It started with a manifesto
a manifesto to design by
We regularly refer to our Manifesto—a set of principles we return to at the start of each new brief. The company name came from this manifesto.
We wrote it when dreaming of starting a design and build business, while grappling with our passionate but conflicted stance on sustainability. We wrestled with the argument that if we wanted to be truly sustainable, we wouldn't make anything at all.
So we established rules and practices to help us act as responsibly as possible within our circumstances. If followed, the manifesto ensures our products and projects are Morally Made.
Every brief should align with our manifesto in some way. When a project conflicts too much with our values, we step away—and we have. We hate turning down fun, interesting projects, but we struggle to get excited about work that carries an unnecessary carbon and waste cost.
We welcome briefs without sustainability KPIs, trusting our manifesto will make the end result more sustainable regardless.
The manifesto has evolved since we started, and it will continue to change. For now, it guides us well.
the morallymade manifesto
waste first design
Where we can, we hero material from waste streams. We prioritise minimising waste at the design stage, and we are not the reason for avoidable waste.
know the journey
Identify the origin of each raw material before we work with it, to ensure it is responsibly sourced. We also make a plan for where it’s going at the end of its life.
second life over first
This isn’t upcycling, its retaining value. Be resourceful, prioritise reclaimed or recycled materials where is it safe and suitable to do so.
circular practices
Cradle to cradle mindset, designing so that we can repair, replace, reuse, modularise & remanufacture components. Life safety is the only override.
90% rule
Each project has a target of compromising of 90% recycled, recyclable, reusable, renewable or waste-derived materials.
positive impact
Pre & post post project assessments of our impact, ensuring we give back what we take, and offset what we incurred, then some.
be responsible
Think, then think again. We all know what the right thing to do is really.
progression, not perfection
Reducing waste has to be more important than ‘perfection’, mistakes happen and irregularities occur, compromises need to be welcomed in the interest of sustainability.
Circularity in action
from waste to wonder
What happens when premium building materials meet mindful construction practices? Recently, we witnessed a perfect example of the circular economy in action, and it's got us thinking about how the construction industry can lead the charge in waste prevention.
During an office renovation, 30 sheets of high-quality Oak Veneered 18mm Birch Plywood were destined for disposal. Rather than watching this premium material—worth at least £5,000 if purchased new—end up in landfill or get incinerated, a client reached out asking for help to find these sheets a better home.
These beautiful sheets are now finding a second life through The Wood Store, Brighton & Hove's brilliant wood recycling project.
The Wood Store isn't just any recycling centre; it's a remarkable non-profit organisation that sits at the heart of Brighton's local circular economy. They're dedicated to protecting our environment through resource conservation, educating communities about sustainable behavioural change, and creating meaningful social impact by addressing unemployment and social exclusion.
This story wouldn't have been possible without Steve Pearce and The Bluum Group, who spotted the opportunity and made sure the right people knew about it. It's a lovely reminder that the circular economy thrives on community connections and people looking out for one another.
But here's the thing—this success story highlights something crucial that our industry needs to embrace more widely. Construction companies have an enormous opportunity to prevent waste before it even becomes waste. Every project presents chances to think differently about materials, to consider their entire lifecycle, and to ask: "How can we keep this in use for as long as possible?"
The construction sector generates millions of tonnes of waste annually, much of which could be redirected, reused, or repurposed with a bit of forward planning. When we take time to consider how materials can contribute to the circular economy, we're not just being environmentally responsible—we're often uncovering cost savings, building stronger community relationships, and creating opportunities for innovation.
The beauty of this story is its simplicity. No complex systems, no expensive technology—just someone who paused to think differently about what constitutes "waste." It's a reminder that the circular economy isn't some distant, complicated concept. It's happening right now, in our communities, through the thoughtful actions of individuals who choose to see value where others might see rubbish.
This is circularity in action—preserving value, reducing waste, and benefiting the community. It's exactly the kind of thinking that can transform how our industry operates, one rescued sheet of plywood at a time.
What is the Circular Economy?
Decoding the circular economy
The notion of the Circular Economy began gaining momentum in the early 2000s, fuelled by mounting concerns about waste, CO2 emissions, and resource dependency. Unlike the conventional linear economy of 'take-make-dispose,' the Circular Economy aims to minimise waste, retain value, and rejuvenate nature.
Termed as an alternative mindset for both consumers and businesses, the circular economy rests on three fundamental principles:
Elimination of Waste and Pollution
Maintenance of Products and Materials at their peak value
Promotion of nature's regeneration
Each principle demands a shift in perspective and action:
Rethinking and redesigning manufacturing and consumption practices to minimise waste.
Crafting products with durability and repairability in mind, facilitating easy disassembly for reuse or remanufacturing.
