The Big Beanbag Company
Eco Friendly Bean Bags – The Polystyrene Alternative
Hi, my name is David Crawford, Managing Director of The Big Beanbag Company based in Cornwall. Our journey to create the world’s first eco friendly bean bag started in 2018. I was looking to purchase either new beanbags or find a filling to top up my existing bean bags. My partner studied costume design and is incredibly talented with textiles and I asked.
“Could you make me a better bean bag than we’ve got already?”
“Yes, but we’re not filling it with polystyrene.”
We didn’t know it at the time, but her reply would be the first steps into our new business venture.
Is there a polystyrene alternative? What else can you use instead of polystyrene? After some brief research we discovered that bean bags, although popular since the 1970s, haven’t had much of an updated design throughout their existence. Certainly, no redesign that had the environment and sustainability in mind.
The gap in the market was identified and we started to design some concepts. It was now our intention to design a bean bag that was as sustainable as possible, whilst still being commercially viable.
We partnered with a researcher at Plymouth University through the Acceleration Through Innovation program here in the South West. We identified the most sustainable fabrics we could, milled here in the UK as well as discovered thread that was manufactured from recycled plastic bottles. The final issue to solve was the filling.
After various trials of filling types we had a delivery of a sample from a company in Holland. The product, Biofoam. Biofoam is a biopolymer than is manufactured from vegetable raw materials and expanded with CO2. Incredibly, because the raw materials are plant based Biofoam is CO2 neutral in its manufacturing. Most importantly Biofoam can be composted at high temperatures using a Hot Bin Composter (https://www.hotbincomposting.com/) or industrially composted.
Within our first year we had been awarded Number 1 Bean Bag by The Independent Newspaper and we had also had some famous followers including Olympic Rowing Champion Helen Glover. As our reputation increased and our business began to grow, we understood we had a moral responsibility to try and displace sales of polystyrene.
Olympic Rowing Champion Helen Glover
Our intention in 2020 was to increase the distribution of Biofoam, both here in the UK and Internationally. We have started talks with companies in the United States, New Zealand and Australia and intend to start offering our products in those territories later this year. Until the recent issues hit we were also close to signing a distribution deal with a large nationwide chain store. We are fully confident that you’ll be able to buy Biofoam in every town and city in the UK by end of 2022, it’s a challenge but one we embrace.
The Big Beanbag Company is owned by myself and my partner Lucy. Lucy is incredibly eco conscious and this journey wouldn’t have been possible without her vision and creativity. Elizabeth & Ernest is a company Lucy also owns – all things natural, sustainable and eco-friendly. She spotted a gap in the market for eco-friendly gift ideas and went to work to create the company which make candles, soaps, wild seed balls and vegan sweets which are purchased individually or in gift boxes.
If you have an idea which improves a product by making it more sustainable then go for it! Seek support from your local business advice bodies or talk to your local university. We wouldn’t have believed it three years ago if you told us we’d be Directors of a manufacturing company in Cornwall. We’ve even had the privilege for providing some employment opportunities and plan to expand as time goes on.
For more information on our product ethos please visit http://bigbeanbagcompany.com/ethos
A note from Eco Action Families:
We found this awesome company because Alice had been spending so many hours at home during lockdown reading, sewing and listening to Stephen Fry read Harry Potter to her on audible and she really wanted a bean bag for her bedroom.
We weren’t going to buy a bean bag filled with polystyrene so we told her she needed to go and do some research and present her findings! She searched the internet and found the Big Beanbag company, then presented us with all the reasons it was worth paying a bit more to have an eco friendly product which wouldn’t end up in landfill or polluting our oceans.
Alice says “I really love my new beanbag and I love it even more knowing that it’s not filled with plastic!”