Anyone who’s been to Manchester knows that rain – the frequent downpours that locals refer to as “mizzle” – is central to the city’s identity. Two years ago, however, the weather seemed even wetter than usual.
“I noticed how many umbrellas I was burning through,” says Megan Oliver. “I was constantly leaving them on the bus or the coffee shop floor, or they were blowing inside out and breaking.” Concerned about the impact all this consumption was having on the planet, she did some research – and was horrified by a suggestion that 1bn umbrellas are abandoned each year, with many inevitably ending up in landfill.