Decreasing environmental impact by embracing more sustainable choices.
How does it operate?
Waste and pollution prevention; The circular economy advocates for economic activities that avoid harm to human health and ecosystems, such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions and various forms of pollution. I.e choosing materials and processes which have a lower carbon footprint at inception, and that have low toxicity or waste at its degradation or end of life stage.
Product and material longevity: The focus lies in designing products for durability, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling, ensuring materials remain in circulation for as long as possible.
Regeneration of natural systems; by prioritising renewable resources and nurturing soil health, the circular economy actively contributes to environmental regeneration and sustainability.
Technical vs Biological
The Circular Economy branches into two primary categories: Technical and Biological.
Technical focuses on preserving value in non-biodegradable materials for as long as possible. Such as products made from plastics & metals.
While Biological stresses designing products that can biodegrade and return to the soil. Such as products timbers and organic fibres.
Origin & Methodologies
To understand where the Circular Economy is heading, it’s helpful to know where its come from.
While the Ellen Macarthur Foundation has played a pivotal role in popularising the Circular Economy over the past decade, its roots delve into various design and scientific principles. These include:
Cradle to Cradle: Viewing waste as a resource and conducting life cycle assessments as common practice.
The Performance Economy: Concentrating on extending the lifespan of products.
Biomimicry: Drawing inspiration from nature for innovative solutions.
Industrial Ecology: Considering waste as a potential input.
Regenerative Design: Formulating solutions that enhance ecosystems.
Designing for circularity
Effective circular design demands a comprehensive approach, considering factors from material selection to end-of-life disposal. While recycling plays a role, it's often a last resort, as designing solely for recycling postpones waste inevitability.
In the realm of designing physical objects like furniture within the Circular Economy, several principles guide the process, such as;
Design for Durability: Craft products built to last, using quality materials and construction techniques to extend their lifespan.
Modularity: Design components that can be effortlessly disassembled and reassembled, allowing for repair, replacement, or upgrades without discarding the entire piece.
Material Selection: Prioritise materials that are renewable, recyclable, or biodegradable, reducing environmental impact throughout the product's lifecycle.
Resource Efficiency: Minimise material waste during manufacturing and assembly processes, optimising material use and reducing resource consumption.
Local Sourcing: Source materials and components locally whenever feasible to reduce transportation emissions and bolster local economies.
Design for Disassembly: Ensure products can be easily dismantled at the end of their life, facilitating material recovery and recycling.
An object or garment must be capable of breaking down into independent raw materials to stand the best chance of being repurposed or recycled. Many garments, for example, composed of multiple materials, are unable to re-enter the value stream as untangling and separating these threads is too complex. Consequently, clothing either ends up in landfills or is shredded and repurposed into less valuable products, such as filler material for acoustic insulation.
Circular Material Loops: Design products with materials that can seamlessly reintegrate into the production process at the end of their lifecycle, creating closed-loop systems.
At Morally Made, we strive to ensure individual components are likely to be of use in a future use case to what we have primarily designed for. For instance, ensuring timber components are not too narrow, providing a potential use case in the future when dismantled. Additionally, engraving rectangles and squares on the underside of surfaces provides straight lines/datums for future makers to reuse the material with maximum efficiency.
User Engagement: Engage users in the lifecycle of the product, encouraging maintenance, repair, and responsible disposal practices to prolong its usefulness.
Lifecycle Assessment: Conduct life cycle assessments to comprehend the environmental impact of design decisions and identify opportunities for improvement throughout the product's lifecycle. This involves assigning the correct materials and strategies appropriate to the value of the end product.
By adhering to these principles, designers can create physical objects that align with the goals of the Circular Economy, promoting resource conservation, waste reduction, and sustainable consumption patterns.
Value
Determining the worth of products is paramount in the Circular Economy.
High-value items, such as cars or furniture, require substantial energy to produce and should be kept in use for as long as possible. Therefore, every effort at the design stage should aim to promote value retention.
Conversely, low-value items, such as packaging, should be approached with the goal of incurring minimal energy from inception through to recycling or natural biodegradability. As we we want these types of product to re-enter the cyclical process as quickly, easily as possible via low energy processes.
Innovation in the circular economy
Innovations in 3D printing, such as those by Aectural and Batch Works, showcase the potential of circular practices. Aectural's use of wood pulp and polymer-based materials demonstrates zero-waste production, while Batch Works aims to establish a closed-loop recycling system for their products.
Morally Made’s contribution
At Morally Made, circular design principles take precedence in our approach. From designing for repair and disassembly to selecting non-toxic materials and finishes, every step is geared towards sustainability. We also encourage product return with plaques highlighting their circularity, ensuring materials can be reused or repurposed.
