Is bamboo really the sustainable hero we’re looking for?
Is bamboo really the sustainable hero we’re looking for? You might have noticed your colleagues sipping their Dalgona coffees through reusable bamboo straws, or quietly admired the sleek grace of that new bamboo boardroom table. You may have seen the new bamboo fashion labels, or even been served your favourite dish on a bamboo dinner plate lately. Bamboo is getting a lot of attention again. From bamboo coffee cups to bamboo toothbrushes, flooring, furniture, and […]
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Financial Inclusion
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Financial Inclusion By Bronagh Loughlin Many of us in Ireland and other parts of the world cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like not having access to financial services. We swipe our cards each day, visit our local branch to withdraw or deposit, apply for loans and much more. It may seem surprising but according to Universal Financial Access 2020, around 2 billion people […]
The Importance of Sustainable Beauty
By Bronagh Loughlin When we think of the beauty industry we think of glamorous photo shoots with gorgeous models, seductive bottles of perfume, daily rituals designed to make us look more appealing, and makeup to hide our flaws. We seldom think about the beauty industry in terms of sustainability. The beauty industry has a very important duty toward sustainability. One of the greatest problems that the industry needs to urgently address is the plastic packaging […]
Transforming our Food System to Ensure a Sustainable Future
By Bronagh Loughlin Our environment and ecology have become an area of concern for us over the last number of decades. The current farming methodologies we use are not sustainable and they have a big impact on the overall ecology and biodiversity of an area. Alongside this, they have a huge impact on human and animal health. There are numerous examples of unsustainable techniques used in modern agriculture: the use of chemicals and manufactured fertilizers, […]
Why we need to embrace a Green Recovery
By Bronagh Loughlin The covid-19 pandemic poses the question how we can recover economically. The pandemic has triggered a global slowdown and leaders are always trying to discover ways to stimulate their countries’ economies. The approaches they take in order to stimulate economic growth will indeed have long-lasting effects. Therefore, these approaches need to be chosen with caution. What governments need to avoid is trying to boost their economies in the wake of one global […]
How our Production and Consumption Habits are Hurting the Planet
By Bronagh Loughlin Nowadays, all products and goods that we want to buy are literally a click away. The rise of technology means that anything we want we can have. We simply look it up, click order and the item will arrive at our doors in just a few days. The products we consume come from near and far with many consumers being unaware of the impacts of purchasing in this way. Environmental impacts and […]
Why the World Urgently Needs to Adopt Clean Energy
By Bronagh Loughlin According to Buy Clean Energy, “using clean, renewable energy is one of the most important actions you can take to reduce your impact on the environment”. The global climate is rapidly changing which poses increasing risks for both the environment and human health. These changes are occurring because large amounts of greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere as a result of human activity worldwide. Burning fossil fuels is not working, […]
Green Branding – Just a green logo?
BY MIKE KOPPE Being a green company or brand is mandatory nowadays. B2B, B2C and B2G clients ask for it and some requirements are even legally binding standards. But how does a brand become a green brand? “A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association). According to this definition, just painting your brand green […]
Shaping the Transition to a Sustainable, Biobased Economy
By Leslie Maliepaard How exactly does one adopt a biobased economy where the world has seamlessly undergone a paradigm shift toward sustainability? I’m a person accustomed to change and one who is always in pursuit of improving systems that will amplify sustainability, so this is a question that’s often on my mind. If there was a simple answer then we would have already undertaken this transition 10 years ago. The challenge lies in the fact […]
6 Tips for Creating more Sustainable Home-cooked Meals
By Leslie Maliepaard Creating zero-waste meals for your family is much easier than you think. But let’s face it, creating healthy meals while avoiding plastic is pretty hard to achieve. Whether it’s planning meals, sourcing ingredients or choosing plastic free options, there’s a lot to learn. I’m a busy entrepreneur with an eight-year old daughter whom I’m home schooling at the moment, due to Covid-19. I’m preparing meals for 4 people every day in our […]
How TEDx helped me bring attention to Marine Plastic Pollution by Leslie Maliepaard
Driven by my personal mission to help clear the oceans of plastic pollution, I was enormously excited to be sharing my mission through such an incredibly powerful platform. My intention was for people to sit up and understand what a huge problem the oceans and marine life are facing. And they did! Originally my mission started off as a one-woman campaign. However, after this TEDx weekend in Luxembourg, I feel most fortunate to have met […]