Sustainable growth for eco conscious brand, OneNine5

The ‘Attenborough Effect’

For Co-founder Alex Stewart, inspiration for eco-conscious brand OneNine5 came from a source that shocked the rest of the nation; in October 2017, he witnessed the enormous masses of plastic waste dumped in our oceans as documented by David’s Attenborough’s Blue Planet series. This inspiration transpired into action when, travelling through airport security for a long weekend away, Alex and his fellow Co-Founder Andy were shocked at the number of single-use clear liquid bags picked up by passengers, only to be discarded at the end of their holiday.

Determined to make waves in the aviation and travel industry and reduce the estimated 150 million single-use clear bags used by UK travellers every year, OneNine5 was born. Named after the number of countries in the world and the pair’s passion for stylish yet functional travel accessories, the founders set to work on a direct-to-consumer business model.

Not so plane and simple

The OneNine5 wash bag, made from recycled plastic and initially available in 3 colours, is well-designed and thoroughly researched. In fact, the pair conducted extensive surveys across three of the UK’s largest airports before undergoing development with their Shoreditch based product design partners. We asked whether Alex foresees UK legislation similar to the 10p plastic bag charge expanding to airports in order to tackle the plastic problem. He comments: “‘We’ve all seen innovations and progression to tackle single use plastics within the grocery and cosmetics industry. Sadly, the aviation and travel industry is lagging behind. We believe it is legislation that will ultimately drive real change and mandates to tackle plastic waste are needed to motivate air passengers to change their habits. Until then, it is up to businesses like ours to offer sustainable travel alternatives to consumers that share a similar standpoint on tackling the plastic crisis.”

"OneNine5 is a lean business so time and resources are just as valuable to us as money. From order through to pick and dispatch, fulfilmentcrowd’s platform completely automates every stage of the process at lightning speed." - Alex Stewart, Founder 

Sustainable shipping for scalable growth

After finalising product design and production in December 2018, OneNine5 set out on a search for a trustworthy, speedy fulfilment provider to pick, pack and deliver customer orders placed through their Shopify website. The selection process was based on a broad range of criteria that, ultimately, fulfilmentcrowd were able to satisfy, as Alex continues: “As we searched, many other providers felt overly complex or didn’t really share our entrepreneurial zeal, but fulfilmentcrowd’s offer of ‘no contracts, no minimums’ was perfect for OneNine5 as it gave us the cashflow and space to get started. There was no huge financial commitment hanging around our neck, yet at the same time, we had capacity and competitive international shipping costs from the outset which meant we were free to scale at our own pace.” With sustainability front and central to their entire business model, it was also crucial to partner with a fulfilment provider dedicated to environmentally friendly solutions. It was here that Alex learnt of fulfilmentcrowd’s industry-leading Lorax initiative:

“fulfilmentcrowd’s range of biodegradable packaging, in particular their sustainable alternative to bubble wrap, complements our bespoke recyclable eCommerce shipping boxes and delivers on our commitment to truly plastic-free packaging. As order volume continues to grow and we scale our operations,  it fills us with confidence to partner with a like-minded company."