Hey there! In this last post, I would like to share with you one of the most interesting initiatives I’ve ever seen. During my stay, here in Canada, I had the chance to meet another Exchange student who turned out to be from Barcelona and she was studying interior design in Richmond.

One day we were having an informal chat about sustainability and she told me that they have a lot of projects and courses related with this topic. She shared with me some of the projects that she had done during her degree and I’ve decided to share one of them with all of you in this post.

Let me introduce you to IKEA Shoes! My friend’s project consisted in creating a product 100% recycled. They produced several shoes basically made with the most famous plastic bag in the world: the FRAKTA bag. Moreover, shoe soles were made with reused ropes. I found it such an interesting initiative! Don’t you like them? I think they look really cool! Obviously, they don’t seem the most comfortable shoes ever and my friend concluded that these shoes could be too warm for your foot, especially in summer. However, I think that it is a great point to start and make people aware of the seriousness of the situation in which we are.

So, with this initiative, I want to ask you a question. As we discussed in class, I hope that in a future we won’t need to have “Sustainability” or “Ethics” classes, because this would mean that we would have progressed into a more conscious planet. However, meanwhile, do you think that all degree should have some courses related with sustainability? Or we just have to do it in Business degrees?

Our future regarding sustainability is kind of uncertain. This is the reason why companies need to work together to reduce environmental costs of everything they make, and to create a more sustainable economy throughout the supply chain. Companies should not behave like islands, they should try to work together, to try to stop environmental damage, so that our future generations could live in the world that we would have wanted to live in. We could say that the future of the next generations relies on the co-operation of enterprises that compete with one another.

Patagonia is one of the companies that believes in having strong corporate partnerships. Patagonia has several corporate partnerships with companies that improve labor conditions worldwide, that restrict the use of dangerous chemicals, that increase transparency of social and environmental practices throughout the supply chain…among many other companies.

I would like to highlight 3 of these corporate partnerships that Patagonia have been achieving during its existence.

-1% for the planet: Since 1985, Patagonia has pledged 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment.

– Fair Labor Association (FLA): The FLA is a multi-stakeholder initiative including companies, colleges, universities, and non-governmental organizations working together to improve workers’ lives.

– Textile Exchange: Patagonia was a founding member of the Textile Exchange, a nonprofit group dedicated to increase global sales of organic cotton apparel and home-textile products. The company has expanded its role by including bio-based, organic and recycled fibers.

However, I’ve seen that MEC and Patagonia have many corporate partners in common? Why do you think that this is happening?

Today, I want to share with you, a really interesting initiative leaded by Nespresso company. As we’ve seen in class this company is really committed to sustainability issues and they have created a program, that they want to achieve in 2020. They want consumers to drink “a cup of coffee that has a positive effect”. The Positive Cup program incorporates ambitious goals in the areas of coffee sourcing and social welfare; aluminium sourcing, use and disposal and resilience to climate change.

They are committed in sustainability in 3 different ways:

– Commitments on coffee: Nespresso sustainably will source 100% of its permanent Grand Cru range through the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program. They are expanding the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. Moreover, they will want to assist farmers in achieving high certification standards – for example in water management, biodiversity and fair worker treatment – through their long-term partner Rainforest Alliance (since 2003) and Fairtrade International.

– Commitments on capsules: They encourage people to recycle their used capsules by having a link on their website in order to find the nearest recycling point. Then, they recycle these used Nespresso capsules and reuse them as new capsules, if it is possible.  In 1991, Nespresso launched the world’s first capsule recycling system in Switzerland. Nowadays, they have reached 75% global recycling capacity. Nespresso have achieved this percentage, with 14,000 dedicated capsule collection points around the world.

– Commitments to the climate:  Nespresso’s vision is to reduce the company’s carbon footprint by 10%. In addition, they aim to become 100% carbon neutral. At this moment, they are exploring ways that Club Members can opt in to contribute to this net-positive carbon consumption.

Do you have a Nespresso machine at home? What are you waiting for? Find your nearest recycling point using this link:

https://www.nespresso.com/positive/us/en#map-intro

The world is constantly changing and as we all know global warming is completely true and getting worse day by day. The environmental problems and the deaths of animals caused by our bad habits are also true…

It’s amazing how by getting rid of certain customs the impact can be impressive, for example, nowadays there are fewer supermarkets that deliver plastic bags or make you pay for them, and believe it or not, this initiative has greatly reduced this type of waste that we often see affecting our planet.

Progressively, great things have been achieved for the care of our planet, for example in New Zealand they have just launched a campaign called “Food in the Nude” with the aim of ending the plastic containers that wrap the fresh products in the supermarket.

In that country, a Plastic Packaging Declaration was signed where the producers committed themselves so that each container they supply to the big stores is 100% reusable.

The stores have also decided to get rid of plastics, and put the food as is in the display. This has generated an increase of 300% in sales of some vegetables according to the NZ Herald, which has motivated other supermarkets to replicate the idea.

Consumers and sellers have understood that food keeps its freshness better if it is out of the package (at the right temperature), so it has been a useful tactic for all: buyers, owners of supermarkets and above all, for the planet.

What are you waiting for to copy this beautiful initiative in your country?

Hey there! Today I want to talk you about my home University. In Barcelona I study at ESADE Business School. At ESADE we have some clubs (like at UBC) which are called associations and all the students of the programmes can participate in various activities through student associations. Today I want to talk you about one of them: OIKOS Barcelona.

