You rarely notice the moment something has become outdated.

I didn’t come from the sustainability world. My world was fashion, brand, and creative direction. New York Fashion Week. Creating a brand that sold out through David Jones. Always thinking in terms of image, culture, and desire.

I’ve had a takeaway coffee almost every day since I was sixteen. On the way to school, between meetings, backstage, on set. Very consistent. Some might say… committed.

The cup it came in? I never questioned it. Not once.

Until one day, I did.

And it wasn’t about seeing anything.

It started with an idea.

These could be better.
More elevated. Designed to make you feel something.

So I looked into how they were made.

And that’s when it shifted.

Because once you understand what’s actually inside them…
you realise very quickly, there has to be a better way.

So I went looking.

Months of it. Testing, questioning, refining.

And there was one material that stood above the rest.

PHA.

Not a compromise. Not a trend.
Just… better.

From there, it became about finding the right people to bring it to life.

Which is what led me to Ecopha Bio.

And once I stepped into this world, everything started to connect. The material, the people, the timing. Even the challenges. And there were many.

I found myself in rooms I had created. Conversations I had pushed into existence through sheer belief and momentum. I didn’t stop to ask who I thought I was being.

But the room did.

Meetings where I wasn’t taken seriously. Where you could feel the unspoken question sitting just beneath the surface. How did you end up here? And more importantly, why do you think you are?

I see you following along now.

But that’s the thing about signals. Once you notice them, you can’t unsee them.
They’re everywhere.

Not just in cups. In everything.

We’ve seen this pattern before.

BlackBerry was everywhere. Completely untouchable. Until it wasn’t.

Then the iPhone arrived.

Same category. Better experience.

And suddenly, what once felt essential felt… dated.

DVDs didn’t disappear because people stopped watching films.

Netflix just made it easier.

Same outcome. Less effort.

And overnight, entire collections became redundant.

Music didn’t change.

Ownership did.

Spotify made access instant.

And once you experienced that, going back felt unnecessary.

It’s never really about the thing itself.

It’s about the moment something better removes a layer you didn’t even realise was there.

And that’s when I went back to the cup.

Because for something so constant in my life, it had been completely invisible.

Every coffee. Every meeting. Every set. Every airport lounge.

Paper on the outside.

Plastic on the inside.

Next time you get a takeaway coffee, have a look.

Do you see PHA anywhere?

No.

You’ll see PE. Maybe something labelled aqueous. Different language, same outcome.

It works.

Which is usually why things stay exactly as they are.

Until you realise it doesn’t actually make sense anymore.

And here’s the part that surprised me most.

It’s not often you come across something that isn’t already done.

Already saturated.

Already sitting somewhere in the world, waiting to be slightly improved.

PHA-lined cups are only just emerging. You’re not seeing them used at scale in cafés.

A fully PHA lid? Also not something sitting across supply chains.

I remember thinking…

how is this not already everywhere?

And that’s when you realise you’re not just looking at a product.

You’re looking at a window.

Not a big one. The kind that only exists for a short period of time, before something moves from unknown… to everywhere.

This is how change actually happens.

Quietly.
Then all at once.

You don’t notice when something changes, or disappears…

if it’s done well.