Sustainable gift ideas 2020: Berlin edition

Sustainable gift ideas 2020: Berlin edition

In our last online event, we created a virtual winter market to show some love to local business and sustainable initiatives that we think you should know about. Check them out and hopefully get some inspiration for a missing gift! Online Marketplaces Medimops Buy second hand books, games, films, and CDs! Lots of English titles too. Avocadostore  The biggest German online marketplace for fair trade […]

Event Recap: Greenbuzz’s online Sustainable Holiday Hacks event & virtual Weihnachtsmarkt!

Event Recap: Greenbuzz’s online Sustainable Holiday Hacks event & virtual Weihnachtsmarkt!

Last week we hosted an online event to discuss different sustainable hacks on how to make the holiday season more eco-friendly. The night was filled with trivia, music, tips & tricks from sustainability coach Meg Koch, and a virtual tour through the Weihnachtsmarkt to hear from local businesses about their sustainable initiatives and unique gift ideas. Additionally, it was great to hear from all of […]

#008 – Keep active and do good with Active Giving

#008 – Keep active and do good with Active Giving

Active Giving brings communities together through sports. Combining this with the necessity for climate action, they are creating an athletic community for the good of the planet! Building a platform that turns fitness activities into funding for environmental causes, originated from Active Giving’s experience as athletes who care for the wellbeing of our communities and the planet we inhabit.

#007 – Plan A – Data for the Greener Good!

#007 – Plan A – Data for the Greener Good!

Plan A was born 3 years ago with the ambition of tackling climate change at its roots. We help businesses join the fight against climate change by supporting them on their sustainable transformation. Through a scientific, technological and educational approach, Plan A works with organizations to establish carbon tracking and reduction best practices at their core.

#006 – Reducing Plastic Waste with soulbottles

#006 – Reducing Plastic Waste with soulbottles

SOUL BOTTLES strives to reduce waste and provide access to clean drinking water to all. Through sales of their stylish, eco-friendly, glass water bottles they support drinking water projects around the world. They also have a very forward thinking internal work culture based on holacracy and non-violent communication. Read on to learn more about this awesome social business!

#005 – Plantyflix

#005 – Plantyflix

Born out of the covid-era, Plantyflix was created (by two friends Fabrice + Liam) to help people plant trees from their couch to offset a part or all of their digital carbon footprint — specifically from streaming. The problem is that with covid came a huge increase in Netflix usage and other kinds of video streaming platforms, such as Disney+, Youtube and even Zoom are just to name a few. You may not know it. But just like driving, chilling at home binging on your favourite TV shows or video calling friends also has an impact on the environment.

#004 – Urban Farming with Farmlyplace

#004 – Urban Farming with Farmlyplace

Farmlyplace develops management and control systems for urban farming (smart farming), operates an online marketing platform for locally produced products, and provides a quality management solution for farm system customers. At their Kiezfarm in Charlottenburg, Farmlyplace supplies local consumers with fresh lettuce, leafy greens and herbs, and produces high-quality, locally produced, fresh, organic and natural products, sustainably and without genetic engineering.

#002 – SunCrafter

#002 – SunCrafter

For almost 1 billion people worldwide and in many situations of our everyday-lives, sufficient access to clean electricity is lacking. At the same time, there is an exponentially increasing amount of solar panel waste, which turns into a threat to the global energy transition. In Europe, even functional solar panels are discarded, adding to the predicted solar waste crisis which is expected to exceed 80 million tons by 2050. SunCrafter tackles both problems, with one technological solution.

By applying reconfiguration technology and substituting diesel generators with solar generators, SunCrafter is able to save around 0.3kg CO2/kWh. They’ve estimated that providing all currently unconnected and displaced persons with 200 million of our solar generators would yield a savings of 22 million tons CO2/annually and represents 3 million tons of solar panel repurposing that would have gone to waste. Several studies on the LCA of new and second lie PV panels have shown that extending the life-time of panels drops the environmental cost of solar significantly.

#001 – SIRPLUS

#001 – SIRPLUS

18 million tons of food are wasted every year in Germany alone. This equals one truckload of food every minute! Millions are wasted by producers, suppliers and wholesalers. On the other hand, consumers want to reduce food waste but often lack the time and means. This is where we come in: By saving surplus (excess) food and reselling it in our online shop and through our 6 Berlin-based “Rettermärkte”, we offer a solution! Also, raising awareness for sustainable use of precious resources is a matter very close to our hearts

100 Sustainable Solutions

100 Sustainable Solutions

GreenBuzz Berlin is a sustainability focused platform and network run by volunteers with a mission to advocate for systemic change towards a greener future. We do this by connecting impact-driven organisations with the wider community and aim to provide both sides with the opportunity to learn and collaborate. We started running networking events in 2014 to provide a stage for sustainable initiatives in Berlin to […]

Deforestation and the Death Care Industry in the West

Deforestation and the Death Care Industry in the West

It is no secret that deforestation has widespread consequences. By now, we know that it is one of the leading causes of habitat destruction, and therefore biodiversity loss. Furthermore, by chopping down trees, we also remove one of the most important carbon sinks that we have in the world, which leads to an increase in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. Recent research even suggests that […]

Environmental Justice and the Climate Movement in Light of COVID-19

Environmental Justice and the Climate Movement in Light of COVID-19

The climate movement in mainstream media is dominated by a sensationalist attitude that urges society to take action before it is too late. According to leading scientists, we have just a decade to change our bad habits and turn to a greener, cleaner economic model if we want to save Earth and humanity’s place in it. However, for some communities around the world it is […]

Apply for the 2020 Young Global Changers Program

Apply for the 2020 Young Global Changers Program

Editor’s note: This article was first published on the Sense & Sustainability website. It has been reproduced here with the author’s permission. The Global Solutions Initiative is now accepting applications for their 2020 Young Global Changers (YGCs) program which “brings together young people from around the world who are working towards a global paradigm shift, combining their talents and together becoming a strong voice for […]

Going Deforestation-free: What’s the Role of Corporations?

Going Deforestation-free: What’s the Role of Corporations?

For most of my professional life, I have worked for agribusiness companies and always wondered about the role of corporations as changemakers. I believe that as part of the social tissue, businesses are key in addressing society’s most pressing issues, and have the potential to drive major transformations for a better world. Of course, it’s not only up to the corporations to be the changemakers. […]

Event Recap – Feeding Berlin #3: The True Cost of Food

Event Recap – Feeding Berlin #3: The True Cost of Food

Last week we had the third event in our Feeding Berlin Series, looking at the true cost of food when all externalities were considered. Our speakers Olivia Riemer and Barbara Sennholz-Weinhardt outlined their findings on the genuine cost of food products when our health and the environment are considered, as well as ongoing human rights violations that still exist in global value chains. Our first […]