This is the world's first zero waste island
No landfills, no big bins, no plastic bags
Today’s eco snapshot👇🏽
Zero waste island
Startup of the week: Renoon
5 brands that sustainably stand out
Some good news from around the world
3 ways I can help you on your sustainability journey
Tilos: the "Waste"-less Wonder of Greece!
Tilos is an island in Greece with ~700 permanent residents. Concepts like plastic waste and landfills do not exist on the island, making it the first zero-waste island.
Along with Polygreen, a circular economy service company, the island runs a waste management program called Just Go Zero.
The program requires both residents and businesses to sort their waste into three categories: recyclable materials, non-recyclable materials, and bio-waste. There are no public bins on the island.
All 350 households, the municipality, and businesses participate in the program and receive selection bags with QR codes to collect waste.
Collectors come to every door on the island on certain days of the week to pick up the sorted waste.
Municipal waste is delivered to the island's circular innovation center, where waste is sorted and prepared for recycling, composting, reusing, or sent for incineration.
At the local recycling center, materials are sorted into 25 streams, and the islanders benefit from free compost made from their organic waste.
Non-recyclable materials, such as used toilet rolls and disposable nappies, get dried and shredded to become fuel for cement kilns.
The program has been highly successful, with more than 85% of the island's waste recovered and composted.
In addition to the Just Go Zero program, the island also has a self-sufficient energy system and has replaced traditional diesel-powered vehicles with electric or hybrid ones.
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✨ Startup of the week
Renoon
Planet-friendly purchasing…Customers around the world are increasingly aware of the impact their purchases have on the environment and society. They prefer to shop from sustainable brands that don't harm the planet or exploit people to create products. Regulators have taken note of this trend and are implementing requirements for brands to be environmentally and socially responsible.
Regulation Renoon…While this is a step in the right direction, it’s difficult for brands to keep a tab on these regulations. Especially for smaller and medium-sized brands. That’s where Renoon comes in. It’s automating compliance for brands through its SaaS software.
It helps brands in the fashion industry to be compliant with the existing or upcoming legislative requirements.
It transparently maps, manages, and interprets the supply chain for all the products of a brand.
All the information is then validated through various systems and applications like Life Cycle Assessment calculations.
QR-ious about sustainability…This helps brands provide accurate information to regulators and become compliant with them. But it doesn't end there. Renoon also breaks this information down into various aspects such as CO2 emissions, water usage, and energy usage, and packages it into a QR code. Brands can then put these QR codes on product labels, allowing customers to scan them and learn about the impact of their purchase.
✅ Brands that sustainably stand out
🇬🇧 Aeropowder- Using waste feathers from the poultry industry to create temperature-sensitive packaging
🇩🇪 Ravioli- replacing brown cardboard boxes with reusable ones
🇳🇱 Feelou- one bra supports women throughout all phases of early maternity
🇦🇺 The Udderway- replacing single-use milk bottles and packets with a reusable system
🇳🇱 Bendl- making belts from old bicycle tires and fire hoses
If you’d like to get access to more sustainable brands from across the globe, consider upgrading to the paid version.
With just $5 per month, you get access to an ever-growing database of planet-friendly brands. Not sure if you should commit? Well, it comes with a free 7-day trial
😹 Some Good News
Youth Triumph- Judge rules in favor of youths in landmark Montana climate trial
Food Share- Geneva’s community pantries use the sharing economy to prevent food waste
Mine Victory- Sumatra women farmers celebrate court win against China-backed zinc mine
🌎 3 ways I can help you
If you would like to chat about anything related to sustainability and climate change, you can book a free 20-minute call
Do you want to be featured in this newsletter and on LinkedIn, where I write an impactful story everyday? Submit your story
If you’re a planet-friendly brand, I can help you with your blogs, newsletters, case studies, and whitepapers. Here’s some of my recent work
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Have a great weekend and see you next week😊