The topic of the August ‘Last Wednesday’ event held at NEST was Responsible Manufacturing. Rachel Speth, Carol Chyau of Shokay, and Grace Liu, owner of Asianera joined together for an interesting insiders perspective on producing ideas in China to a full house crowd at NEST in Taikang Lu, the retail project started by bambu founders, Jeff Delkin and Rachel Speth along with Trine Targett of Jooi Design.

To start things off, we set up to differentiate product design, from product design for production. It’s one thing to develop a product idea. To create a concept. It’s quite another to make a 100, a 1000 or more, consistently, month in month out to specific standards and of a high quality…..particularly in China.

For instance, there is some brilliant thinking on display at the recent London Design Festival. A selection of highlights from Inhabitat are presented here. Some wonderful ideas. But a very different challenge to take an idea and replicate it over and over again. And to do that affordably. And how do you do that in an environment that is safe and just?

How do you define

Responsible Manufacturing

There were a number of descriptions. But it all came down to this – Being accountability for every step of your design and production process – even the stuff nobody else sees. Taking account for the work conditions. Being mindful of the materials you use, and thinking about the impacts of every decision you make.

While all three businesses had unique challenges to share, it was a shared view that ‘you have to be at the source’ to fully ensure the proper production processes were being followed.

It was agreed that agents and brokers in China can be untrustworthy and will tell buyers whatever they think they want to hear. So the message to the group, Seeing For Yourself, is mandatory.

And for these three business owners, that is not an issue. Shokay produces beautiful cashmere textiles from free roaming yaks. They work directly with the yak herders. Asianera has set up their own production facility to manage the entire process in a way that meets their needs, and the needs of the workers. And as for ourselves at bambu, we continue to work with the same producer groups we started with five years ago. We have our own people on site – we inspect each and every order. And we have our manufacturing facilities audited by an independent firm.

While Not Perfect, we are all trying to Do The Right Thing, and have a positive impact at every step. It’s an on-going task at the center of everything we do.

One of the great things to come out of our retail project, NEST in Shanghai has been the monthly ‘Last Wednesday’ forums we’ve been hosting. This month’s talk will focus on Responsible Manufacturing in China.

Rachel will be joined by two other business owners. Grace from Asianera who is one of our collaborators at Nest, and friend and neighbor, Carol Chyau, the founder of Shokay.

Rachel will share her experience managing the production process in China and Vietnam and Grace and Carol will share their insight, experiences and challenges to a full house later this month.

The concept behind Nest, is Design with a Conscience. The ‘design with a conscience’ concept is demonstrated by both intelligent design and responsible manufacturing. Responsible manufacturing encompasses three aspects. The materials used are natural, renewable or recyclable, or the product creation process has a low impact on the environment, or there are distinct social advantages benefiting people in China.

Rich Brubaker creator of China Crossroads covers the event here .

Or you can view the link directly below.

The next ‘Last Wednesday’ event will be held on August 27th where our friends Chris from Torana, Sacha from A00, and new collaborator, Lucy from Paper Tiger will speak. Look for details on Facebook.

The school conducts an annual trip and meets and learns from various designers and manufacturers in China. The school is a friend of Jooi Design founder, and NEST partner, Trine Targett. Shanghai was the last stop on their two week tour, and we had a chance to share with them the idea behind NEST and Design with a Conscience.

It was a hot afternoon under the Nest Light that you can see in this picture. Despite the heat, the interest level was high and the questions were numerous. The Danish have a deep appreciate for nature and objects designed from wood. A few of our bambu cutting boards, Gaby Crumb Boards, and Lacquerware bowls are headed back to Denmark. Thanks everyone, it was a great afternoon.

On July 30th, we’ll be introducing the adventures of bambu. You’re invited!

Proudly Made in China: NEST Collective: “

By Erica Lee Schlaikjer
A group of foreigners doing business in Shanghai recently hatched a new idea to bring ‘design with a conscience’ to the China market. NEST, as the retail collective is called, aims to unite ‘intelligent design’ with ‘responsible manufacturing’ through collaboration among eight different brands selling sustainable products, including Wobabybasics organic baby clothes; AOO recyclable furniture; and Jooi Design home decor and fashion accessories. The project is sponsored by Hu & Hu, a Chinese antiques company, and Arabica Roasters, suppliers of organic, fair-trade coffee.

The 100 square-meter loft space, located in the International Artists Factory on trendy Taikang Lu (think: Shanghai’s SoHo) is slated to become one of the first ‘carbon-neutral’ retail shops in China, in step with places like the island of Chongming’s Dongtan, billed as ‘the world’s first eco-city,’ and URBN Hotels, China’s first carbon-neutral hotel (editor’s note: despite positive intentions and leaders the likes of Bill McDonough, there are still myriad problems with the eco-city trend).

The NEST design collective focuses on three aspects: natural, renewable or recyclable materials; a manufacturing process that has a low impact on the environment, and providing social benefits to the people of China. Some of the product lines included are less obviously eco-friendly, such as Asianera’s bone china tableware or Torana’s handmade Tibetan wool rugs. But then again, sustainable luxury isn’t usually associated with the whole tree-hugging, granola-crunching, hippie-loving thing. The people who helped launch the project plan to host talks with designers and sponsor other educational events at the venue, but the focus will be on the shopping, I’m sure.

‘NEST is a perfect metaphor for what we envision. Like a nest, the sum is greater than its individual parts,’ according to a Rachel Speth, one of the founders of NEST and co-owner of Bambu.

Speth, who used to be Nike’s regional director for corporate social responsibility, and her partner, Jeff Delkin, who previously worked for Ogilvy & Mather and Leo Burnett, broke out of the corporate world to pursue their own dreams of sustainable business. They talked to me last month, for an upcoming podcast on ResponsibleChina.com, about creating Bambu — their so-called ‘renewable ideas company’ — in 2003. With an office in Shanghai, the duo works directly ‘at the source,’ interacting with Chinese and Vietnamese craftspeople. Already they are well-poised to help lead the NEST project.

‘We began Bambu to create interest and excitement in renewable materials and we do that through imagination and integrity,’ says Delkin.

‘Imagination’ comes in the form of design. Because of the versatility of bamboo, which can be woven, pressed, coiled, and laminated, the company offers 120 different housewares, kitchen products and tabletops in seven different categories, from $2 sporks to $45 hand-coiled bowls.

‘Integrity’ comes in the form of a holistic approach to manufacturing, which gives Bambu products their unique ‘proudly made in China’ label. The company’s production centers are audited for working conditions, products are approved food-safe by the FDA, its raw materials are certified organic, and all its packaging is environmentally friendly. Beyond its products, Bambu is also dedicated to social responsibility. It supports the Grameen Foundation, which focuses on poverty alleviation through microfinancing, and it has contributed more than $50,000 to non-profit organizations through its association with the 1% For The Planet campaign. Speth and Delkin also support Lexus Hybrid cars.

Bambu has become a good example of responsible manufacturing in China, and I hope their innovative vision can stimulate all the baby ideas for NEST into full-fledged business practices.

For more information about NEST, contact Trine Targett, founder of Jooi Design, at (+8621) 6473 6193 or email info@nestshanghai.com.

Erica Lee Schlaikjer is the founder of ResponsibleChina.com, a blog about environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship in Greater China. She is based in Chicago. Email her erica@responsiblechina.com.

Images courtesy of NEST and Bambu.

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(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Stuff at 11:45 AM)

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(Via WorldChanging.)