Last Friday I took part to the Social Enterprise Summit 2018 held at the Convention and Exhibition Center of Hong Kong. The summit was divided in different themes, one of which was called Pursue Sustainable Goals and was obviously focused on sustainability and circular economy. I got to know lots of exciting projects taking place around the globe and even more interesting people that I want to share here as this could be of inspiration to anyone out there. Mr. Steven Ko, CEO O'Right Taiwan O'Right is probably one of the coolest enterprises I have ever heard of. These days more and more companies are launching their natural and sustainable lines for personal care, but how many can actually grow a plant from a shampoo bottle? O'Right can. The shampoo bottle is made of coffee grounds so once it's finished you can throw it right into the organic waste or even better plant it into soil and wait a few months to see a beautiful tree growing. The secret is in the original idea of Steven Ko that decided to put a seed in the bottom of the shampoo bottles as a way to express his concept of true circularity. Besides being a very friendly person, Steven is truly committed to the cause and an example of how a business can be commercially successful and fair to the people and to the planet at the same time. Below are some pics from his presentation and for more info check out here Ms. Alexa Poortier, Founder of NOW, Switzerland Did you know that the travel industry is one of the major contributors to the worldwide carbon footprint ranking #5 among all industries? This is why Ms. Alexa Poortier decided that she had to do something to make the travel and hospitality industry a little greener. Through the platform NOW you can easily book in hotels and facilities that respect sustainable parameters and after you confirmed your travels you can also offset the carbon emission by donating to a good cause or organisation. NOW is also proudly certified as B Corp. For more info check the official website: https://www.itmustbenow.com Ms. Josephine Lee, CEO St. James Settlement HK, FOOD-CO After the SARS outbreak in 2003 many people lost their jobs and fell into poverty. Hard to believe, but in Hong Kong almost 1 million people live below poverty line. This was the reason why the government decided to appoint the 70 years old St. James Settlement foundation to run FOOD-CO as instead of dispensing food or subsidies decided that it was a better idea to sustain a local organisation to coordinate food banks to redistribute food surplus. This is how every year great part of the 1.2 tons of food surplus gets to those in need instead of becoming waste with the help of a very efficient online platform (and mobile app) that connects food donors, food banks and volunteers that in just 45 minutes can collect and share food around the city. For more info: https://food-co.hk Ms. Anne-Marie Salonius, Bank of Aland, Finland Who likes banks? Very few people do. This case however might just change your mind. Bank of Aland is from Aland Islands, an archipelago composed by more than 6.500 islands located between Finland and Sweden in the Baltic Sea. Maybe it was the natural surrounding setting or the strong ethical attitude of the board of directors, fact is this bank decided to value sustainability more then dividends and profits. This is how they launched the Baltic Sea Card, the first debit / credit card (made from maize therefore biodegradable) that will calculate the carbon footprint produces by each purchase and will give you the chance to offset it by donating to a environmental organisation while at the same time monitor your purchasing habits and change them for the better. Further developments gave birth to the Aland Index, a protocol to calculate environmental impact which is open to banks all over the world to join and do the same. I never thought I would say this, but I love this bank! (besides my Italian Banca Etica). For more info: https://www.alandsbanken.com/ Mr. Edwin Keh, CEO HKRITA HKRITA is the acronym for HK Research Institute of Textile and Apparel whose aim is to look for alternative solutions to make fashion industry more sustainable, which is more then ever urgent. Mr. Keh pointed out that our generation is the first one to consider clothes as disposable items (there used to be a time when garments were lovingly repaired and passed from mother to daughter) and the fast fashion trend in Hong Kong alone is producing something like 200~300 tons of clothes that go into the landfill every day. Just shocking. HKRITA has partnered up with government and fashion brands alike (such as H&M) to find ways to reduce water usage during production as well transform the recycling process with an innovative process called Hydrothermal System that use no chemical substance and allows to recuperate synthetic fibers and make 100% reusable yarns with no loss of quality, something never achieved before. They are working on many other programs, to know more please check: http://www.hkrita.com/ The long and exciting day concluded with an open workshop session moderated by Mr. Hanh Chu, Director of Environmental Advocacy The Green Hearth HK. Among all the honourable enterprises participating to the workshop there were two in particular that I would like to share here. The first one is Urban Spring, a company whose aim is to invade Hong Kong of water dispenser for free filtered water to be located in shopping malls, schools, public places so to promote the culture of refilling reusable bottles and reduce plastic bottles consumption. The second enterprise is Rooftop Republic Urban Farming, a start up with a mission to create greener cities, more edible landscapes and empower city dwellers to grow their own food. They often run workshops for young students about urban farming and sustainable practices. It was for me a great honour to meet the respective founders Ada Yip and Andrew Tsui. For more information about the above enterprises and organisations click on the logos to the redirected to their Facebook page. #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #FastFashion #GreenHK #O'Right #NOWTravels #Food-CoHK #Alandsbanken #HKRITA #UrbanSpring #RooftopRepublicHK #TheGreenHearthHK
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