OIKOS Barcelona is a student organization based at ESADE which aim is to create change for sustainability in economics and management. It is part of the global student network of Oikos International which brings together more than 1000 students, from over 20 countries. They encourage students to explore the opportunities and challenges that lie behind new business areas. For this reason, they support their members to implement their own projects and ideas.

They main event during the year is the Sustainability Cycle. The Sustainability Cycle is an event in which students are able to learn about sustainable management through presentations, workshops, and other activities organized by companies and academics. The goal of the event is to raise awareness amongst the leaders of the future about how important it is to change our mentality when it comes to sustainability in business. They look for people who is passionate for the planet and people. Also, that they have interest in social and environmental practices. It is not necessary any previous experience or knowledge, just your motivation!

If you want to know more about them:

Website: https://oikos-international.org/barcelona/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oikos.barcelona
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oikosbarcelona/

Hey there! Today I want to share with you a nice initiative that I’ve found in the catalan newspaper La Vanguardia (https://www.lavanguardia.com). As you all know, the excessive use of plastic in supermarkets is damaging our planet, so this article talks about a supermarket located in Barcelona that gives us the opportunity to avoid plastic while buying. I found it very interesting and I am really surprised because I’ve never heard about this initiative before, though it is located in my own city.

The supermarket was created by two best friends who wanted to make all their purchases without generating any waste. In Yes Future, they promote a consumption with zero waste and they offer organic food bought in an ecological way. They also decided that all their products would be free of chemicals, pesticides or additives that could damage health or the environment and would be sold in bulk. They offer food, household cleaning products, personal hygiene products and ecological utensils. The food is in containers or dispensers and the consumer can see clearly the product that is going to buy, without wrappings or brands that hide them.

In addition, they try to have a hard control of packaging throughout the distribution chain by asking their suppliers products in large formats and minimizing the shipment of plastics, whenever possible if the food safety regulations allow to. And if this is not possible, the containers are returned to be refilled again. Finally, conscious and faithful to their philosophy, the store is powered by energy from renewable sources only.

Find attached a video of the store, so you can make an idea of its structure and appearance. Yes Future, is located at Viladomat Street, 66 in Barcelona, so don’t forget to go there, if you ever visit the city!

Hey there! Today I want to share with you a nice initiative that I’ve found in the catalan newspaper ARA (https://www.ara.cat). This article talks about the mass consumerism on the last Friday of November, commonly known as Black Friday.

The rise of promotions during the last Friday of November has impacted so hard in Sweden, a developed country that have found a sustainable alternative to this crazy shopping day. Recycling clothes, reaproducing food or renting children’s clothes are some of the actions they’ve taken. Under the name of White Monday, Sweden have invented a campaign to give visibility to companies that contribute to the circular economy. This initiative was born last year, and this second edition has doubled the number of participants, up to sixty.

During the White Monday, consumers can get discounts on the products and services of the companies that participate on it, for example, there’s an application called Karma, through which you can buy leftover food from restaurants or supermarkets that is in good conditions, a good initiative that reduces food waste.

There are also other initiatives, like online stores for second hand items, clothing and furniture companies that are made from recycled materials, and others that offer shared services, such as Hyber, which allows you to rent children’s clothes and return it once the size is already too small.

Discounts can be obtained through the White Monday webpage and, in addition, the participants will promote the action through social networks, sharing some photos tagged with #WhiteMonday to become viral. They want to achieve a kind of Ice Bucket Challenge (the solidarity campaign with the ELA patients that were made Viral in 2014), to promote the circular economy. They want to show the world that there are other alternatives to the consumption of new products.

In the search for roads towards a more sustainable planet, proposals and initiatives that help to take care of the environment are emerging. To conclude, we are facing a difficult situation, in moments that require changes, imagination, initiative, courage and much effort. By carrying out the right actions, like this one, we will achieve a better world for next generations.

Hey there! I would like to start this first post with a really interesting initiative that I run into this week. It consists in nothing less than edible water! A natural alternative to reduce or avoid the use of plastic bottles that was launched by the company Skipping Rocks Lab. This disruptive product is known as Ooho.

Skipping Rocks Lab is an innovative sustainable packaging start-up which is based in London. They claim the use of natural materials extracted from plants and seaweed, to create packaging that has low environmental impact. Their slogan is one of the best in the market for the moment: “We make packaging disappear”.

The main goal of this product is to replace small water bottles, because plastic bottles are one of the most common items found in the sea. They take too much time to decompose, experts said about 700 years. This measure was made to protect the environment and to achieve a new way of packaging water. Ooho is started being used in sporting events like marathons where hydration is a must. In that kind of events is where they can reach more people and starting to be known. Moreover, they are working with some partners, such as Selfridges, Just Eat and Virgin Sport to make this revolutionary product a successful launch.

The Ooho team is developing a machine to produce them automatically. The machine will be able to produce 100 Oohos in 5 to 10 minutes, and will be operated locally by retailers to make Oohos fresh every day in-store.

Skipping Rocks Lab is part of the Climate KIC start-up acceleration program founded by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) and the scientific team is based in Imperial College. Skipping Rocks Lab was awarded the 2014 Lexus Design Award, the 2014 World Technology Award (environment) held in association with Fortune and TIME, 2015 SEA Award and 2016 UK Energy Globe Award.

Hey there! I’m Berta, an exchange student from Barcelona. I’ll be on exchange at UBC during Term 2.

My home university is located near Barcelona and it’s called ESADE Business School.

Before coming to UBC I did an internship in a pharmaceutical company, it was there, where I realized my passion about marketing.

Hope you’ll enjoy my page! See you in class!