Recently there has been a change in customer buying patterns with many also wanting to buy sustainable and local products” (Eifion Griffiths). While many businesses claim that sustainability does not fit with the business case and consumers do not demand…
Read More Melin Tregwynt: The Revival of Welsh Wool Production and Sustainability
Jean image Source: http://www.albionman.com/ “Companies with a soul are so much more interesting than companies motivated purely by profit" (David Hieatt) In 1995 at the age of 36, David Hieatt co-founded Howies, a niche active clothing business that wanted to produce…
We are a small company with a turnover of £3 million, but we are making an impact way beyond our size. The manufacturing industry is beginning to wake up and take notice of the climate and ecological emergency around us,…
Read More Crystal Doors Fostering Sustainability and Community Growth
“We need a future for cocoa farming which is sustainable- not just for chocolate companies and chocolate lovers but for the people growing the crop” (Sophi Tranchell, MBE, Group CEO Divine Chocolate UK, 1999-2020) Each year, some $100 billion is…
image compiled from images from @ Phool.co FB “Sustainability goes across everything I do….For example, there’s no leather; it’s free from PVC. There are lots of woven materials, which means a lot less waste” (Stella McCartney, fashion designer). The global…
Read More Phool and Fleather: India’s transformative biomaterial company
“The fact that something has not been done before, does not mean it can’t be done at all” - (Modvion) Modvion, founded in 2015, is the brainchild of two engineers, Joakim Orneblad and Otto Lundman, who graduated from Chalmers University’s…
“Towards a pollution-free planet with a pollution-free process" - Kristaps Cirius, CMO TerraWaste Largely as a result of man's entrepreneurial innovativeness, we produce 2.01 billion tonnes of waste a year, 86% of which is non-recyclable, and, as a result of…
“We strive to work within and in harmony with the ecosystem rather than attempting to radically alter and control it” (Jemma Vickers and Paul Rolt) Hebron vineyard, located on the Pembrokeshire/Carmarthenshire border in the foothills of the Preseli mountains in West Wales,…
“If everybody in the world consumed resources at the rate we do in the UK, we would need 3.5 planets to sustain us” This was the realisation that prompted three friends, Emma Shaw, Rebecca Trevalyan, and Sophia Wyatt to start…
“Once I do one thing, I just can’t wait to get on to the next challenge” - Sir Adrian White Once a pig farm, the family-owned, award-winning Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking is not only one of England’s largest single…
“We’re not here to take on big plastic.We’re here to keep making better decisions and to partner with people up for doing the same.” What do a group of designers with a love of the sea and surfing have in…
At a time when global food prices are rising higher and faster than at any time in the last decade, an estimated 1.6 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year. About one-third of the food produced globally contributes some 8…
“I’m motivated to live by, and inspire others to live, a sustainable life that helps to preserve the planet rather than deplete it” - Sarah Holden The human population is fascinated by water and each year millions of people flock to…
The world can be extremely cruel. While the planet is home to some 7.9 billion people, it can also cause considerable human suffering as can the human population itself. Not only do natural disasters bring suffering but so does man’s…
wastes pic: Bath.ac.uk While research is intended to identify solutions to problems, laboratory-based research can also contribute to them, in particular to the current sustainability challenge. Annually some 5.5 million tonnes of single-use plastic is produced by life sciences research…
Read More LabCycle – revolutionising the recycling of Laboratory Plastic Waste
“I would encourage every person, from every age, every colour, religion, gender, location to ask themselves ‘why you are here? Why do you exist?’ It is so important to know the answer to that question”. (Luke Young) Luke’s answer to…
Read More Ocean Ag startup ALORA unveils ‘the most salt-tolerant terrestrial plants on the planet’
bottle pic: by tanvi sharma “If bottles were made of gold, nobody would litter them in nature” - Eric Schaffner The damage that plastics can do to the environment is well documented. One million plastic bottles are produced a minute…
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. Formerly known a SIFE (Students into Free Enterprise) Enactus is the world’s largest experiential learning platform.…
Read More Egyptian University ‘Chito-Shrimp’ feeds multiple sustainability projects
After graduating in 2001 with an M.A. in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, Christian Arno set up “Lingo24” a B2B technology-enabled translation service which grew into a £10 million business employing 200 full-time staff in the UK, Netherlands, New…
According to the World Health organisation, 1.3 million people die each year from car crashes caused by human error, while some 4.5 million people are estimated to die from the effects of air pollution and the particulate matter produced, particularly…
Read More Riding the Wayve for sustainable, accessible, and safer mobility
Having worked as a multinational company project manager for 10 years, but never having felt that she fitted in there, Dasha Kichuk founded Kyiv-based Effa1 in 2018 in partnership with her industrial designer husband, Ilya, a graduate of Kharkiv State…
“Why go back to normal when you can go back to better?” - Ruth Anslow HISBE (How it Should Be) is a community of interest (CIC) supermarket in the coastal town of Brighton in West Sussex, England founded by Jack…
