I love this thing about India

And I can't find it anywhere else

Dec 23, 2022

India has a great repairability index. I don’t know if that’s a term.

But everything here can be repaired. Pair of jeans, bags, shoes, electronics- you name it and there’s someone who can repair it and increase the life of the product.

It’s affordable and accessible.

Having spent some years out of the country, I have a newfound respect for this aspect.

It increases the life of the products and keeps them out of landfill.

Especially in an era when it’s so easy to discard the old stuff and order a new one in a few clicks.

I wish more countries adopt this.

Does your country of residence have a good repairability index?

Moving onto this week’s content. So today, we have-

A startup that’s making the construction industry greener
Another startup that’s bringing together sustainability and style
Some good news
Stat of the week- declining mammal population
What does Dash want this festive season?

🛠️ Reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry

The beginning…In his last role, Eric Law was working on reducing the waste at the construction sites. And that’s when he noticed that most of the wood was sent to landfills. It was difficult to reuse or recycle it because of the metal pieces(nails, staples, and screws) attached to it. He saw a tremendous opportunity there and decided to solve it with Andrew Gillies & Alex Thiele. That’s how Urban Machine was born.

This is what they did…Urban Machine’s vision is to reclaim wood waste from construction sites and put them back into use. This saves the CO2 emissions generated from the waste and prevents more trees from being cut down to produce fresh wood. Their production machine uses AI software to remove nails and other contaminants to ensure that the lumber is in a state to be reused.

It’s an 80 feet long machine that removes nails, screws, and staples using different robotic arms.
Other surface materials are removed using rotating wire Brushes.
To make it more efficient, they are adding metal detectors and X-ray inspection tools to it.

An inspiration…They are doing a great job at increasing the value of the material that’s considered worthless and ends up harming the planet. All this while working towards being a profitable business. Who says that you can’t make a profit while helping the planet?

♻️Bringing sustainability, style, and convenience together

Where does it end?… Unsustainable or illegal logging of wood is followed by energy-intensive activities like shipping, milling, and production of furniture. Then we use chemicals, plastics, and foams to produce the fast furniture of today. In the US, just 20% of it is recycled every year and the rest ends up in landfills or is incinerated. The mix of chemicals and plastics makes it difficult to recycle them. Also, our throwaway culture ensures that it’s not resold or donated.

Sustainability can be stylish too…In the US, the direct-to-consumer brand Sabai (comfortable or cozy in Thai) is incorporating sustainability into affordable and stylish furniture. They use upcycled, recycled, or natural materials to reduce their impact on the planet. Their sofas are designed in a way so that customers can replace the damaged parts instead of replacing the entire set.

Their recycled materials such as velvet are made from 100% recycled water bottles.
Instead of using chemicals, they use water-based glues with zero VOCs.
They use FSC-certified wood frames, Certipur certified foam, and their pillows are made from recycled fiber.

**Top Left-** Sabai's Indigo Velvet sofa; **Bottom Left-** Sabai’s Back Pillow Inserts; **Right-** Co-founders Phantila Phataraprasit and Caitlin Ellen

The Sabai Standard…The brand is creating a circular life cycle for its products by buying back the old products. These products are then resold in their pre-owned section, Sabai Revive. This extends the life of the furniture and keeps them out of landfills- making them financially and ecologically beneficial.