First Look: The Bugaboo Fox Puts Sustainability First

Having a child can make you seriously question the impact you’re having on the environment. From nappies to baby wipes and all the garish plastic toys in between, it can feel like you’re relying on an army of plastics to keep your child alive. Which is why we’re seriously impressed with Bugaboo’s latest pushchair offering the ‘Fox’ which, along with being their most adaptable model to date, is putting sustainability at the forefront of design.

The Bugaboo Fox

The just-launched Bugaboo Fox is the Dutch brand’s most strong and steady but lightweight design to date – it can be flat-packed to be stored on a shelf in a city apartment, and it offers a stable ride on all surfaces thanks to the all-wheel suspension, making it great for country walks, too.

But aside from being the ultimate country & town ride for your mini-me, the reason we’re so impressed with the Fox is the sustainability-first approach the team has taken with its latest model. The main design initiative sees the structural parts of the pushchair separated from the parts that experience the most wear and tear. The idea is that this will make the pushchair easier to service and update, by refreshing or replacing small parts rather than the whole pushchair. In addition, the core colour range of fabrics is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, with each pushchair using 92 recycled PET bottles in its creation.

Do We Need to Buy New?

The hope is that each Bugaboo Fox model produced and sold will have a longer shelf* life than ever before (*whether or not that’s where you choose to store it). The idea is that the Fox will either see you through multiple children, or you can buy a second-hand model and update the bits you want or need to, to make it feel new. (Incidentally, pretty much everything on this model is customisable and replaceable, from the wheel rims to the handle grips.) Therefore, upcycling a used Bugaboo is easier than ever.

(Read our guide to upcycling, here)

But, parking the environmental benefits, is this a sensible business model, making it easier for parents to buy just once, rather than replacing and upgrading? And actively encouraging people to buy second hand, rather than directly from you? Max Barenbrug, creator of Bugaboo, thinks so. We spoke to him at the launch of the Fox in Amsterdam yesterday and asked him if all these eco-initiatives were really good for business.

‘I don’t care too much for that. The ones we’re pushing in these chairs, this is their planet. In 20 years this is what they’ll have. That is more important,’ he told me.

So, you don’t mind if people buy more and more second-hand Bugaboos? ‘Not at all. I want Bugaboo to be accessible to all.’

He estimated it would cost roughly £100 to buy all the accessories needed to give a second-hand Fox (urban or country-ready) a refresh. So, you can either splash out £979 on a brand new one (coming March), or wait until you can find a pre-loved model in need of upcycling. Either way, we think the Fox is rather fantastic.

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