The Know Daily - Monday 4 August 2025

_{Read in 4m 24s ∙ Listening to Florence + The Machine ∙}

A Scottish start-up is making plant pots made entirely from discarded fishing nets and rope collected on UK shores. Each pot even includes a QR code linking back to the exact beach and harbour where its material was sourced. We love to see environmental innovation meet chic homeware 💚

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 Women’s safety when dating

Over the past few years, women have been building collaborative ways to look out for each other, from coded phrases at bars to community vetting groups.

What’s changing?
Women’s safety initiatives around dating aren’t new, but they've grown more visible and creative thanks to social media, apps and public awareness. There’s now increased focus on community support to make the dating landscape safer for women.

Ask for Angela
A UK-based initiative launched in 2016, “Ask for Angela” allows anyone who feels unsafe on a date to discreetly ask bar staff for “Angela”. Staff trained on the program will then assist – whether by escorting them to a taxi, separating them from the person, or ensuring they leave safely. 

Digital safety nets
Tea is a woman-centred dating safety app, originally launched in the US in 2023. It lets users anonymously report red flags, share advice, perform background checks and verify identities of potential dates. Its popularity surged amid viral content calling for safer dating practices. 

Community vetting
Groups like Are We Dating the Same Guy? (AWDTSG) are private Facebook communities where women share screenshots of men’s dating profiles and exchange warnings or experiences. These have grown into global networks with over 200 groups and thousands of members.

What’s the other side?
While these safety measures can empower women, they’re not free of drawbacks. Though “Ask for Angela” has been adopted by thousands of venues across the UK and beyond, independent investigations have found that staff in many locations fail to recognise or act on the code word, calling for further training and implementation. Apps like Tea promote safety through transparency – but in July 2025, a data breach exposed over 72k images, including selfies and government ID scans, along with private messages and posts. Similarly, while Facebook vetting groups offer solidarity, they can propel misinformation without evidence or due process.

Despite this, there is growing momentum for women supporting each other through community action to ensure dating experiences – or just a night out – are safe and enjoyable.

💰 Money Monday: Every wondered what your spending love language is? Let’s break it down together.

• The bigger story: Elle UK identifies six “spending love languages” when it comes to our finances. For example, the Little Treats Spender can’t resist small, frequent purchases while others say yes to experiences now and budget later. The Sleeping Spender wastes money on unused subscriptions and forgotten payments but the Stocks & Shares ISA Spender takes a savvy, investment‑minded approach. Check out more helpful financial advice here, based on your spending style.

🤝 Plastics pledge: Talks to secure a Global Plastics Treaty are restarting in Geneva on Tuesday. 

🪼 Surging sealife: Warm sea surface temperatures have created favourable conditions for jellyfish in the UK, leading to an abundance this summer. 

✈️ Tourist tariff: The EU is set to introduce a travel fee to all non-EU visitors from visa-free countries such as the UK and US by the end of 2026.

👠 And just like that: HBO has announced that the Sex and the City spin off will come to an end after the current season. We’ve got mixed feelings about this one…

🤳 Scroll, scroll, scroll: Most of us find we can spend a tiny bit too much time on our phones, but this piece explores how we can wean ourselves off them.

🔗 Last week’s most clicked: The most popular baby names in the UK, who made the Booker Prize longlist and TOTM organic pads.

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Trivia answer: A) Aaron Taylor Johnson recently partnered with watch brand Omega which many fans took to mean he is all but confirmed as the next Bond.

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