Stranger magazines review of Wow-Wow
Category: News and Politics
Image: Jonathon Parker (Founder of Wow-Wow)
Eco-worriers are the new eco-warriors, apparently. We know we want to do our bit, but we also like creature comforts. With this in mind, new venture wow-wow.co.uk was formed with a mission to create a new shade of green.
The team at wow-wow want to make going green fun, easy and accessible. Their website pulls together the very best in sustainable, ethical and environmentally friendly design, checking out each product's green credentials and listing them clearly and concisely for customers so everyone knows exactly what they are buying.
They offer an environmental consultancy service where wow-wow experts will come round to your house or business and tell you what you can do to make your lifestyle more environmentally sustainable, from simple things like low-energy light bulbs and composting to rain harvesting systems, toxic free paints and recycled kitchen flooring. Plus there's the build shop where environmentally sound building materials are developed and the gallery where new innovations in green are showcased.
" We're not your typical environmentalists" explains Jonny Parker, founder of wow-wow.co.uk, who quit his job in London designing 'new ways to overpackage Cadbury's products' to launch wow-wow. "It's not about finger-wagging or preaching green morals, whether you drive a large car or ride a push bike doesn't matter, we just want to help both people make vibrant, cleaner choices wherever it helps the most." Well said that man. Check out what Jonny has been up to yourself at wow-wow.co.uk.
Article posted 21/6/07 (written by assistant editor Clare S.) visit http://www.stranger-mag.com/news/ear-to-the-ground/a-different-shade-of-green.html
Source Article By Meghna Nayak
A chair made from bottles? Pens made from CD's? A ruler made out of cups and a staple-less stapler? No, it's not make-believe, but just some of the things you can buy from the aptly named www.wow-wow.co.uk, an excellent website created by Jonny Parker.
"The idea is to build a business that's not just about making money and profits, but one which reinvests in new ideas and concepts", he says of his online store that brings together all sorts of quirky, clever and functional products. With a guaranteed ethical background, every single item on sale is recycled or renewably sourced, and in more than one case, will make you giggle.
Take for instance the green glasses - cleverly made by chopping off beer bottles at the neck and re-bonding them to the base, they use only 10% of the energy it would take to otherwise melt the bottle and recycle it. And the results are super-cool. "They get a reaction every time I bring them out" says Gemma Hurley, who was given some green glasses as a present.
"My favourite is the hydro-racer", says Jonny about the little car that runs on solar power and hydrogen, emitting only water as a by-product. "It contains one of the most exciting and advanced technologies of the 21st century and makes a great educational toy."
Wow-wow products aren't just about novelty. From powerful torches that provide an hour and half's worth of light with only a minute's winding up, to, believe it or not, a staple-less stapler, these are inspiring new designs that aim to cut down on the huge amount of waste our consumer crazy society produces whilst re-using what is already out there.
A former packaging designer in London with Futurebrand, a company with clients like Cadbury, Coca Cola and B&Q, Jonny was disillusioned with the industry. "There was no constraint - they just wanted to wrap everything in a maximum amount of packaging to make it look cooler and in the meantime I just became more and more interested in sustainable design."
He quit his job and moved to Cornwall to reassess things and finally act on the idea that had been burning inside him since his university days in Surrey. He explains that he's "not a hard-core environmentalist" and that he's just trying to get greener products to people like himself - who look for convenience and cost-saving measures.
Wow-wow's highest selling product, the weird and wonderful EcoballsTM wash system, is proof of this. This set of three ‘wash-balls' guarantee that you'll never have to buy washing powder again. Unlike regular washing powders that use bleach to cover up stains, these use ions to react with the dirt and lift it without fading colours or releasing harmful phosphates into the water supply. They have their green credentials intact, actually work for an incredible 1000 washes, and save you a lot of money. "We're stoked to be able to offer them" says Jonny.
Working with local designers such as Aaron Moore and Sarah Bayley, Wow-wow provides a platform for ethical designers to get their products into the mainstream as well as encourage new designers. Only four months old, the small, but impressive range of products has everything from furniture and building materials to handbags and stationary, with a generous sprinkling of geeky gadgets thrown in.
"I don't want to be preachy. I want to make going green fun", says Jonny. Well guess what? He has. I think it's best put by designer Aaron Moore when he says, "don't send your plastic to the landfill site. Recycle it and sit on it."