In short…
While achieving fully circular solutions may still be a work in progress for small and low-batch businesses, every effort counts towards contributing to a more sustainable economy. The Circular Economy offers a promising pathway to retaining value in everything we create and consume, paving the way for a more resourceful future.
A significant aspect of the circular economy is the adoption of consumers and changing of behaviour. It is our duty as a business to equip our customers with this knowledge and tools to promote positive change and progression.
10 STEPS TO DELIVERING A POP UP SHOP, SUSTAINABLY.
In recent years, pop-up shops have become increasingly popular in the retail landscape, offering brands a unique opportunity to connect with consumers in a temporary physical space.
However, as sustainability becomes increasingly valued by consumers (rightly so), it's essential for businesses to ensure that their pop-up ventures align with environmentally conscious practices - or risk being subject to criticism, or damaged consumer confidence.
At Morally Made, we approach each brief with our guiding Morally Made Manifesto to ensure a project is delivered more sustainably, than not.
We also have first hand experience delivering a sustainable pop up shop for Beavertown Brewery, and our learnings are captured in this helpful guide.
STEP 1; ACCEPT YOU WILL NEVER DELIVER A SUSTAINABLE POP UP SHOP
Delivering a 100% sustainable pop up shop is something that exists in a dream land, however, by the end of this guide you will have made positive strides in reducing your brands impact and should be feeling better prepared to make better choices.
STEP 2: UNDERSTANDING SUSTAINABILITY & POP UP SHOPS
Before diving into the specifics, let's clarify what we mean by a sustainable pop-up shop.
Essentially, it's about minimising the environmental and social impact of your temporary retail space, while maximising positive outcomes and retaining value in every decision you make.
Naturally, you will want bespoke features that showcase the uniqueness of your brand to ensure you are creating something memorable and worth visiting. These one off unique installations are high risk for avoidable waste and therefore negative environmental impact is likely to occur unless approached with the correct attitude and knowledge.
Sustainability takes intention, that means careful planning and thought before jumping into action. Do you have a considered plan for each decision that you know could result in unnecessary waste or carry a large carbon footprint? Typically timeframes are tight for pop up shops, it’s tempting to rush into building, but considering clever design, before touching materials, can save a lot of unnecessary material and energy usage.
The impact of your pop up shop and its sustainable story is decided within the design and planning phase. “It is estimated that over 80% of all product-related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase of a product” - European commission. We can apply this thinking to pop up shops.
At the beginning of a project, there is a tendency to seek the solutions that are the quickest and easiest to achieve. However, quick usually means dirty more often than not.
Some examples strategies here are;
Designing to amend / adapt existing assets
Working within standard material sizes
Taking advantage of materials natural finish & appearance
Designing for accurate waste disposal
Our first hand experience with Beavertown saw us develop a concept digitally, depicting the brands intentions before we independently reviewed and highlighted the potential waste areas and proposed more considered solutions. A notable step change was the significant reduction in use of PVC vinyl graphics, and proposing alternative designs that promoted re-use for future pop ups (Of which we are already planning!).
STEP 3: SUPPLIER SELECTION & CULTIVATING RELATIONSHIPS
Sustainability is a collective effort, you will need suppliers that will go the extra mile to support your sustainability goals and understand why each element of the Morally Made Manifesto is important. If they don’t care about sustainability, they’ll cut corners you set out not to in the design phase. Find partners you can trust to do the right thing.
STEP 4; APPROPRIATE SPECIFICATION BASED ON CADANCE & LOCATION
Where, and how often are you launching your pop ups? Do you intend to launch a pop up numerous times a year, or on an annual basis? Will your furniture need to regularly travel to different cities? Maybe you don’t know yet, so perhaps you’d like to keep your options open?
To ensure you are investing in quality, well made features, that can be used time and time again, further decisions and consideration on circularity and life cycle also need to be considered.
The tenure of your sustainably led pop-up shop is also a key factor, as you must specify the correct material to ensure durability and reduce the need to replace in the event of damage or wear and tear - creating unnecessary waste.
This is where justifying the use of more hardwearing, yet less sustainable options should be considered. I.e engineered cardboard is suitable for a couple of weeks, but unlikely to withstand the wear of a 6 month tenure.
Seek advice from trusted suppliers who are regularly researching the life cycle of materials for the most appropriate solutions. Morally Made offers a free materials consultation upon enquiry.
STEP 5; PRACTICE CIRCULAR DESIGN THINKING
For maximum impact, filling the space you have available is key but again high risk for avoidable waste, a simple solution for this is to always consider hiring where possible before producing anything new. There are some great options out there, such as Found Pop - Based in London.
