我是七棵橡樹共同創辦人— Kuan
在接觸到七棵橡樹之前，我是一個不停在社會上搏鬥的上班族，從廣告公司、公關公司到精品、時尚產業品牌經理。
這樣的工作每天都需要面對強大的競爭：公司內部的鬥爭、客戶間的談判拉扯、與時間的賽跑，為了生活、對品牌經營的熱情以及一些自我的虛榮心吧，
讓我沒日沒夜加班，接收無數的應酬。 6年過去，我發現我的存款以及內心沒有因此而富有。因習慣性的加班及應酬，我沒有了健康的身體、美麗的肌膚；
失去了朋友、失去了家人。在某一刻來到花蓮的太平洋海岸線，在巨浪拍打著鵝卵石的巨響時，驚醒了我
市面上有大大小小，各式各樣的清潔用品，多以清潔效果和殺菌除螨為主打，但是多有使用過後的清潔用水，破壞自然生態的新聞傳出，不禁令人思考，在打掃居家環境、使我們過得更舒適與環境保護之間，能否找到一個平衡與區間？與大家分享一個創建環保清潔劑的小故事。
環保清潔劑品牌美生貝樂的創立者，伊莎貝拉·史密斯(Isabella Smith)，是一家丹麥公司的藥劑師，其致力於創造和銷售，既能滿足消費者安全與打掃功能，又能保護環境自然進行生物降解的清潔產品。這一切都開始於一個任務，就是想要在一家以擁有美麗特別又兼具實用功能性，居家花園產品聞名的丹麥網路商店上，找到包裝精美、具有良好效果又環保的清潔用品。
(美生貝樂創辦人Isabella Smith)
伊莎貝拉及他的團隊夥伴們，尋山遍野，幾乎瀏覽過整個網站上的產品，但都無法找到符合心目中標準的清潔用品。因為好不容易找到的可進行生物分解的清潔劑，包裝又都很醜陋，更重要的因素是，其實這些產品的清潔效果都不是很好。
於是在2005年的春天，伊莎貝拉及他的團隊夥伴們，決定將可進行生物降解的清潔產品，MAISONBELLE®，引進丹麥市場。採用無毒、生物可分解的天然植物基底成分，以及擁有自然新鮮香氣的植物精油製作而成，並使用可回收PET瓶裝瓶，不製造多餘的垃圾。MAISONBELLE®產品還符合嚴格的HSE英國無毒家用清潔劑標準，所以不會在瓶身找到任何的危險標誌。當然，MAISONBELLE®產品在兼顧環保之餘，也具有非常有效的清潔效果。
喜歡樂高積木嗎？享受拼圖和自己親手做出一樣東西的感覺嗎？
現在有比樂高積木更大的手作玩具讓你玩創意，XYZ建築方塊，長126mm*寬126mm*高3mm，每盒50片，每片44g，所有的方塊重量、尺寸與形狀皆一致，可耐重95公斤，承受一個以上的成人體重，結構非常穩定，越多的方塊連結在一起，整體結構就越穩定，就像真的在蓋房子一樣。
XYZ建築方塊，源自於三名倫敦大學工程與設計學院碩士生，Klayton Palmer、Charlotte Downs和Chris Verbick的畢業論文，他們分別是材料科學家、工程師與設計師，各司其職，互相幫助，於2012年開始，從設計、包裝、生產、材料到通路商，銷售等等一手包辦，XYZ建築方塊因此誕生。
他們依據兒童的思考與學習模式來設計產品，用意在於幫助兒童通過更有趣的方式學習工程和科學，開發孩子的三維思考力、想象力和動手能力。因為認為自在地玩耍是小朋成長過程中很重要的基石，對人格的養成造成直接性的影響，所以希望培養孩子們，面臨危機與問題時，能具備團隊合作與組織的能力，打造一個讓孩子們自由玩耍與學習的環境。
Isabella Smith Apothecary is a Danish company devoted to creating and marketing biodegradable cleaning products and toiletries that are safe both for the environment and the people who use them. It all began with a quest to find an effective, eco-friendly cleaning product in attractive packaging for our Danish web shop, known for its beautiful, unique and functional house and garden products. We looked high and low, but we simply couldn’t find one. It was as if those who manufactured biodegradable cleaning products had a special affection for ugly packaging, not to mention the fact that most of the products didn’t clean particularly well.
And in spring 2005, we introduced to the Danish market our own range of biodegradable cleaning products: MAISON BELLE®. The range is made from natural ingredients whenever possible and fragranced with fresh-smelling essential oils. Bottled in recyclable PET bottles, MAISON BELLE® products meet the stringent UK HSE standards for non-toxic household cleaners. So you won’t find any orange hazard symbols on our bottles! And just as importantly, MAISON BELLE® products are incredibly effective when it comes to doing what they were created to do – that is, cleaning.
