Green Night Vol.3 @SOHO HOUSE
On April 22nd we paired up with our venue sponsor Soho House Hong Kong to celebrate Earth Day. Joining us on the night were some of Hong Kong’s finest F&B experts, giving us their insights into the latest sustainability food trends. Food production leads our daily carbon footprint and we were excited to hear from our panelists what we can do to make a ‘diet’ difference.
Sustainability in the Food Industry
Through ‘Green Nights’, Carbonbase hopes to create a culture of taking care of both ourselves, the planet and the immediate environment we live in. Joining our first panel Sustainability in the Food Industry, we were delighted to welcome Woody Chan, CSR & Sustainability Manager for foodpandahk, Sonalie Figueiras, CO Founder of Green Queen Media and Nydia Zhang, Chair of Advisory Council at The Good Food Institute APAC.
Green Queen Media’s Sonalie has spearheaded the adoption of a vegan lifestyle in Hong Kong, and offered a clear understanding of just what an immense impact that adoption can have on our carbon footprint. Asked about the next big food fads, she trends dairy free ice cream made from whey protein. Back in January, Perfect Day and Horizons Ventures, one of the food tech’s early major backers, launched their first animal-free ice cream made with whey proteins produced using fermentation technology in Asia. Their special process is to use animal-free whey protein using fermentation, not cows. The protein is identical to the protein found in milk and is what makes their animal-free dairy, dairy. Read their article here.
Sonalie is launching her first green global packaging platform soon and we are looking forward to seeing what Hong Kong consumers commit to doing to really bring these initiatives off the shelves and into our own homes.
Also joining us onstage was Woody Chan, CSR & Sustainability Manager for Foodpanda Hong Kong. Packaging proved a huge pitfall following the uptake in takeout and delivery during the pandemic, resulting in foodpanda’s introduction of their cutlery toggle, allowing home diners to opt out of cutlery delivery. Despite initial glitches with the app at first, communication issues with vendors were addressed and foodpanda worked with Baguio to bring over 2000 plastic containers recycled over the last month alone. The company actually admitted to taking a loss in order to serve their consumers better.
Our third guest was Nydia Zhang, Chair of Advisory Council at The Good Food Institute APAC, who helped address arguments circulating about the highly processed ingredients in some alternative lab meats available on the market. Once we take into account the already highly processed foods we consume in our regular meat rich diets, the argument shifts its angle. It’s not only our individual health that we need to take into account but the health of our future planet. Positively, most lab grown meats are GMO free, which makes a huge impact on all areas of our food production chains. Lab meats can also be fibre packed as opposed to being overly protein heavy, so there is the chance to obtain a healthy balanced diet. If you still don’t trust lab meat there are numerous plant based meat alternative proteins becoming available.
“Ultimately consumers have to make the decisions themselves. What do they want? Better taste? Better priced produce or food convenience..?”
Nydia Zhang, Chair of Advisory Council at The Good Food Institute APAC
Plastic Not so Fantastic
Our second session Plastic and the Impact on the Environment approached the continuing problem of plastic within the F&B industry for single use application. Joining the panel were JP Lizot, Managing Director & Co-Founder VERDANTLI, Bertha Shum, Sustainability Blogger @eartheroproject, Tobias Huinink, GM (Sustainability) of Swire Beverages & Business Director Asia of ALBA Group Asia.
JP co founded VERDANTLI, who design and create F&B solutions to produce no waste eco toiletries for luxury hotels. Whilst the emphasis initially rests with the hotel and their provision of a quality service and product, individual consumer commitment is equally important, says JP.
“Plastics are not going to suddenly go away so it’s important to look at the bigger picture. Solutions are collective, but without the desire to uptake solutions due to cost challenges, hotel chains often get damaged reputations.” JP Lizot, Managing Director & Co-Founder VERDANTLI
Not to be disheartened VERDANTLI are using these difficult times to reassess and reorganize just what a 5-star hotel approach is, and how to do what is best for the environment. Innovative solutions have been found and VERDANTLI encourages guests to think about their stay on an individual level. Our product packaging uses plant based and corn plastic mixes, rather than traditional heavy plastic packaging. They forbid the usage of PLA for their packaging (since it contains plastic) and instead use 100% cornstarch plant-based bags. Bamboo toothbrushes and chewable toothpaste tablets ensure no plastic packaging is used. The tablets use only natural ingredients and negate the need for any more tiny toothpaste tubes that are used once then trashed. Put simply VERDANTLI say “Chew, brush and then rinse.”
Bertha Shum is a Sustainability blogger who founded Earthhero Project. Bertha partners with businesses to implement and develop environmental initiatives. She also started a unisex and comfortable clothing brand Wear Earthero, with everything designed and hand produced in Hong Kong and made from deadstock fabric. Bertha’s mission is to help people find the right resources to change their own game.
