How LIDL hacked the fashion world (and went viral) 🥐

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Read time today: 2:23 min

Hi friend,

It’s Friday morning. You are reading VITAMIN C 🍋. 

Out of 5M+ daily posts about food and climate, only 5 deserve your attention.

Here’s this week’s starting lineup:

1. [Startup Spotlight] ⚡ They’re making butter... from carbon?!

What if the richest, creamiest butter didn’t come from cows—but from CO₂?

Meet Savor, the company turning carbon into real dairy. No farmland, no emissions, just pure indulgence.

🔥 Thermochemical magic: They pull CO2 from the air and hydrogen from water. Then they use a mix of heating and oxidizing them to create a fat that is identical with butter.

“I’ve tasted Savor’s products, and I couldn’t believe I wasn’t eating real butter” – Bill Gates

I CAN’T WAIT to try it myself!

2. [Fun] 🥐 How LIDL hacked the fashion world (and went viral)

You know what’s hotter than a designer handbag? A £12.99 croissant-shaped purse from LIDL. No joke. 🥐

This actually happened last fall, but I just stumbled upon it - and I’m obsessed.

LIDL, the budget supermarket known for discount groceries, turned heads at London Fashion Week with a Parisian-style pop-up.

They stacked handbags like fresh pastries, sprinkled in some playful marketing magic, and BOOM—sold out instantly.

Why did it work?

↳ It made people stop & talk. (Croissant + fashion + LIDL = totally unexpected.)

↳ It was hyper-shareable. (Instagram loved it.)

↳ It blurred industries. (Fashion + food = genius.)

Moral of the story? If your food brand isn’t creating cultural moments, you’re invisible.

 3. [Good News] 🎮 This Roblox Game Fights Hunger IRL

1 in 5 kids in the U.S. faces hunger. Meanwhile, half of all kids play Roblox every day.

Someone please connect the dots!

Mission: Hunger is a Roblox game that turns virtual meals into real ones. Every meal served in the game funds an actual donation through New York Common Pantry—with support from corporate sponsors and in-game purchases.

How It Works:

↳ Players run a virtual community kitchen—preparing meals, restocking shelves, and serving food.

↳ Each meal served translates into real-life food aid.

↳ Leaderboards track real impact, showing meals donated instead of combat scores.

I love this because it shows gaming is more than just entertainment - it can be a force for good.

Check out a demo of the game here.

4. [Climate Heroes] 🌳 Cities need more of this

By 2050, 70% of the world’s population will live in cities (today it’s 56%). And as the concrete spreads, so does the heat. Urban temperatures are breaking records.

But there’s a simple, natural solution: Miyawaki forests. Inspired by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, these tiny, hyper-dense forests:

↳ Cool cities by up to 25°C

↳ Boost biodiversity 10x faster than normal plantings

↳ Absorb pollution 30x more effectively

↳ Save cities millions in stormwater management

Nature isn’t just about beauty. It’s infrastructure. These forests will make future cities livable.

Credit for this finding to my new friend Ollie Potter, who writes the cool Newsletter The NatureTech Memos.

5. [Science] 👑 The real gold rush is in your trash

What if we could produce gold - without a single mine?

That’s exactly what BRAIN Biotech AG & PX Group are doing. They use biotechnology to extract gold from waste, proving that innovation can replace destruction.

↳ First BioGold™ nuggets created

↳ No toxic mining, no environmental damage

↳ A new blueprint for sustainable resources

Could this be the turning point for the gold industry? A future where mining is obsolete?

My husband and I still don’t have wedding rings—maybe it’s time to get our trash upcycled! 🙂

Read more about the science here.

Stay awesome,
Lia

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