Supporting children’s education and making meaningful connections within the communities it serves, Emirates has engaged with several educational entities across Asia; to provide 700 handmade schoolbags and essential stationery supplies directly to young students. Each schoolbag is a piece of history—a limited-edition bag from Emirates’ Aircrafted range, made from the fabrics and parts of Emirates’ iconic aircraft.

With 1300 bags already distributed across Africa, the Asia Aircrafted KIDS delivery is part of a larger initiative by Emirates to repurpose and upcycle materials for the benefit of children across the globe.  

Aircrafted Kids by Emirates goes to Asia

In India, Emirates collaborated with Smile Foundation India, a respected institution that provides education, healthcare, and livelihood programs to children aged between 6-14 years. In Bangladesh, Emirates partnered with Kanan, Thikana (Shelter Home), and Ahsania Mission Shishu Nagari – three sister entities across Dhaka that provide shelter for women and children, and a safe place to nurture education and wellbeing. In Pakistan, Emirates worked with SOS Children’s Villages, a renowned entity which serves local communities by creating a nurturing and inspirational space for financially disadvantaged youths to continue their education. In the Philippines, Emirates has been a long-time partner of Virlanie Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to help disadvantaged children reach their full potential and reintegrate them into society. Through the Emirates Airline Foundation, Emirates has a long history of supporting children’s welfare programs, and Aircrafted Kids is an extension of this work.

Emirates has a local office in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, so each entity was visited by the Emirates representatives who helped pack the bags and distribute them and were eager to connect with the organizations who do such important work in the community. Inside the bags, Emirates provided school supplies such as stationary, calculators and essentials, as well as a variety of books that can be shared throughout schools.

The next stop on the Aircrafted Kids schoolbags trail is Egypt, with more destinations in the MENA region to follow.

The making of Aircrafted Kids schoolbags

As part ofan environmental strategy that includes responsible consumption, Emirates committed to repurposing more than 50,000 kilograms of materials, from 205 aircraft that are undergoing a cabin interior refit and refresh. The team at Emirates Engineering brainstormed a myriad of ways in which the old materials could be reused and upcycled and settled on a range of sturdy backpacks. The high-quality seat fabric of Emirates Economy Class seats is 95% wool and 5% nylon, a flat weave structure sourced from Germany and Ireland which is ideal for upcycling due to its durability and non-flammable nature.

In a dedicated workshop at Emirates, a team of 14 EngineeringMaintenance Assistants creatively designed and tailored a whole range of backpacks for children of different ages. The Emirates Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand team then identified charitable entities, schools and foundations, where the bags could be distributed for most impact, communicating with the NGOs on what their preferences would be. The teams spent weeks researching styles, ensuring the bags were safe and comfortable for children to use. Across all the bag designs, the fabrics were professionally laundered, then further deep cleaned by hand, leather-conditioned for the accents, and thoroughly disinfected before being sewn into unique pieces. Brand new lining was added to the bags, along with functional zippers and adjustable straps, before being packed into specially branded ‘Aircrafted Kids’ boxes and shipped to their final destinations.

With the transport and logistics fully supported by Emirates’ SkyCargo teams, and dnata Logistics across the continents – Aircrafted Kids by Emirates connected the community of employees within Emirates to achieve a meaningful goal.

Aircrafted by Emirates Limited Edition Luggage for sale

Emirates fans can also get involved in this ‘connecting communities’ initiative, by purchasing limited edition luggage in the coming months, as the Aircrafted by Emirates retail range prepares to launch a second phase of the capsule collection. Like the first collection, which sold out in a matter of days – proceeds after costs are donated to Emirates Airline Foundation supporting humanitarian projects around the world. Customers and fans can also donate to Emirates Airline Foundation any time, and help children in need.

The treatment of animals rates higher than green issues when consumers choose meat and dairy products.  

That’s according to a new study, which suggests that while consumers consider sustainability important, other factors such as taste, quality, and animal welfare take precedence in their purchasing decisions.

On product labels, consumers valued information regarding animal welfare, food safety, and health and nutrition. The results can help producers to market particularly sustainably produced food products in a more targeted way and make them more attractive to consumers.

The study was conducted across five European countries—Czechia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK to identify the attributes that are most important to consumers buying meat or dairy products.

