🦊 Foxy fact of the week: Last issue had this segment taken over by a horse fact, so this week we turn to foxes instead.

There was a fox in Australia called Rambo that managed to avoid 10,400 traps, 3,500 poison baits, 73 stakeouts, and 55 days of scent-tracking dogs (which were all attempts to remove Rambo from a wildlife conservation area in Pilliga Forest).

He was last seen in 2022, though he may still be roaming the forest to this day.

What it means to design with ‘taste’

Half the reason we included this story is just because of the opening line, ‘most AI images look like shit’. Now we aren’t judge or jury on the use of AI in design, but this new piece by Elizabeth Goodspeed scrutinises the vast array of AI tools that are now at the disposal of many, and explains that having ability is one thing with good design, but so is having good taste.

We wanted to shine a light on Bristol’s Tiny House Co-housing Community that will soon be sent to the local planning authority for determination. This innovative development for community-led ‘tiny houses’ includes a range of additional spaces and facilities such as food production areas and an eco-laundrette.

Take a look at Europe’s ‘largest’ 3D-printed building which has newly opened to host a new data centre in Heidelberg, Germany. Construction began last March using a BOD2 3D construction printer and used only 100% recycled materials.

Tate & Lyle Sugars has said goodbye to its 150 year old logo of a dead lion in favour of something that will ‘bring Lyles into the modern day’. The manufacturers of the popular golden syrup are still sticking with an image of a lion on their packing, though now it looks a lot happier and a lot less dead.

Why biodiversity is so important

Though it’s been around for a couple of years now, this beautifully animated Royal Society video narrated by Sir David Attenborough on the importance of biodiversity is still just as relevant today and probably will be for many years to come. The actions of humans pose the biggest risk to biodiversity, yet human actions also have the biggest opportunity to make positive change for nature.

Keeping on the topic of biodiversity, Simas Gradeckas from Bloom Labs recently launched an open-source database of 400+ voluntary biodiversity market companies. This may help if you’re looking for companies out there that are helping to finance nature conservation and bring some wild back into the world.

What can be done to help people live more climate-friendly lives? Apparently a little bit of psychology. In new research conducted by a team of 250, it was found that pro-environmental behaviour can reduce psychological distance on the topic. Though interestingly, there were different outcomes depending on the country and its culture.

Many people have been rightly outraged at Drax which has been found to have been burning wood from old-growth trees sourced from some of the world’s most precious forests. The power company has already received £6 billion in UK green subsidies.

The ‘omertà’ of consultancy

Omertà: The Southern Italian code where you don’t cooperate with outsiders, authorities, or government. If you’re wondering how that relates to sustainability, this 15-minute read is an insightful dive into the notion that sustainability consultants can be complicit in enabling incremental change, rather than the radical transformation needed to address climate change. Do you think consultants settle at tailoring strategies to keep clients comfortable rather than foster transformative action?

A phrase we’re going to steal as our phrase of the month is ‘FUTUREWASHING’. Similar to greenwashing, this idea refers to the fact that there’s often no connection between a product being sold and a substantial commitment to sustainable futures. You can read more about this idea in this new research by Arianna Mereu & Joice Preira.

Now you may agree or disagree with this one, but Jeff Bezos has come out with a statement stating that PowerPoint is an awful tool for internal meetings due to it mainly being a ‘tool for persuasion’; a sales tool that’s less effective than a simple memo-style doc.

Does decarbonising your business = lack of growth? It may depend on the business, but some might find the decarbonisation journey a difficult one in balancing business growth and meaningful action towards net zero. A new writeup by Fortune looks into Mars’ approach to this problem and how it struck a balance.

Will we see you at COM1?

The Conference of Marketers (COM) is a new event created by Michelle Carvill and Gemma Butler to act as a collective of marketers; working together focused on creating collective solutions in the marketing profession. Seeing as we have the pleasure of being event sponsors, Russ & Tim will be heading to London on 14th March to attend the flagship event! Will we see you there?

This month saw Avery & Brown join Inhabit. As an ESG partner to sustainable businesses, our partnership will help us gain a greater understanding of our carbon footprint moving forward.

Tomorrow is the 1st of March, and we’ll be kicking off our jam-packed B Corp Month campaign on all our socials; full of insights, resources, and most importantly, a bit of fun. Make sure to give us a follow on LinkedIn and Instagram if you haven’t already.

Each issue of nineteen eighty four, we feature a different Certified B Corporation, to celebrate the brands which are working hard to create a better business world. To learn more about B Corps, click here.

Our featured B Corp this week is…

Spacelab

‘Space unites us, gets us talking, stimulates our imaginations and weaves us back into a relationship with our planet.’

Spacelab is an architectural design studio that creates spaces that have the power to positively transform people’s lives, creating award-winning, innovative built environments, experiences and forms at every scale.