Need to Know
19 : 03 : 21

Saudi Arabia – Sanitary brand Tena’s latest campaign, Despair No More, aims to change the perception of the menopause in the Middle East.

The Arabic word for menopause directly translates as ‘the age of despair’, and a survey by Tena found that the majority of Saudi women believe this term should change. Drawing from this, the Despair No More campaign, in partnership with Impact BBDO, features video content and an original song that flips the narrative to position the menopause as a positive life stage focused on renewal, reflection and wisdom.

To engage its target audience, Tena has opened up a search for an alternative term for the menopause, using its social media channels to ask Middle Eastern women to share their suggestions. ‘By changing the ‘age of despair’, we’ll end the stigma of menopause for ourselves, our mothers and our daughters,' explains Sarah Berro, associate creative director at Impact BBDO.

Brands are shifting perceptions of the menopause to empower women reaching this life stage. Discover the importance Menopausal Empowerment in our interview with Dr Louise Newson, founder of menopause app Balance.

Paris and London – Car manufacturer DS Automobiles’ first eco-conscious fashion collection shows the potential of clothing made with carbon-negative materials.

Working with clothing label EgonLab and London-based design studio Post Carbon Lab, the mobility brand's range of unisex garments features a photosynthetic coating that actively soaks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Containing live algae, this coating allows each garment to absorb CO2 as it is worn, emit oxygen, and transform this carbon into glucose, resulting in a symbiotic relationship with nature.

Through this project, DS Automobiles shows how the car industry and the fashion sector can collaborate more closely to explore sustainability and material innovation. According to Dian-Jen Lin, co-founder of Post Carbon Lab: ‘Working alongside DS Automobiles and EgonLab has been a great way to test our new technology and merge the worlds of fashion, innovation and green living together – something we strive to provide the metropolitan audience with.’

This project sets an example for more experimental approaches to eco-conscious clothing, with the aim of inspiring future bio-positive innovations in fashion.

Food waste from households, retail outlets and food services remains at a significant level across the globe, according to a comprehensive report by the UN Environment Programme.

The study reveals that, worldwide, people waste 931m tonnes of food items per year. In homes around the world, an average of 74kg of food per person is wasted each year, with this figure remarkably similar across lower-middle income to high-income countries, suggesting that most nations have room to improve.

The research also finds that some 17% of total global food production goes to waste. Breaking this down, households account for 11% of this figure, followed by food services (5%) and retail (2%). Marcus Gover, the head of WRAP, an NGO that contributed to the report, states: ‘We are so used to wasting food that we’ve forgotten its value, and the cost that feeding our growing global population has on the natural world. Like it or not, we in our homes are the most significant part of the problem.’

Despite an increasing awareness of the impact of food waste among consumers, there is still a growing need for innovative solutions to better support brands, retailers and consumers in tackling the issue.