Eye-watering sums are spent on advertising each year in the UK – by the end of 2022, it is predicted that the industry will be worth a record £30 billion. But rarely does advertising directly benefit its consumers, or indeed, the planet. This is something that Bagboard co-founder Ashleigh Bishop is set on changing.
“Advertising is such an influential industry – we saw an opportunity to use that in a really powerful way,” she says, following the launch of the Bagboard app and smart bags in London last week.
Before setting out upon your day’s travels, you scan the barcode to start earning a new digital currency branded ‘conscious coins’ (or CCX) to spend on the eco-friendly brands that you’re helping to advertise.
Through Bagboard’s partnership with the Plastic Bank Foundation, each time a smart bag is reused, a portion of the advertising revenue is used to fund ocean plastic clean up.
Ms Bishop calls the concept behind Bagboard “a circular economy, powered by people”.
Brands which have set up shop in the in-app marketplace are major players in the eco-friendly business sector. UpCircle is a zero-waste skincare company which found its feet in London by incorporating waste coffee grounds from cafés into its products.
UpCircle co-founder Anna Brightman says that Bagboard is involved with businesses which have sustainability built into their DNA.
“Our brand is all about the circular economy – so if we told our story on materials that ended up in a landfill, something wouldn’t be right. That’s why getting on board with Bagboard was an easy decision.”
Ethically promoting sustainable brands is riddled with difficulty. Using leaflets, and posters which aren’t necessarily going to be recycled is a decision that low-waste businesses don’t take lightly.
Mahira Kalim founded Spruce, a line of cleaning products which don’t contain harsh chemicals and work on a refill basis.
‘Greenwashing’ is a term which has been coined to describe businesses spending time and money marketing their products as being green without doing any of the actual leg work to make it sustainable.
But for Ms Bishop, sustainability extends beyond the environment.
“Sustainability is not just about the planet – it’s about the people on it,” she says.
Aaron Wallace is a male grooming brand which caters to Afro-Caribbean hair. Lina Barker, its co-founder, says that such haircare is seldom found in the UK.
More and more, reducing inequalities is considered to be an integral part of sustainable living. It is 10th on the UN’s sustainable development goals list.
Smart bags can be used anywhere in London, a city which Ms Bishop says is renowned for its innovations on the world stage.
“London has a strong community vibe and likes to come together on things. In the long-term, we want to fundamentally change how people shop and enable them to shop in line with their values,” she says.
If you’re wondering where you can nab yourself a smart bag to remove ocean plastic, promote and save on eco-friendly brands, you can get one posted to your house for free via the Bagboard app, or find out more on the Bagboard website.
