Living a sustainable life with bamboo and My Little Panda

It’s more than a trend and, if you agree, you appreciate its versatility in feather-light beauty tools and purity in skincare. We’re talking about bamboo. And today, we take a step further toward total mindfulness with My Little Panda and its bamboo lifestyle products.

Its resilience, resistance, lightness, and zen beauty contribute to the success and wide popularity of bamboo. I won’t blame you if you chose bamboo purely for its raw aesthetic. I do like it myself, in the end. Let me introduce you to My Little Panda with an exclusive interview.

 

My Little Panda in short

My Little Panda is a design brand with a foot in the UK and one in Vietnam. Its mission is changing (for the better) little pleasures and daily activities, such as cooking, eating out or enjoying a drink together.

 

How?
That’s simple: by ditching plastic, the primary source of waste from industrial production and individual usage. My Little Panda replies with its ingenious eco-friendly solutions: biodegradable disposables and eco-friendly cutlery kits. Green is always welcome, but the eco alternative must be durable and light to work well. ‘This little buddy’ found the winning formula where functionality and resistance meet design.

My Little Panda: the products
My Little Panda natural environment is the kitchen and the urban jungle – or everywhere we eat and drink. The alternatives to plastic are ‘sporks’, cutlery and straws you can carry around and use on the go with minimal packaging.

Bamboo is the solution…
We’ve already covered how bamboo doesn’t need extra care to thrive in nature and its positive impact on the environment. The original design is developed by design students in the UK who receive a prize for the winning project. Still, the bamboo comes from far… from Vietnam.

My Little Panda uses organic bamboo picked and refined in Vietnam, and it’s very selective in the choice of its partners. Here, MLP works with a family business which shares the same ethics. The finished pieces arrive in the UK via sea – instead of planes – to reduce CO2 emissions. Then assembled by families looking for a stable source of income; this how an MLP set comes to life! Its long journey crosses oceans and continents to leave nothing but a positive mark in many people’s life.

MLP meets the FSC and UK standards for sustainability, ethical production and quality. Hence we have good reasons to welcome this small reality in our daily life. You know me, I have a soft spot for cute designs and smart products. Let’s take a better look at some interesting pieces…

My Little Panda Bamboo Lunch Set is a roll pouch with a complete set of cutlery – spoon, fork and knife – a pair of chopsticks, a straw and a coconut brush. Because, drinking with a straw is funny, washing a straw is absolutely not. The bag is composed for its 80% by hemp fibres; while the remaining 20% is made of recycled cotton to ensure sustainability (hemp) and longevity (reused cotton).

 

MLP Compact Travel Set offers the basic to eat in a tiny eco pouch, to save space in any jam-packed bags.

The raw beauty of bamboo – with its earthy hues – may seem too minimal, but this designer brand has plenty of vitaminic colours for you. You can find the shade that matches your taste, mood and style. MLP also allows you to personalise your cutlery making a perfect present or your kit simply more unique!

 

Now that My Little Panda’s showed its best; let’s move onto the project. I had the pleasure to interview Vincent Wood, our insider at MLP…. 

 

 

Could you tell us something about your background? Where are you from?

I’m the lead copywriter for the company and joined at the start of this year to help build its presence and give it a greater direction in where it wants to be. From North London originally, my family moved out to Hertfordshire and since my teenage years, I’ve always wanted to get back into the hustle and bustle of the city. The company is based in the Docklands area of London, UK, and I went to university very close by so know the area well. When the opportunity came up to work in a role that married my two passions of writing and environmentalism, I jumped at the chance and now I feel I’m a part of something special we are building here.

When your journey and that of My Little Panda started?

My Little Panda was founded by Paris Michailidis and his business partner, David Fuentes. They were already running a successful Business Solutions company in the city when tragedy struck Paris’ family. After some introspection and soul searching, he decided he wanted to make a positive impact on the world by making non-toxic, non-carcinogenic products and his research led him down the route of natural products. He wanted to produce something that wouldn’t harm people or the planet and he settled on eco-friendly, ethically sourced bamboo and My Little Panda was born from their. I joined because I wanted to make a difference with my working life and not just contributing to more rubbish in the world. 

What’s your goal?

The ultimate goal of My Little Panda is to show people that there are other, more sustainable, products out there and that you can make a massive difference to the planet just by making small decisions in what you buy and what you eat. We can all cut down on waste and be more environmentally conscious just by doing tiny things. It may not seem like a lot but it makes a massive difference and the more people that take these steps, the better it is for all of us.

How do you imagine your typical customer?

From our customer research, we know that the majority of our customers, at the moment, tend to be millennial women who are more responsive to environmental issues. Young professionals who have a hectic, modern lifestyle but still want to care for the planet are the people who are buying are products mostly but our challenge is to open that up to people who perhaps think it’s too hard to change or have maybe never even considered bamboo. We all live on the same planet and so we’ve just got to convince each individual, one by one.

What inspires you the most?/ Do you have any inspiring place?

I love being in London for inspiration, the fact that so many people of different backgrounds and cultures all live and work together in this city is a great example of how we can forge ahead as a community. Of course, like anywhere in the world, it has its problems but the fact that ancient buildings stand next to new monoliths, start-up businesses compete for space with established brands, and world renowned museums and galleries are on streets filled with ever changing street art is something I love about the city. You can turn the same corner everyday and always find something new and I think that’s why My Little Panda is so well suited to being here. We want to help the world work together in tiny little ways and we want to work together with whoever is sympathetic to our cause to achieve that.

How does the creation process develop?

In terms of products, we look at what areas we can help people reduce waste and how we can take an existing plastic item and make it more sustainable. Then we ask around manufacturers to see if we can find a way of replacing the plastic with sustainable and ethically sourced materials and we go from there. For me personally, creating the written materials and looking at how I can present our new products, it’s all about having fun and passing that excitement on to the customer. How can I make a household product something new and what words do I need to choose to really bring it to life in people’s minds before they have bought it. 

Do you have any project for the near future?

We are constantly working on new products and items, mostly dealing in bamboo, but we are also looking at projects that involve bamboo fibre and olive wood. If we can find ways to create high-quality products in a sustainable fashion we’ll move forward with it so being so open to new ideas always leads to exciting avenues to go down. Watch this space!

In your opinion, what’s the first step for a low-impact lifestyle?

Looking at the small ways you can make a change. Even if it’s using a reusable water bottle or not buying plastic carrier bags at the store, they may seem trivial but at the end of the day, you’ve made a difference even if you can’t see it. We live in such a throw-away culture that the act of reusing something over and over again is really quite revolutionary.

Any inspiring quote?

Small acts of everyday kindness are small revolutions that can make a massive impact. Be kind to those you meet and touch the Earth gently.

Now it’s clear why going green with bamboo isn’t a mere fashionable choice for My Little Panda. The company shares a real concern we hardly feel in this consumeristic haze surrounding us. Yet, My Little Panda essential and easy to access designs propose a solution for everyone, whether you use a fork for your spaghetti or chopsticks as I do.

 
 

Valentina Chirico aka Valens

 

Image credits:
courtesy of My Little Panda