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20 October 2023
Author: The Future Laboratory
Image: Home Memories by Balbek Bureau. Photography by Slava Balbek, Antarctica
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Modibodi, Australia
US – In a collective push for menstrual equity, eight women-founded menstrual hygiene brands have formed the Tampon Tax Coalition to advocate for the elimination of taxes on menstrual products in the 21 states where they are still levied. Despite progress in recent years, with 22 states eliminating these taxes over the past decade, the coalition aims to ensure that the taxation of menstrual products becomes a thing of the past across the US.
The coalition believes this is only the beginning of a broader effort to make menstrual products more affordable and accessible – in a fight against period poverty. As part of their advocacy, the coalition is committed to reimbursing customers who have paid taxes on these products in states where they are still levied. Consumers can visit the coalition’s website within 10 days of purchase, submit their receipt, and expect a Venmo reimbursement within 24 hours.
The Tampon Tax Back Coalition comprises eight brands: Saalt, August, Cora, Diva, Here We Flo, The Honey Pot, Lola and Rael. Despite their competitive landscape, these brands have come together in a united front to drive positive change.
As explored in Civic Brands, brands should be ready to become educators, enablers and activists to make the change they want to see in the world.
UK – A new British brewery based in Surrey, England, is using solar energy to make eco-friendly beer. One Planet Brewing uses photovoltaic solar panels to generate enough electricity to power its 15-hectolitre, electric brewery.
The brewery’s first beer is a 5.5% abv Hazy IPA which is available to purchase in keg and can form from October 2023. One Planet Brewery also sources home-grown and local hops, uses re-usable kegs and glass flagons, and only offers delivery to customers within a 30-mile radius.
The company’s brewing capacity will also be limited by the amount of solar energy it can generate. In the sunny summer months, One Planet Brewery will sell its excess to the grid and buy back what it needs over the winter months. Initially, this means just four or five brews per month, with production paused from December to February.
As explored in our Solar Sustenance microtrend report, solar power is fast emerging as a long-term, affordable and sustainable option for food and drink businesses looking to reduce costs, promote sustainability and enhance their eco-friendly reputations.
One Planet Brewing, UK
Wet Beast Office. Design by Studioninedots. Photography by Maarten Willemstein, The Netherlands
Should businesses care about semiotics (the study of signs, symbols and their meaning)? Sign Salad’s founder, Dr Alex Gordon, believes that studying sign processes and meaning-making can drive growth, purpose and revenue streams. As LS:N Global analyses the potential for the home to become a new kind of retail space for brands in its macrotrend report, Home States Futures: Residential Retail, Gordon believes that questioning how language, symbols and signals can say more about how to navigate this metamorphosis of home as a concept, a place and a feeling.
To understand and speculate on the future meaning of home, it’s essential to return to the home’s primary function as a place of shelter. Maslow’s hierarchy, which offers a typology of human needs, defines shelter as one of the physiological needs sitting in the same category as air, water, food, sleep, clothing and reproduction.
‘The home is now a split between burden, anxiety, tension, pressure, a place of escape, pleasure, leisure, family retreat and personal creative exploration,’ says Gordon.
Read more on LS:N Global.
Join us for this free webinar, giving you a concise overview of LS:N Global’s latest trends update. Future Five 2024 is designed to help you jump straight to the key insights, opinions and future opportunities that you need to know about right now.
The report is built around the Topics section on LSNGlobal.com, which features industry-leading insight, foresight, trend forecasting and strategic analysis of the most important themes of tomorrow, relevant for today. These are: AI, Sustainability, Home & Family, Identities and Mobility.
In this free webinar, including a Q&A with our experts, we’ll discuss five of our leading Topics, based on the issues that brands, companies and collaborators ask us about the most, or in some instances, the things that we think they should be asking about.
The session will take place on 30 November from 2:00pm to 2:30pm BST.
Register to attend our free 30-minute live-stream for a concise introduction to our Future Five research for 2024.
We will also launch an accompanying Future Five 2024 report, which will be available to purchase on the day.
