An Overview Of Our Solution
The problem I am addressing is the need for people to transition into a more sustainable lifestyle in order to tackle climate change and sustainability issues.
I designed different instruments that would reach as many people as possible and would emotionally speak to them and be relevant in their daily life. My approach is to offer simple step by step advice on how to transition into a more sustainable life whilst highlighting the multiple personal, financial, ecological and health benefits of these transitional steps.
Actions included:
-Sustainable Living Talks
-Sustainable Living Workshops
-One-on-one Consultations
-Online Social Media Awareness Raising Campaigns and Educational Work (Blog, Social Media, YouTube Videos, Collaborations etc.)
-Business Consultancy
-Sustainability Event Series - Weekly Sustainability Hub Grünschnack
- Population Impacted: Huge due to online outreach,press & media coverage
- Continent: Europe
Last name
Organization type
Context Analysis
The Accumulation of waste from food packaging and general consumption (220kg of packaging waste per German citizen p.a. and 37kg of that solely plastic waste and a rise of 30% over the course of the past 10 years in Germany alone). These waste products could be designed in a circular cradle to cradle fashion so that every material used can be recycled and reused in a way.
There will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, yet 30% of plastic products are designed to be single-use disposables. 10 mio tonnes of our plastic waste end up in the ocean every single year and endanger marine life, our food chain, the ecosystem, biodiversity and out future on this planet. The same applies to non-biodegradable products, e.g. cleaning or production products, they are not designed circular but linear and endanger our future on this planet - not only the planet. We have not planet B and therefore do not simply need to save the planet but ourselves.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
1.Switch to sustainable finance -green bank account, investments, pension scheme, insurance
2.Switch to green energy with your electricity provider
3.Mode of transport, switch to walking, cycling, public transport or car sharing
4.Understand and use the refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, rot pyramid
5.Conscious consumerism: minimalist approach to consumption, sharing economy, used items, upcycling, fair trade products, regional, organic, seasonal, plant-rich diet
6.Switch from disposable, single-use items to reusables
7.Choose fully biodegradable materials when choosing a product - avoid plastic and use recyclable materials instead
8.Make your own cosmetics and cleaning products to benefit your health, your wallet, and the environment
9.Explain the proper recycling processes and encourage people to visit a waste management service center to understand our waste cycles
10.Spread the message to as many people as possible and be an inspiration for positive change
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
ZWPP aims to enable people to lead a more sustainable lifestyle and reduce fast overconsumption in all areas, hence is encouraging people to know what more sustainable alternative products are and where you can purchase them. For instance, instead of buying fast fashion, you can go to a clothing swap party where you simply trade in unwanted clothes for new ones, you can buy second-hand or buy from a local company that is producing GOTS etc. certified clothing. That way you have less health risks due to toxic chemicals used in conventional products, use up less natural resources, have less negative environmental impact at the production plant, support fair working conditions for workers and a longer lasting high quality product which will save you money in the long run.
I aim to offer a sustainable behavioural alternative to every single conventional unsustainable one.
In order to ensure people are adopting these sustainable alternatives, I highlight the relevance to them and their life and make it emotionally appealing. Moreover, I picture all financial, health, environmental, wellbeing and happiness benefits of a more sustainable lifestyle and offer figures for how much every little change in our every day life has a huge impact once look at as a whole. At the same time I prepare for the unevitable fallbacks and motivation lows and offer continuous support and an online community and contact line to uplift, inspire and motivate whenever needed.
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
1.Start a worm bin/compost to save food waste - I provide instructions and worm starter kit
2.Brew Kombucha instead of drinking soda - I provide instructions and a kombucha starter kit
3.Make your own cheap and non-toxic cleaning products
4.Bring your own bag, bottle, cutlery and crockery
5.Drink tap water
6.Use fully biodegradable products
7.Use reusable female hygiene products, I showcase them
8.Fix broken things or upcycle
9.Stop seeing things as waste, find a new purpose for it
10.Plant-rich diet, organic and local food
11.Buy unpackaged bulk groceries
All solutions are communicated via:
-Talks
-Workshops
-Ebook Guides
-Online Education (Social Media, YouTube, Blog, etc.)
-Weekly Sustainability Hub Event
-Consultations
Describe your implementation
1.Switch to sustainable finance
2.Switch to green energy
3.Mode of transport, switch to walking, cycling, public transport
4.Understand and use the refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, rot pyramid
5.Conscious consumerism: minimalist approach to consumption, sharing economy, used items, upcycling, fair trade products, regional, organic, seasonal, plant-rich diet
6.Switch from disposable, single-use items to reusables
7.Choose fully biodegradable materials when choosing a product - avoid plastic and use recyclable materials instead
8.Make your own cosmetics and cleaning products to benefit your health, your wallet, and the environment
9.Introduce the concept of waste reduction
10.Organic farming: I rented a patch on a local organic farm and livestream and post about the ways organic farming works, what goes into growing your own food, how people can become more self-sustainable and what organic farming methods everyone can use at home
By making the topics emotionally relevant I ensured that people would feel compelled to get involved.
By offering a support system I ensured that people had the necessary conditions in order to transition into a more sustainable lifestyle.
Key success factors are my way of approaching the topic and my way of inspiring people to see climate change actions as a purely positive topic that is a enriching aspect of their life which makes them happy and saves them money and benefits their health and the health of the planet.
