Children’s toy company HEVEA was founded in 2009 with the idea to rethink how we leave the world behind for our children – but how easy was it to set up a plastic-free brand? They reveal their learnings, challenges and hopes for the future… WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR VERY FIRST DESIGN MEETING – WHAT STAGES OF THINKING DID YOU GO THROUGH? HEVEA was founded on the belief in and love for the natural material from the Hevea Brasiliensis tree (the most common rubber tree). Hence the name of the company. However, natural rubber as a substance used for design purposes had been neglected for 20-30 year due to the development of petroleum-based resources such as artificial rubber and not least silicone. Terese, the founder of HEVEA, saw the gap in the market more than 10 years ago to design modern looking natural rubber products for babies and dogs. Fortunately, the world has re-opened their eyes to this wonderful material in the last couple of years. HOW DID YOU END UP ON RUBBER? WHY DO YOU THINK RUBBER IS THE BEST ALTERNATIVE TO PLASTIC? The raw natural rubber sap comes from the Hevea trees which absorb CO2 and at the same time is highly biodegradable, and therefore a very sustainable material....