Of course we struggle with companies’ bigger issues around cost concerns — but we also need to approach things with a longer term gain perspective. If I educate staff and show how to save in the long term — people tend to listen better. Repurposed waste options are also a good way to go, even when it’s something as obscure as Elephant poo paper! I blogged to follow the early adopters to create perspective around sustainability goals and I think it’s important to find an angle or attack plan.
“Small actions matter, peer management and our choices matter “it’s just one cup!” said seven billion people. But it’s too big a problem to ignore and I like to brainwash people. Take an espresso if you’re in a hurry!”
Bertha Shum, Sustainability Blogger @eartheroproject\
At the tender age of just five Tobias Huinink, GM (Sustainability) of Swire Beverages & Business Director Asia of ALBA Group Asia, created his own environmental games, which later led his passion to follow his career goals to become an Environmental Lawyer. Tobias is constantly seeking solutions to change the way waste is treated.
“From a local perspective Hong Kong needs to invest in more modern solutions at such a critical time. Adopting mass grassroots approaches, whilst favourable on so many levels, don’t produce strong data to lobby the powers that be. Don’t lie to yourself, sacrifices must be made for the better good and governance.” Tobias Huinink, GM (Sustainability) of Swire Beverages
Whilst zero waste retail alternatives exist they are on too small a scale. There is a bigger need for logistics and repurposing. If plastics are managed properly they could be useful. One shockingly eye opening fact is that more than half of the plastic ever produced has been produced in the last fifteen years. Begging the question of what personal commitment can individuals do to tackle the issue head on?
“There isn’t really such a thing as a Quicker Cup of Coffee. Plastics are a reality. We need alternatives, but we also need time to research and develop.” Tobias Huinink, GM (Sustainability) of Swire Beverages
Enter the scientists who produce plastic from Co2. In the US, chemists at Rutgers University have developed a new technique using electrocatalysts containing nickel and phosphorus to combine water and carbon dioxide with electricity to produce complex carbon-containing molecules that can be used to produce plastics and other products such as pharmaceuticals. Read more about this over at BBC Earth
The popularity of media exposure surrounding the subject of food sustainability has surged. Documentaries such as Seaspiracy, (which was screened simultaneously at Green Night) create exciting landscapes, where we imagine and truly believe we can achieve better practice. The difficulty is to navigate through the minefield in front of us. How do we manage our avoidance culture? Is there a danger we become lazy after watching these movies, and return to our convenient habits? One thing we all agree on is that importance should be placed on individuals, as well as the manufacturers who churn out our everyday consumer items.
A BIG Thanks to Steffanie and her amazing team at Soho House for being our lovely hosts.
From our Guests at ‘Green Night’
“We are very happy to have taken part in this event to share our vision for a greener future within hospitality. It was particularly eye-opening to meet like-minded people working on everything from building educational eco-portals to creating tech solutions for complex problems, all in the fight to find measurable solutions to overturn climate change.” JP Lizot — Verdantli
“Green Night was a great event! I gained a lot of information about sustainability and was impressed by the support from across so many different industries. I loved the panelists and the inspiring questions that they discussed. It brought a lot of reflection for everyone. Hopefully, there will be more events like this in HK!” Manny — Community Manager
About ‘Green Nights’
Carbonbase host ‘Green Nights’ and ‘Green Mornings’ at an array of different venues across Hong Kong. At every event, guests earn their own “Green Pass” by calculating their individual carbon footprint using our carbon calculator available at carbonbase.co to understand their personal environmental footprint. This handy feature allows you to build a carbon footprint profile in just 3 minutes.
Head over to https://www.carbonbase.co/en/calculator to calculate your footprint.
Our next event will be on Wednesday June 16th at Soho House (Open to members only)*
To join our future events or to partner with us please email: events@carbonbase.co
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Over the last 200 years of human industrial development, fossil fuels and cement have powered our steam engines and built our modern lifestyle, but have also emitted over 400 billion tons of CO2 into the earth’s atmosphere. And now we have less than 8 years to dramatically correct our course before we use up the 1.5° “Carbon Budget”, beyond which humanity will suffer all kinds of climate-related disasters. We need to dramatically reduce our emissions, saving what we can, and drawing down what we cannot.
Carbonbase recognizes that climate change is the greatest challenge of our time. However, we seek to reframe this challenge as an opportunity for people to create, collaborate, and mobilize the knowledge and resources necessary to forge a more sustainable future. We want to provide the tools for everyone to incorporate sustainability into the companies we work for, the communities in which we live, and our own personal lives.
Carbonbase is a climate change startup with expertise in data science, IoT and blockchain technologies. Our focus is to build innovative solutions in carbon emission management, energy, environment, sustainable finance and supply chain use cases. Our mission is to help individuals and companies explore new ways around sustainable business models, build novel user and business processes, and do good while doing well. Join us at https://carbonbase.co/en
