Can we grow rather than manufacture materials? Why does a labor union chief care about green and regenerative manufacturing? How are 3D printing and the circular economy revolutionizing our currently industrial economy? These questions and other provocative topics are on the table at the second annual Living Product Expo, hosted by the International Living Future Institute September 13-15, 2016, in the heart of America’s steel belt, Pittsburgh. For more information, or to register, visit the website.

“In our second year, we’re ready to explore the outer edges of product manufacturing with a goal to both inspire and enable corporations to create products that function as elegantly as anything found in the natural world,” said James Connelly, Director of the Living Product Challenge for the Institute. “The pioneering companies at the Expo are writing a new chapter in industrial design and challenging the status quo when it comes to how products are designed, sourced and manufactured. We’ll award the first full Living Product certifications at the conference, recognizing both redesigned, regenerative products as well as new, bio-based products that perform on par with their petroleum-based, toxic counterparts.”

The Living Product Expo will feature keynote speakers including:

Living Future Institute Founder Jason McLennan and Leo Gerard, International President of United Steelworkers, who will be in conversation with Khari Mosely, Pennsylvania Regional Programs Manager for the Blue Green Alliance. The three will reflect on how Jason and Leo’s shared experience of growing up in Sudbury, an area in Canada ravaged by industry, shaped both their world views and their shared commitment to challenging the old paradigms while at the same time trying to preserve and rejuvenate American ingenuity.

Other topics and speakers will bring new thinking and innovation into focus, including:

• Better Future Factory, a sustainable innovation and engineering studio that uses 3D printing and social entrepreneurship to turn waste streams into innovative solutions.
• The “body burden” of toxicity that is generated by healthcare systems – and how Healthcare without Harm is rethinking hospitals and their unintentional negative impacts.
• A social venture created by Ugandan refugee Chris Ategeka that is helping rural communities get better access to healthcare through mobile facilities.
• A new framework for business that favors collaboration over competition and empowerment over entitlement.
• A conversation about our ability to mimic nature’s design principles to rethink our traditional take-make-waste linear manufacturing, and move towards a circular economy.
• How grown and bio-based materials perform in the built environment.

About the Living Product Challenge

The Living Product Challenge re-imagines the design and construction of products to function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world. The creation of this program kicked off a groundbreaking new event that brought together leading minds in the product industry to inspire a revolution in the way materials are designed, manufactured and delivered: the Living Product Expo.At the first event in 2015 sustainability directors from the world’s leading design firms, prominent manufacturers and sustainability consultants learned about and shared game-changing innovations in product design.

This second annual event moves from inspiration to action. The Expo is an opportunity for participants to share and discover disruptive new ideas and technologies that are reshaping the materials landscape, accelerating the pace of innovation and making Living Products possible today. Join us, and together we will craft the future of materials.

Bureo Co-Founder, Ben Kneppers brings unmatched passion for the environment and skateboarding to the Bureo efforts. He’ll be joining us as at the Living Product Expo to share insight on life cycle assessment and corporate environmental and social responsibility. Register today. 

Bureo is currently working with the International Living Future Institute to achieve Living Product Challenge certification for their recycled fishnet plastic sourced through their innovative program, Net+Positiva.

Bureo founded Net+Positiva in 2013 to create a positive solution to the growing issue of ocean plastic pollution. Globally, 10% of the oceans’ plastic waste is discarded fishing gear, which is also identified as the most harmful form of marine plastic pollution. Through Net+Positiva, Bureo partners directly with coastal communities across Chile to provide the equipment and training to collect back discarded fishing nets which Bureo is then able to recycle into a raw material for use in inspiring recycled and recyclable products, such as skateboards and sunglasses. Through the funds generated from the sale of these products, Bureo is able to continue the expansion of Net+Positiva while funding additional projects in coastal areas most affected by these forms of waste.  

In addition to making Net+Positiva a national program in Chile, the Bureo team is working toward a whole life cycle solution for the plastic material being produced. Bureo’s intention is to go beyond creating just another recycled plastic, but instead is striving to create a product that has a proven net positive impact on the environment and people.

This is where Living Product Challenge (LPC) certification comes in. ILFI is working with companies that are looking to push the boundaries of product sustainability and help shape the future of manufacturing. Identified as one of the most challenging sustainable product certifications available, pilot LPC certification requires that the product undergo an assessment to demonstrate that the product produces a net positive impact. Products that achieve this level of performance can claim to be the greenest and most socially responsible, and will serve as models for future companies that pursue certification.

The Living Product Challenge is a holistic standard, pulling together the most progressive thinking from consumer and industrial product design, manufacturing and policy.

It challenges us to ask: What if every single act of design and manufacturing made the world a better place?

What if every intervention:
• resulted in greater biodiversity;
• increased soil health;
• created additional outlets for beauty and personal expression;
• promoted a deeper understanding of climate, culture, and place;
• realigned  transportation systems;
• created a profound sense of what it means to be a citizen of a planet where resources and opportunities are equitable?

Meeting each of these criteria is surely a tall order.

Bureo is now putting their innovative plastic to the test by seeking the LPC certification. If achieved, their material will likely become the first plastic to generate a certified net positive impact on the environment and people.

Results from Bureo’s LPC certification process are scheduled to be released at the Living Product Expo, which will be taking place in Pittsburgh September 13-15.

To learn more about the LPC certification, read the standard here.
To learn more about Bureo’s products, visit their website.