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Swipe right for Freitag’s bag exchange

S.W.A.P by FREITAG, image by Fabian Hugo

Zurich – The Swiss bagmaker has launched an exchange programme that lets customers freely swap their Freitag bags using a platform inspired by dating apps.

Freitag’s S.W.A.P. (Shopping Without Any Payment) platform encourages sustainable and conscious consumption, while creating an online community among the brand’s customers. The programme, which gives the brand’s long-lasting products a second life, allows owners to exchange their bags with each other, without spending any money.

To get started, customers must register their bag and upload a photo. From there, they can swipe right on bags they like and left on ones they don’t. When two users match, they are able to negotiate the swap between themselves. As each of the brand’s products are unique, there is no chance of duplicates circulating throughout the programme and Freitag envisions a ‘never-ending bag swap craze’.

By creating a social, interactive platform to extend the life-cycle and use of its products, the brand is giving Community Commerce a sustainable edge.

Journey takes diners on a trip around the globe

Journey at Chelsea Funhouse, London

London – The restaurant offers a choose-your-own-adventure menu based on different travel routes.

Diners visiting Journey are able to choose the path they wish to take, before delving into a two-hour experience incorporating four courses and four cocktails. The routes on offer aim to tell a story about exploration and travel, with menu options including The Silk Road – traversing China, India, Persia and the Mediterranean, and Castilla, with plates inspired by Peru, Mexico, Spain and The Philippines. The Raj, meanwhile, journeys from Great Britain to Pakistan, the US and Kenya.

According to Lollipop, the creators of Journey, the experience aims to build a sense of unity between countries and cultures. ‘At a time when the world is divided more than ever, I am excited to introduce different cultures through food and drinks to our community,’ says Seb Lyall, founder of Lollipop.

The food and beverage industry is the latest sector to embrace immersive experiences and encourage guests to lose themselves in highly sensorial encounters. For more, read our Experience 2020 report.

Paris inters its first eco-friendly cemetery

Paris – The Ivry-sur-Seine green burial area aims to counteract the average 833kg of carbon generated by traditional burials.

The 17,000-square-foot area has opened as part of Paris’ city-wide sustainability goals. To meet green burial standards, coffins and urns must be made of cardboard or unvarnished locally sourced wood, and those buried must be wearing clothes made of natural fibres. Wooden grave markers will also be used in place of tombstones.

According to Camille Strozecki, founder of funeral company Pompes Funèbres 1887, people are increasingly planning funerals with the environment in mind. ‘We often have pretty ugly, massive tombstones, all tightly packed,’ he tells CityLab. ‘Physically, French eco-friendly cemeteries will look more similar to traditional American cemeteries.’ The city is planning more than 2,000 green burial plots in coming years.

Consumers and brands are finally addressing – rather than avoiding – the end of human life and how it can be better planned for in order to be more sustainable. For more on how to design positive endings, read our recent Q&A.

Leaves by Shaina Garfield

Stat: YouTube is the top video channel for teens

YouTube is the most popular video channel for American teenagers, according to Piper Jaffray’s latest Taking Stock with Teens survey, which highlights spending trends and brand preferences of 9,500 teenagers across the US. The study found that YouTube outranks Netflix among the country’s teenagers, accounting for 37% of daily video consumption.

The results compound other research into Generation Z’s changing media consumption, with a 2018 study by Pew Research Center finding that 85% of US teenagers aged 13 to 17 use YouTube.

Increasingly, teenagers are looking past mainstream media and turning to their peers for more relatable entertainment. For more on the rise of Everyteen Media, keep an eye out for our upcoming youth macrotrend, Paradox Personas.