Nuddy isn’t just a word, it’s a feeling. To feel free + vulnerable, yet empowered. Not just when you’re ‘in the nuddy’, but all day, everyday - Nuddy Nuddy is a female-led startup. It was founded in July 2018 by…
In 2013 Oxford languages graduate Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway, a University of Bath Business Administration graduate, opened Bloom & Wild, an innovative online flower delivery business that sources flowers from the growers. By 2021, with sales of around £200…
Nexus Power “Entrepreneurship is not only about everything we do physically…it is about the emotional strength the founders possess. It is about having the same enthusiasm throughout. It is about believing in yourself and your team, and most importantly, it…
"We believe the closer people are to nature, the more they will protect it" - Vivobarefoot Founded in 2012, Vivobarefoot is an innovative London-based shoe company whose pedigree dates back almost 200 years. In 1825 in the village of Street in…
BoomGrow is an award-winning Malaysian farming company whose mission is to transform farming by producing 100 per cent clean and nutritious vegetables delivered directly to the consumer. It is located in Kuala Lumpur in the Klang Valley and was founded…
Read More BoomGrow – saving the planet one vegetable at a time
"If all the cattle in the world joined together to start their own country, they would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases” - Bill Gates Globally methane is responsible for 30 per cent of global warming, and the world’s…
“We care deeply about our people, our customers and our planet” (Baukjen de Swaan Arons). The House of Baukjen is a family-run women’s slow fashion business located in North West London. It comprises two branches, the core brand, Baukjen, and their…
Clothes Waste Photo by Tom Fisk from Pexels “We believe that designs which meet real human needs will never be thrown away” - Petit Pli The global fashion market is valued at around $3trillion or 2 per cent of the world’s GDP, and…
"I want to see people feeling that they're proud of working for [Burns Pet Nutrition Ltd] and [for them to] put that bit extra in, in terms of the activities we're engaged in" - John Burns In the heart of rural…
“Young entrepreneurs and innovators are working hard to create a low carbon energy market” - Jeremiah Thoronka Mankind needs an alternative to fossil fuels. Solar, wind and water-generated energy are all possibilities, but with the present technology, they can be…
Humanity is the washerwoman of our society that wrings out its laundry in tears - Karl Klaus, 1874-1936 The handwashing of clothes is a simple but time-consuming and energy-sapping task that has been a significant source of invention for centuries.…
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes" - Marcel Proust (1871-1922) The Coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on international travel in general and international tourism in particular. With the…
Read More Stella Vita – world’s first solar powered mobile home
"If GM (General Motors) had kept up with technology as the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 MPG" - Bill Gates “Buy cars and other products that have the least impact environmentally” -…
Kay Luan Tay, the recent Vice Chancellor of the International University Malaya-Wales and author of three book on Social and Business Sustainability has wide but unique experience in managing and delivering value across both commercial and non-commercial enterprise. A strong…
Read More GEW2021 interview: the mind behind the investing in others for sustainable futures
Bev is an experienced practitioner in enterprise, social enterprise, gender equality and rural development/community. She has been and continues to be instrumental in ensuring that the role of women in Wales is consistently enhanced and progressed. As a special GEW2021 deep-dive,…
Read More GEW2021 interview: the mind behind Women in Enterprise in Wales
The extraction of oil, coal, and minerals brought, and still brings, a cost to the environment -- Irish singer/songwriter, Bono, 1960 A HES case study based in Wales to celebrate #GEW2021. Wales, often referred to as “the land of song”…
MarinaTex, image: licensed to use Plastics waste is a major global problem facing the planet, affecting life on earth both on land and in the sea. The problem is that it is non-biodegradable and can exist in the ecosystem for…
Antur Cymru (Welsh Adventure) is a social enterprise providing support for businesses in Wales. Owned by shareholders in the community who do not profit individually from their investment, they have agreed surpluses should be reinvested in the company. It was…
Read More “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world” (Margaret Mead)
Originating in the 16th century, but not becoming commonplace until after William Murdoch’s invention of the gaslight in 1802, street lights are now regarded as an essential feature of modern living. Not only do they aid security but they contribute…
Read More “May it be a light to you in dark places when all other lights go out” (J.R.R. Tolkein)
WaterLight (E-Dina) According to SDG 7, by 2030 the aim is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. The problem is that in 2021, only 9 years away, some 940 million people (13% of the…
Read More “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that” (Martin Luther King)
Beer is one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drinks in the world. Its origin dates back some 5000 years, possibly more, and by 2018 188.79 million kilolitres were being consumed, the equivalent of approximately 298.2 billion bottles. However,…
Read More “He was a wise man who invented beer” (Plato, 427-347 BC).
