Nada

Background

Together with our partner, 3D Cork (Portugal), we have produced a prototype of an aesthetically pleasing home accessory piece that also doubles up as a functional, sustainable piece of packaging for natural based deodorant that can be refilled over and over again.

We have already registered our designs, and Nada is a registered trademark. Our strapline is ‘leave nothing’ echoing the meaning of the Spanish word Nada – literally meaning ‘zero’. 

Current refillable brands are made with either plastic, metal, or a mixture of both, and none of them can be easily recycled at the kerbside. 

Nada is a new 100% sustainable and refillable natural, plant-based deodorant made from recyclable and compostable inserts housed in a natural cork cartridge. Cork is 100% sustainable, recyclable, biodegradable, and reusable. When cork trees are harvested, they aren't cut down; instead, their bark is stripped in sections so that the tree remains healthy and continues to live. In fact, cork trees can live for many hundreds of years!

Nada cartridges can be refilled over and over and then either be recycled via our recycling programme or chopped up and used in the garden as a mulch or as fillers for garden pots, used for crafting projects as home such as placemats, coasters, bird houses, pinboards etc. Our design is new and exciting and reflects the New European Bauhaus qualities of being inspired by art, culture and responding to needs beyond functionality by being sustainable and in harmony with nature and our planet. At the same time, the project encourages working relationships across different countries and cultures.

The idea behind the project

The project’s UK designer has a passion for reducing waste packaging from FMCG everyday products. After many years working in the food and beauty packaging industries, she decided to look at more sustainable materials and refillable options for natural based deodorants.

The need: In the UK alone, it is estimated that more than 4 billion plastic deodorant tubes make their final resting places in oceans, rivers, and landfills every year, representing an emission of 198,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

The growth: Fortune Business Insights predicts the global deodorant market size will reach $30.76 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.0% during the forecast period. Refillable options are growing faster than standard throwaway variants, with a 47% increase in sales from January to the end of July 2022, reported The NPD Group. 

Future goals

Looking to the future, and in partnership with 3D Cork, we want to focus on creating a refillable cartridge without an internal insert (which is currently made from recyclable cards). We are testing the finished cork with applications of the natural butter/wax-based deodorant to see if it withstands these applications over time. We are also looking to switch to 100% sustainable glues, for example, by using adhesives made from the mistletoe berry and by using 100% sustainable waterproofing compounds.