Life lessons. Honesty. Listening. Involvement. Fun.
Good Citizens was born in 2018 over a family dinner. Harry (8) & Archie (6) were upset about how much plastic waste was piling up in the world.
Two months later a plan was in place to help untrash our planet.
We scribbled down four guiding principles:
1) Only use 100% recycled materials
2) Make products that last
3) Don't exploit people or the planet
4) Employees get time with their kids (guess whose idea that was?!)
These guide every decision we make.
April 2020 - after 752 days & 2500+ failed attempts we turn a bottle into sunnies
June 2020 Forbes in the US covers our story. Things start to hot up
August 2020 Selfridges London gives us an entire window next to Prada for 3 months
September 2020 We win Best in Class and Gold at the international Good Design Awards
September 2020 We speak at the United Nations Global Compact Conference
November 2020 We win The Design Files Sustainable Design Initiative for 2020
We’ve been featured on prime time TV news here in Australia and overseas, National Geographic, Forbes, Monocle and even the front page of the Sydney’s Sunday paper, The Sun Herald.
Any attention that helps raise awareness of the single-use plastic issue is good attention.
They love being involved; we don't force them. They help out with everything from packing to making the big decisions.
They deserve a voice because it's their future planet and the beauty is, they ask the obvious questions!
A lot of very special people have helped us along the way. Designers, plastic experts, professors, engineers, optometrists, sea tidal experts, numbers geniuses and a couple of kids who weren’t prepared to leave the future of their planet in someone else’s hands.
Part of our mission is to educate & show how good design and recycled materials can help fix the single-use plastic issue. We've appeared on podcasts, TV shows and spoken at events including the United Nations 2020 Global Compact conference.
The sustainable space is not regulated and so many brands get away with making wild claims. Whilst we're not perfect, we will always be honest and transparent.
As Nik says, "Nothing is more transparent and frightening than sharing a stage with your kids and not knowing what will come out of their mouths next."