Seaweed is an extremely versatile and important product. Amongst others it is a food, a fertiliser, a medicine, a fuel, a cosmetic and, significantly, a vital element in the ocean ecosystem, producing oxygen, absorbing nutrients and providing a habitat for…
Read More Notpla: God created seaweed…The seaweed made the world”
Despite its image of pure, unpolluted mountain air, the air quality in Nepal is one of the worst in the world, particularly in the country’s capital city, Kathmandu. Here the incidence of smog is five times greater than it was…
Though a profound invention that has impacted significantly on modern society, plastics are a major sustainability challenge as they do not decompose and contribute to environmental problems both on land and in the sea, as well as to the health…
Read More “There’s a way to do it better – Find it” (Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Water pollution: Brian Yurasits, 2019 How did a meal in Glasgow lead to the UK’s first green debit card made from recycled ocean plastic? Well, it is quite simple, over a meal with a friend, one of the co-founders of…
For two student entrepreneurs, Josh Shefner and Claire Friona, long-established idioms are a living reality. Both are students of Engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering, and both are passionate about poverty elimination and the eradication of waste. They are also…
Read More “Waste not want not” (1772, idiom) or “wilful waste makes woeful want” (1576, idom)
In the USA it is estimated that trucks/lorries (Heavy Goods Vehicles/HGVs) account for 5% of the number of vehicles on the road but 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, while in Europe the Environment Agency estimates that HGVs…
Read More An Innovative UK solution to the Global Pollution Problem Caused by Urban Trucking
(Image credit: North Wales Police) In an attempt to limit the spread of Covid-19, it has become law in many countries for people to wear disposable face masks. 129 billion face masks are being used globally each month and in…
Read More The world is green and beautiful, and we are its custodians
Outside of Wales few people know of Karen Davies but in South Wales, she does what Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank do in Bangladesh. Through her not-for-profit microfinance social enterprise, “Purple Shoots”, which she established in…
Nepal, population 28.61 million, is a factor-driven economy meaning it relies on its people and natural resources. Over 55% of the population is under the age of 25 and there are some 450,000 students enrolled at different universities in the…
Read More Latika Golyan demonstrates the need for graduate entrepreneurs in Nepal
Despite Lionel Bart’s “Oliver” eulogy of food, it is a problem. We need it to live, yet both an excess and a shortage can kill us. Some 850 million people, globally, are believed to be undernourished and each day an…
Read More “Oh Food! Magical food! Wonderful Food! Marvellous Food! Beautiful Food!”
In the global knowledge economy, universities have become the catalyst for economic and social development and many have added to their two traditional missions of research and teaching a third mission that involves the transfer and commercialisation of the intellectual…
“Build Alternatively, Build Affordably, Build Sustainably” – the motto of Gjenge Makers in Nairobi Between 1950 and 2017 the world produced some 9200 million tonnes of plastic waste, of which only 2700 million tonnes (29%) was still in use in…
Read More Gjenge Makers: Build Alternatively, Build Affordably, Build Sustainably
In 2016, three entrepreneurs from Copenhagen, Leeds and Paris co-founded “Too Good To Go” (http://toogoodtogo.org) a social impact company intended to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 12 Sustainable. Consumption and Production, also supporting 13 Climate Action. Globally 1.3 billion…
The world population is growing at around 83 million people a year or 1.1 per cent. Apart from needing space to accommodate such a population increase, there is another major problem facing the planet. The topsoil responsible for supplying 95%…
Read More Solving one global problem but creating others: the need for Harmonious Entrepreneurship
Dr Laila Iskander Dr Laila is a former Egyptian Minister of the Environment and founder of CID (Community and International Development) Group, a consulting firm that “strives to create holistic growth solutions by bridging corporate and development objectives”. In 1994 she…
Saltaire The concept of harmonious entrepreneurship is perhaps not entirely new. Possibly one of the earliest proponents of it is the industrial entrepreneur Sir Titus Salt (1803-1876) who, in 1851, built Saltaire, now a UNESCO World Heritage site in the…
Read More Saltaire, a 19th century manifestation of Harmonious Entrepreneurship?
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