WE JUST HAVE TO DO IT
BLOGPOST, Wed 7 September 2011 15:52, Femke Rotteveel
All the solutions are already there to make this world a more just and sustainable one. We just have to do it…
If the Empire State Building can be retrofitted and save 38,4% on its energy bill every year, and the investment will be earned back in three years time, from my perspective it seems rather stupid not to start retrofitting every old building on this planet immediately. Are the pension funds and banks not looking for sustainable & profitable investments that will improve their profiles too?
In my job at the charity department of the Postcode Lottery I talk to inspiring people every day, who have made it their mission to leave the younger generation with a more just and healthy planet. The highlight of my year is to chair the preliminary jury of the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge. For the fifth year in a row, this is a contest for inspiring business plans that combine sustainability, creativity and entrepreneurship. We are looking for products, businesses and/or services that will reach out to a whole new group of people.
It was such a positive vibe for my fellow jury members and myself to read 717 creative, entrepreneurial and sustainable solutions submitted by passionate people from 81 countries around the globe. Yes, it is hard work, but it only strengthens our belief that we can make a difference right now.
Preliminary jury discussing the Green Challenge entries
Looking at the finalists of previous challenges I am proud to be part of this movement: Igor Kluin, founder of Qurrent, the first energy company not selling you energy but helping you to get your own. Eben Bayer, the 'mushroom guy' as we jury members called him, from Ecovative. Watch his TED talk on his revolutionary product and you too will understand that this will change the world. Fortunately big companies are using this material now to pack their stuff in, instead of using unsustainable plastics. Dean Gregory and the RidgeBlade, the horizontal windturbine that will be in the market soon and makes wind energy available for many people. And last but not least Scot Frank's SolSource, a portable, affordable solar device that can be used to cook, heat and generate power.
I am looking forward to 14 September when this year's six finalists will present their ideas to the jury chaired by William McDonough during the Green Challenge Deciding Round at the PICNIC festival. If you cannot join us in Amsterdam, you can still watch the whole event unfold by live stream on www.greenchallenge.info.
And if you are wondering what you can do to save the world, get inspired by Andy Hobsbawn, finalist of the first Green Challenge, one of the world's first website designers, who developed Do The Green Thing.
Femke Rotteveel