Since we were already producing cleaning products, the logical next step was to create our own line of liquid soaps – another product often filled with harsh, toxic chemicals. And from there, it was only another small leap to making our very own creams and scrubs, which are free of parabens and other harmful preservatives.
Isabella Smith
Founder, Maison Belle
XYZ originated from my final year studies into wild play and gender biases in toys and games for children as part of my Masters degree at the University of London. Myself, Charlotte, Chris and James, my fellow university peers, decided to embark on the daunting journey of starting a design and engineering consultancy called ‘Cinter Design’.
Alongside the core business of our consultancy we wanted to also produce our own products and develop our own projects so that not only would our company have actual assets but more importantly so we could learn first hand for the benefit of our clients, what is involved in taking a project all the way from conception through to a finished product available in a retail outlet.
As a group we chose my Masters project entitled at the time ‘Platform’ and approached the development of the project as we would for any client that had commissioned our consultancy services. Platform got the full treatment, from renaming, logo design, packaging, branding, materials and manufacturer research all the way through to fulfillment, website, crowdfunding, marketing etc. XYZ was born.
What is currently on sale, is our first large manufacturing run of XYZ hence the Limited Edition title. To promote this product we travelled the UK to different events of which the most notable were:
> The Gadget Show Live; where we let the visiting public play with the product and provided giveaways to the TV show presenters.
Ohyo was borne out of necessity. I found myself at St Pancras station with no water fountain in sight, no bottle in my pocket, and no option but to buy a bottle of water. There are enough plastic bottles discarded every year to stretch round the world 1000 times!
I concluded that people are reluctant to carry re-usable bottles because they are too bulky. Ohyo is the handy, collapsible water bottle that’s easy to take anywhere. An extended Ohyo holds 500ml or 1000ml. When empty an Ohyo will squish down to fit in a pocket. Using (and re-using) an Ohyo avoids the need to buy environmentally-damaging bottled water. Users can now visit www.findafountain.org or download our free app to find drinking water sources near them.
Getting Started - Funding and a Mauling from the Dragons
Armed with a prototype bottle, a great story and a handful of initial sales, I ventured into BBC Dragon's Den. Yes, I asked for a lot of money for a small percentage of the company - but that's just part of the game isn't it? My pitch was really quite good and in the two-second pause before the Dragons laid into me I thought everything was going well!
"A LUDICROUS invention" Duncan Bannatyne as he hurled an Ohyo at me.
I studied at Birmingham Institute of Art & Design in 2005 and graduated with a BA in Fine Art, specialising in film and photography. I’ve always worked in creative industries, designing greetings cards and working in branding and communication previously. I have a passion for design and an equal passion and interest in the inner workings of business, so I was looking for something to combine my love of both.
I worked in Sydney, Australia for fashion label Ben Sherman and during my time there I spent many hours looking, thinking about and reworking iconic British images, and being so far away from home all things British were consistently on my radar. I realised how many wonderful British icons we have and how many of them I cherished and missed. The drawings and designs I worked on daily tugged on my heart strings, reminding me all the wonderful things from home that I loved.
When my time completed in Australia, back home I had the choice of finding a job or creating something from my passion and experience. I’d created so many designs that I loved and I wanted to bring them to life so Victoria Eggs the business was born.
What were the biggest challenges for you along the way?
It’s important to me that Victoria Eggs is a truly British company with everything made in the UK and when I started 5 years ago it was more challenging than I imagined to get British manufacturers with the right quality at the right price. In the last 5 years thankfully this has changed as the number of suppliers has increased.
美國的波特蘭經常被公認為全球最環保的城市。此行慕名而來，要好好探索這座綠色城市的獨特之處。
我們發現，以往依賴重工業的波特蘭，在歷經30年的都市更新後，保留了許多舊工廠，改造成寫字樓和住宅。當地政府儘量抑制房價過度增長，保障當地居民的住房權益。
這裡是全北美最支持創業的城市之一，但並沒有過度開發，依舊維持美國太平洋西北地區的純樸風貌。這裡的餐廳，使用當時令的食材不只是一種宣傳，而是大家都習以為常，並且主動要求的飲食方式。
我們原本想像波特蘭是個多麼青綠、高科技的城市（確實綠化的不錯，也挺發達）；仔細一瞧，它的街道頗不華麗，甚至有些簡陋粗糙。
但最終，這座綠色城市講究的是根深蒂固的環保作息。拋開政治口號和商業利益，這才是人民真正嚮往的綠色生活。
幾乎人人都認爲英國菜不好吃，但熱愛家鄉的英國設計師 Victoria Eggs 可不這麼覺得！
