The Elephant in the Room
Elephants are known for their loyalty, tenacity, and cooperative spirit — each a core value of Nimble, the world’s first 100% eco-conscious tech brand. That’s why they decided to feature the animal as part of their logo. As a sustainability pioneer in an industry driven by planned obsolescence, we sat down with co-founder Kevin Malinowski to learn how one company is making products that are built to last, in a crowd of products built to toss.
Kevin, Jon, and Ross, the co-founders of Nimble, are all veterans of the consumer tech world. Over the past decade, they’ve watched as technology has become more and more a part of our lives, as the lifecycle of our personal tech has gotten shorter with increasing innovation, and as each one has ultimately been thrown “away.” But where is “away?” Today, electronic waste is our fastest growing waste stream worldwide, accounting for 70% of all toxic waste in our ecosystem. In fact, less than 1% of all smartphones are recycled — and with an average family owning anywhere between 24-80 electronic devices per household and growing, the problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
In spite of this growth, and in spite of the movement of social and environmental responsibility to the forefront of many industries, personal tech has remained unsettlingly quiet — without so much as a whisper of its impact on our planet, let alone mention of how to combat the waste stream it’s responsible for creating. It wasn’t until a recent visit to the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that Kevin, Jon, and Ross looked around and identified the elephant in the room: that sustainability simply didn’t exist in the consumer tech world.
Not yet, anyway.
Shortly after that trip to CES, the trio left their cushy corporate jobs and set out to demonstrate a better way forward, creating Nimble in 2018.
Contrary to many personal tech brands on the market, Nimble believes that you have the right to know how your tech is made, where it comes from, and its impact on the world. About 80% of their products’ environmental impact is decided at the design stage, and this starts with materials.
Initially, sourcing proved challenging, as most consumer tech brands avoid post-consumer materials. With the help of Julie, their Head of Operations, they worked with suppliers to solve the puzzle of sourcing sustainable materials to make tech accessories … and then actually make them.
“Her miracles led to the creation of the exclusive CAUSEBOX CHAMP Lite portable chargers for you — the only portable charger out there made from 72.5% recycled plastic and shipped in plastic-free packaging.”
When it comes to impact, their philosophy is simple: use existing waste streams in place of virgin materials. Recycled materials require less energy and reduce the need to extract nonrenewable resources from natural habitats, resulting in a lower carbon footprint for every product. These 5 materials are used to create the majority of Nimble’s products:
Compact discs (CDs, DVDs, CD-ROMs). These are made of highly durable polycarbonate, perfect for new products. Since 1982, over a trillion of these discs have been made. Enough to circle the Earth 30 times! With a decomposition rate of 1 million years per disc, we couldn’t have found a more fitting waste stream for reuse.
Recycled aluminum. This requires up to 95% less energy to manufacture than its virgin counterpart. Plus, one ton of recycled aluminum cans saves upwards of 1,700 gallons of oil.
Recycled plastic bottles. Aside from requiring 75% less energy to produce than virgin plastic, our planet is already overflowing with this material. Over 8 billion tons of plastic are sitting in our oceans and landfills right now. Why make more?
Organic hemp. The ultimate sustainable crop. Boasting a short 12-14 week growth cycle, it’s ideal for crop rotation. Hemp requires little water, no pesticides, and it naturally absorbs toxins in soil and prevents erosion, which is one of the biggest problems facing farmers today.
Recycled scrap paper. Nimble uses 100% plastic-free packaging thanks to recycled scrap paper. Unfortunately, single-use plastic packaging accounts for 40% of all plastic produced, with 86% of it going directly into landfills. Recycled paper packaging takes less energy to produce, and by replacing excessive glossy packaging, we reduce costs to customers by upwards of 20%.
Part of Nimble’s mission is to become completely e-waste neutral by 2023 by removing more electronics from the ecosystem than they create. As part of this project, every product comes with a post-consumer plastic bag so customers can recycle their old gadgets for free and help close the loop on electronic waste.
“Our hope is that by doing business in a better way, we prove to customers that high-quality personal tech can be ethical and sustainable. We envision being the blueprint for how every competing brand can achieve this, too. We want ‘tech for good’ to be the standard, not the alternative.”