Whether it’s building your own furniture, offsetting the carbon footprint of your upcoming holiday or sprucing up your eyewear, Sublime introduces the sustainable brands that’ll bring a greener angle to your spring clean
Oru Space
Seamlessly combining co-working, wellbeing, food, and events, Oru creates alternate and exciting ways of living and working within urban environments, providing consciously designed spaces that live, breathe, and nurture.
‘Oru’ is derived from Tamil, meaning ‘for one’, embodying the company’s central values of community and cooperation. Based in East Dulwich and soon in Sutton, South London, Oru has formed an inclusive and collaborative culture, naturally attracting companies and organisations that care and strive for profit with purpose.
By supporting the world’s most creative and disruptive minds, Oru places a fresh approach on the issues that really matter in the world around us and opens up a platform to inspire positive action. Sustainability is at the core of Oru Space, with both sites designed to help the community and environment thrive, promoting biodiversity, positive social impact, and connection.
Oru Sutton, due to fully launch this summer, highlights the brand’s commitment to the development of innovative infrastructure that supports the environment. The sustainable design includes solar panelling on rooftops, thermal massing to regulate heat, low-flow taps to prevent water waste, rainwater collection tanks, organic food gardens and community green spaces, on-site composting and a collaboration with the RSBP to create a bird nesting and feeding sanctuary.
In addition, cafes at both sites are free of single-use plastic, serving oat milk free of charge, and only sourcing fresh produce from local suppliers. Furniture in the space is second-hand or recycled, each site also home to urban beehives.
U-Build
Featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs, U-Build is a London-based sustainable building company, created and developed by award-winning architects Studio Bark. Aiming to transform the way people think about construction, U-Build simplifies the process and encourages people of all abilities to build a design of their own.
U-Build is a unique system made from strong, lightweight modular boxes that connect together to form larger objects, 
meaning they can be used to self-build almost anything. The system is easy to construct and inhabit; each modular box can be thermally insulated, house electrics, or used as shelving and storage systems.
For U-Build, the key aspect is its ease of construction. Each box can be quickly assembled with simple, accessible tools, using standard connections (which are supplied), the boxes bolt together, creating a rigid frame for your new space. Designed with modular and circular economy principles in mind, U-Build is customisable without limitation, expandable, demountable, and completely portable allowing the system to grow and move with you. The brand is focused on using natural, non-toxic materials and local, low-carbon components to deliver a high-quality product – and usually without intrusive foundations.
As well as bespoke projects, U-Build produces and sells an array of flatpack items, from garden studios and tiny houses – which can be attached and fitted to trailers – to bespoke furniture such as storage boxes and workspaces.
Wayaj
Blazing exciting new trails in the sustainable tourism industry, Wayaj provides travellers and travel operators with the resources to make a positive impact on our planet. The company was founded by veteran social entrepreneur and passionate traveller Nelly Gedeon, after witnessing first-hand the devastating effects of climate change on destinations that depend on tourism.
Led by Gedeon and a diverse team of travel and hospitality tech experts, Wayaj works to educate, raise awareness, and apply its collective knowledge to help create a future in which travel and tourism are a model for lasting positive change. Since its launch in 2019, the award-winning company has been a pioneer in introducing tools and technologies designed to increase eco-awareness and sustainability.
The Wayaj IMPPACT software (Imperative Metamorphosis to Preserve our Planet and Communities for Tomorrow), for instance, consists of the Carbon Footprint Calculating Engine and Sustainable Actions tool that facilitates the reduction of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere through offsetting and supporting UNSDG-aligned projects. IMMPACT has three versions: a Standard Edition available on Wayaj.com, a Hotel Edition customised for guests to offset transportation and stays, and a Business Edition for offsetting staff transportation.
In addition to championing social and environment projects worldwide, Wayaj develops tailored solutions like the Hotel Sustainability Rating, which helps determine where a hotel ranks on its sustainability journey and suggests key improvements. The HSR features on Wayaj’s Alight.travel website, where travellers can book accommodation and instantly offset the carbon of their trip. Here, travellers can use HSR ratings to make more informed decisions on where to stay based on their personal values and goals.
At Wayaj, cultivating a cooperative, respectful, inclusive, and compassionate culture is paramount, and the health of the planet remains front and centre in every decision made.
Corlin Eyewear
Visual expression is the focus of this Swedish eyewear brand. Launched in 2017, Corlin’s goal remains to redefine the way brands operate in the 21st century – silhouettes, textures, and colours come together to create a bond within the community in a collection that’s ever-growing but staying in the same lane.
With the strive to fulfil everyone’s needs without compromising on craftsmanship, their contemporary assortment of sunglasses, blue light glasses, ski goggles, and essential accessories is designed in-house at their Stockholm studio and produced to match demand.
Cautiously designed, high-quality and familiar eyewear prevails in their SS23 collection, too – graphic elements, modernised and reinvented textures, and sensational comfort are inspired by the playfulness of the 1960s, fused together with a versatile yet recognizable colour palette and a brand new Corlin logo. The unboxing experience is one to look forward to, too – the components are carefully designed for everyday wear, the ultra-portable, faux-leather pouch optimised for all of your essential gear.