I believe there is too much negativity and finger-pointing surrounding the topic of sustainability. I aspire to turn the public discourse into a highly positive, encouraging, motivating and inspiring one in order to reach the broadest audience possible and get everyone on board. That is why I strive to inspire people with regards to sustainability.
So far all of my events have been sold out well in advance and the demand is high all over Germany and requests come from across Europe.
External connections
Key partners:
-German waste management services: In waste reduction and recycling educational efforts as well as a spokesperson
-Swedish Waste Management services want to provide my recycling and waste management guide across Sweden to every resident in order to raise awareness and educate
-bulk stores: as locations for talks to inform their customers and educate them on sustainable living strategies
-the council and the senats environmental agency book me for talks to raise awareness about sustainability and are currently considering including my weekly sustainability hub event Grünschnack into their Masterplan for Sustainability for the city of Hamburg, which is their main policy instrument for sustainability
-the German deaf people's association: i give talks with translators for them
-the university of hamburg: as a location for talks
-companies with sustainable products: I showcase their products and let people try them at my events to break down barriers of first-time buyers as well as presenting them and their work to people (menstrual cups are a great example of a product that needs showcasing)
-Greenpeace: I am a strong supporter and spokesperson for the Make Smthng and Detox my Fashion campaigns and host clothes swap parties with them
-Private companies: regarding providing sustainability consultancy
-I am involved and on the board of the Hamburger Klimawoche, Europes biggest climate change event
-My network of sustainability stakeholders
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
Attendees of the talks and workshops, that are also livestreamed adopt behaviours, as well as the online audience and community. The online community is very outspoken about changing their behaviours and inspired by the simple changes they can make, especially my February Zero Waste Instagram Challenge really resonated with people and provided an easy step by step guide, through which I started a cooperation with Greenpeace Germany and did an instagram takeover to reach all of their followers as well, which had such a positive feedback that I held a talk at the Greenpeace headquarters. People start with changing one thing after another, thats why I deliberately broke it down into the smallest steps possible, to keep up the motivation. As part of my February Insta challenge I also reposted at least one successful implementation from followers per day to grow the community and share their great success stories derived from my waste reduction guide.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Zero Waste Plant Power reduces natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions directly by creating a societal shift towards a more conscious consumerism. ZWPP talks offer guides to more sustainable and reduced consumption by offering sustainable product alternatives, suggesting to switch from single-use items to reusables, buying from sustainably operating businesses, buying fair trade, reusing, recycling, upcycling, sharing instead of owning things, and buying second hand and used items instead of new. There is also an emphasis on buying biodegradable products (clothing, cleaning products, cosmetics etc) in order to support a circular economy instead of linear and ensuring nothing gets lost in a lifecycle of a product as so called waste. Everything should be reusable.
The same applies to greenhouse gas emissions, ZWPP suggests to reduce travel emissions and instead walk, bike, use public transport, and sharing transport systems instead of owning a car.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
Co-Benefits:
-Establishing a network of likeminded people and creating a supportive community to increase the amount of people reached
-Connecting people and fostering the social exchange, bringing the demand to the supply by connecting conscious consumers with sustainable products and initiatives
-Raising awareness about tap water as drinking water and reusable bottles as an alternative to disposable plastics, introducing people to the Refill project and sourcing more providers for Refill
-Raised awareness about water water pollution and how to reduce it (production and cleaning)
-Raising awareness about the benefits of a plant-rich diet and urban farming and gardening
-Importance of insects and bees as well as picturing the importance of biodiversity for our own lives
-Explaining the need for sustainable companies and fair trade products increases demand
-Raising awareness for biodegradable products and cradle to cradle circular production - increased demand
Sustainability
ZWPP has not yet received any funding. Apart from travel expenses from the German Waste Management Services when traveling to Brussels for the Award Ceremony of the European Week of Waste Reduction finale at the EU. I was awarded as a finalist for Europe's Most Outstanding Project on Waste Reduction.
I generate revenue from talks, workshops, consultations and collaborations. None of these currently provide me with an actual profit however because I have to work full-time next to it to ensure I have an income. There is a strong demand for the ZWPP services and event formats, all of my events have been sold out well before the date of the event and the demand is high all over Germany and requests come from across Europe.
Return on investment
I had barely any starting costs apart from my own time which I invested. If I did not have to work another job next to ZWPP I could fully focus on ZWPP activities and increase the revenue and generate profits with the project to make it even bigger and reach even more people. The media exposure and the demand for my events and formats has been overwhelmingly big. Considering that I did only invest my time, the revenue and outreach I have been able to create has been very good.Given that it is only continuing to grow it will increase over the next few years. I would use the event in Washington to further enhance my knowledge on how to move the project to the next steps and connect with partners and mentors.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
I deliberately created ZWPP instruments in a way that they could easily be replicated elsewhere to reach an even wider audience and most things are simply available online or provided by me in person.
My talks, workshops and consultations are held wherever there is a demand for them.
I am currently also working on also providing all my content in English. Moreover, I am working on duplicating my weekly sustainability hub event at other locations to increase my reach.
Ebook guides can be distributed widely by waste management services and for consumers in general and online content is available to everyone.
Additional needs and funding required would be me having more time in order to produce the content and being able to reduce my employment working hours to fully focus on ZWPP. I would be able to use my existing network of stakeholders and further extend it.
I would also invest in a training course regarding making ZWPP more financially sustainable.