Utilising hired furniture allows you to focus your budget on creating impact using tactile, unique and sustainable materials in other areas of your pop up or any bespoke assets, some of our favorite materials at the moment are; Smile Plastics, Valchromat, Autex, Ecoboard & Polycril.
Avoid designing anything too unique to the space, to offer future flexibility.
Do not specify ‘Flat Pack furniture’ - flat pack furniture from large retail outlets or cheap online sources are not built for the wear and tear of a commercial space - disappointingly they typically find their way to the bin quickly. This is especially true if you plan to activate numerous pop ups. They do not travel well.
When designing bespoke features or furniture, ensure you consider the life cycle, and embody circular design principles with repairability and refurbishment high on the specification. At Morally Made we practice the below techniques wherever possible.
Consider end-of-life
Design for durability
Incorporate modular design
Design for disassembly
Emphasise repairability
Use non-toxic materials
Design for adaptability /multi use
Design for ease of transportation
Design for minimal waste
STEP 6; MINIMISE YOUR PVC VINYL GRAPHICS
When considering artwork and graphics for your pop-up shop, several factors such as the quantity, location, durability, and length of use should influence your choice of medium.
For large surface areas, it is advisable to opt for engineered cardboard instead of vinyl graphics. This choice not only provides a more prominent look and feel by protruding from walls but also showcases your commitment to sustainability.
While the recycling of vinyl graphics is improving, it is still unlikely that any applied vinyl graphics will be recycled as particular process and companies will need to be engaged, requiring more effort. Moreover, vinyl graphics come with concerns about microplastics used in their adhesive. In contrast, engineered cardboard is a more accessible waste stream and poses fewer environmental issues. It is believed that only 18% of PVC is recycled, in comparison to 70% of cardboard.
If printing on a plastic substrate is unavoidable, it is recommended to avoid materials with PVC, such as foamex. Instead, consider using materials like Smart X (100% Polystyrene - PS) or Akyprint (100% Polypropylene - PP) Both PP & PS are less harmful to the environment than PVC.
To further enhance sustainability, explore printing direct to media or laser etching on reusable materials such as plywood. Alternatively, you can use laser-cut plywood to achieve an embossed look and feel, adding a unique touch to your pop-up shop.
By making thoughtful choices regarding artwork and graphics, you can align your pop-up shop with sustainable intentions and minimise its environmental impact.
STEP 7: PLAN YOUR OPERATIONS
You will know the activities and waste generated by your activation, so make a plan for it and ensure you hold yourself accountable to seeing it through.
Implement a waste management plan that prioritises accurate recycling, do not assume that your venue separate waste, take matters in to your own hands.
This means allowing time for your onsite crew to do the right thing, and educating them on why it’s important, from carefully folding packaging to reuse it for pack down, or for your next project.
STEP 8: USE STORY TELLING TO ENGAGE CUSTOMERS IN SUSTAINABILITY
Educating and involving customers in your sustainability efforts can enhance your pop-up shop's impact.
Share the journeys and facts behind your products and their sustainable attributes to help customers connect with your mission.
You may also choose to do this by showcasing the different material and making choices you made throughout your sustainable pop up shop with information plaques throughout.
STEP 9: MEASURE YOUR IMPACT FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
It's essential to measure the impact of your sustainable pop-up shop and identify areas for improvement for future activations. You can read more about measurement and how to do this using our practical Morally Made calculator, email makers@morallymade.com for details. You need this calculation to be able to fairly offset the carbon used and replenish the resources you have accumulated where possible. See how Morally Made do this over on our impact tool page.
Not all suppliers are versed or interested in tracking their impact metrics yet, so ensure you get your suppliers to adhere to your sustainability commitments. At Morally Made, we make a conscious effort to track the estimated carbon footprint of all materials that pass through our workshop and onsite delivery.
STEP 10: KEEP LIFE CYCLES AT THE FOREFRONT
Consider the life cycle of decisions and materials. At the most basic level - if something is single use or destined for ‘the bin’, seek a better choice or ensure there is a responsible plan for waste. Change your end markers.
Prioritise minimising waste in the design phase, as designs and concepts start to take shape, carve out time to consider material use, don’t let rigid brand guidelines get in the way of sustainability work with makers who can find a way to do both. Work with your supplier to understand material efficiency and standard material sizes to keep waste to an absolute minimum.
Always considered a second life over first, can something be hired, or repurposed, before being built.
Practice circularity. It’s not as difficult as the ‘big words’ make it seem, apply common sense.
Remember; you will never deliver a sustainable pop up shop. It’s temporary, set your expectations inline with this. With the right mindset and checklist, you can deliver a high impact pop up shop that the brand team will be delighted with, whilst in parallel minimising the negative impact through careful planning and considered decision making.
Sustainable pop up shops are not perfect but sustainability is about progression, not perfection.