Taking part in an online survey, 3,192 participants were asked to rate the importance of 18 different factors when shopping for meat and dairy products on a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important):

• ·Attributes – freshness, quality/taste, healthy eating, nutrition, price, processing, special offers, convenience of use/preparation, and familiarity of brand.
• ·Animal welfare attributes – animal welfare, outdoor-reared/free range, and pasture-fed.
• ·Attributes related to environmental sustainability – locally produced, sustainable packaging, food miles, carbon footprint, and organic.
• ·Social sustainability – Fair trade or producer/farmer fairly paid.

Across all surveyed countries, consumers consistently prioritised freshness, quality/taste, and animal welfare as the most important attributes. In contrast, environmental factors such as food miles, carbon footprint, and organic production were deemed less important in influencing purchasing decisions. However, sustainability labels were perceived as helpful among consumers.

Study co-author Dr Andy Jin, Senior Lecturer in Risk Management in the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Our study highlights the complex interplay of factors that influence consumer behaviour when buying meat and dairy products. Consumers indicated that information related to animal welfare, food safety, and health and nutrition was considered more important than environmental sustainability when making food choices.

“The findings demonstrate the importance of labelling strategies that encompass multiple aspects of product attributes, beyond environmental considerations alone.”

The implications of the research extend further than consumers to policymakers, producers, and retailers in the food industry who are striving to meet evolving consumer demands for more sustainable products.

Dr Jin added: “Labels on their own are not enough to change behaviour, especially for consumers who have low or no behavioural intention to buy sustainable meat or dairy products.

“These results should be translated into additional policy measures, such as nudges or behavioral interventions, helping individuals translate their attitudes into behavior and facilitating the choice of sustainably produced products.”

The research, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, was conducted by the universities of Portsmouth and Newcastle in the UK, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, University of Córdoba in Spain, Mendel University in Czech Republic and Agroscope from Switzerland.

Urbanization continues to profoundly shift the face of Philippine towns and cities. With the lack of ample crop production areas and more people migrating from rural to urban zones, primary availability and access to food are      severely impacted. In fact, over 3.9 million Filipino families continue to experience involuntary hunger due to food inaccessibility.

Epson has always held a strong commitment to sustainability and protecting the environment, not only in its products but also in its initiatives that enrich communities. More recently, the company has shifted more focus to enabling the circular economy through upcycling and breathing second life to used materials. To spur its commitment into action, Epson continually partners with like-minded organizations such as World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines to further its eco-initiatives and contributions to a greener future.

Strengthening Epson’s sustainability initiatives through urban gardening

Earlier this year, Epson partnered with WWF-Philippines to conduct an urban gardening workshop for the global technology leader’s employees. Facilitated by WWF-Philippines Sustainable Food Systems Project Manager Monci Hinay, the workshop aimed to educate attendees on the practice, and showcase how people in urban spaces can benefit from urban gardening and sustainable food systems.

Throughout the workshop, Epson employees learned about what urban gardening entails, such as what kind of crops work best depending on the time of the year. Participants learned in-depth tips and the basic steps of urban gardening: starting from site selection, seed sowing and seedling care, container selection, transplanting, water fertilizer, and pest control. Participants also learned how to kickstart their gardening journey: from concocting their own natural pest control to utilizing companion planting.

Understanding the basics of urban gardening

According to WWF-Philippines, the practice of urban gardening addresses one of the key pillars of food security, access to food, as well as the growing issue of household waste management. The method involves growing produce in portable and modular planters, in areas where agricultural spaces are not typically available, such as cities and urban centers. Urban gardening enables the cultivation of crops in compact areas and vertical structures, akin to hydroponic technology at a more affordable cost.

Additionally, urban gardening combats another growing problem: single-use plastics and plastic pollution. The practice gives life to potential waste products such as old plastic bottles, conveniently turning them into miniature planters that can fit in any space.

“What we’re doing right now is part and parcel of the solution because as we speak, a lot of our fellow Filipinos are experiencing hunger and malnutrition,” said Hinay. “We hope more people start to practice urban gardening and pass these methods forward so that we, as a community, can begin to address these growing issues surrounding food and food security.”

The urban gardening workshop, while highly informative and engaging, is just the first step in addressing the food crisis from an individual level. Epson, together with WWF-Philippines, hopes to roll out more eco-initiatives to educate and inspire individuals to practice the method and embrace their roles as stewards of sustainability.

“Our efforts and eco-initiatives represent our simple contribution to Epson’s global environmental goal of becoming a pioneering company that employs its effective, compact, and precise technologies to achieve a sustainable future,” said Masako Kusama, President and Director of Epson Philippines. “We are glad for our growing partnership with WWF-Philippines, and all the opportunities that will help put our commitment to sustainability into practice.”