Booking impact Seabin

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Innovation:   
Open data for clean oceans

You know that feeling of water surrounding your body as you dive into the ocean? Yep, us too. But also the feeling of plastic soup leaving you spitting at the mouth and totally killing your vibe? Gross. But yeah, we’ve all been there.

And that’s because every minute, the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped in our ocean. (And FYI that’s according to a report by the World Economic Forum – and we all know how they like boasting about knowing all the facts.) And if no action is taken, this figure is predicted to quadruple by 2050. (*Drumroll – impending doom).

But that’s the point, action can be taken and is being taken. By people such as avid surfer Pete Ceglinski. Australian born and bred, Pete founded Seabin – which simply put is a floating trash can collecting plastic (as small as 2mm) from the sea. Seabins can collect up to 1.5 kg of floating debris per day. Today, there are over 400 Seabins cleaning the world’s oceans in diverse shaws including Europe, the Caribbean and the USA.

To say cleaning the ocean of plastics is a big job, is the understatement of the year. Seabins aren’t gonna cut it alone, but the ocean cleaning technology is making waves because it also collects data. A seabin is able to provide information about where pollution is coming from, the type of pollution and how the weather and currents in the waterways affect the movement of the plastics.

This is where stuff has the potential to get really interesting. From aqua drone technology to artificial intelligence powered technology helping keep our seas plastic free, there is a lot of innovation going on right now. Sharing data is key.

The writing is on the wall that we need to reduce waste with or without data. But the data will help to understand the health of our waters and pinpoint localized waste issues,” says Pete.

The data will be open source and available to anyone who wants it.”

Got ideas on how to solve some of our planet’s biggest environmental problems? Could you use Seabin data? Big ideas start small, join the conversation.

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Climate
Innovation
Inclusion

Yalta

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Climate:   
Grow food, make money, save the planet

Getting ‘down and dirty’ has a new meaning thanks to Dr. Dominic who’s on a mission to make agriculture sexy again. Fresh out of university he decided to get into the worm business and produce bio organic manure. ‘Why not get your hands dirty and make some money?’ He says, ‘because who can look sexy without it?’

For decades young people everywhere have left their farms to work in factories, or even worse, offices. But things are starting to change. Throughout the COVID pandemic we have realised how important locally sourced produce is.
And while academics fight over the percentage of the world’s food being produced by small farmers, – they guesstimate it’s 30%, 50% or even 80%, agro-ecological farmers are on the rise. These farmers don’t use chemical fertilizers, they plant local seeds and diversify their crops, reinforcing the soil and avoiding diseases. Seems like a future proof plan, doesn’t it? No surprise the young generations are going back to their roots and taking on farming: they need the planet a little while longer.
So next time your back hurts from sitting down all day at your blue collar job, think about Dr. Dominic: ‘Agriculture is so sexy, bro!’

Have any advice on how to make green fingers sexy?

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Innovation
Health

Queen of Raw

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Innovation: 
Change the system

How much does your wardrobe cost? No, we’re not talking about finances. Highstreet bargains or designer delicacies, ultimately our clothes cost a ton. Quite literally tons and tons- of plastic and pollution, every year. 
But we all need clothes right? Sure, and we don’t want to be killjoys over how you spend your hard earned cash. But when your wardrobe needs updating, does it really have to be new?

All hail Stephanie Benedetto a.k.a the Queen of Raw. A born and bred New Yorker, Stephanie’s great grandfather worked in the garment industry when he arrived as an immigrant to the city. A flair for entrepreneurship is in Stephanie’s blood and when she saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between the market and the $120 billion worth of excess fabric sitting in warehouses around the world, she took it. And what a royal success it is. Queen of Raw is genuinely the new black. It suits anyone and everyone. 

Queen of Raw operates as a market place whereby high quality off cuts are paired with new owners. These fabrics have been created, the environmental damage is done. So why instead of using them, are we making new fabrics whilst allowing existing ones to sit around gathering dust, or worst be burnt in landfill? It makes precisely 0 sense and that’s why Queen of Raw is shaking things up.

“The textile industry uses 26.4 trillion gallons of water every year. What about using that to solve the world’s water crisis?”
“Queen of Raw is a system change” – smiles Stephanie. Indeed, and when it comes to predicting the styles and trends for future seasons, one thing’s for sure – it has to be more sustainable. 

Queen of Raw is all about measurement of water, chemicals, carbon dioxide and waste saved- by utilising what we already have (find more info on this on her website and youtube media talks). 

When it comes to what you’re wearing this season, how are you changing the way you buy and engage with production chains?

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Mamacash

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Inclusion: 
The worst advice you’ve ever had

Ever been caught short without a condom so washed your vagina out with a bottle of coca-cola as birth control instead? Didn’t think so. (And us neither for the record.)
But people give some weird ass advice, especially to women and girls.
This group of ladies in Uganda have quite frankly, had enough. Coca-Cola jokes aside, and across all countries and cultures, some of the bullshit ‘advice’ society bestows upon women, is quite frankly absurd. And it’s time to flip the narrative.
Whether you like the term or not, feminism is about equality. Depending on which country you’re in, gender equality might be more or less obvious. But ultimately, this remains a pressing global issue. 

Globally, 35% of women have experienced physical or sexual abuse. In the pandemic, this has increased 5 fold. Not all men are violent, no. But the majority of violence against women is done by men, end of. So why are women still given advice on how to keep safe? Isn’t it time men received advice on how to act safe?
Next time someone tells you that you’re too ambitious for a woman, you can remind them that the gender pay gap is actually increasing globally not decreasing- so apparently not ambitious enough.
It’s time to laugh, people. And change the terms and conditions of the conversation. 

Whatever gender you identify as, what’s the most crazy advice you’ve ever been given because of it?

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Is AIDS a judgment of God?

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Health:   
Is AIDS a judgment of God?

“Is AIDS a judgment of God?” There was a time when the likes of reverend Billy Graham would have us believe this was a perfectly innocent question. He had an answer for us too: “I could not say for sure, but I think so.” Good thing he had his thinking cap on, imagine what he’d throw out there if he wasn’t ‘thinking’. Fortunately times have changed. Even our reverend has had to educate himself. But that doesn’t mean we’re in the clear, people living with HIV still have to deal with prejudice… And yeah, it’s 2021.

Anne an Vusi are both living with HIV, one in the Netherlands and the other in South Africa. Their conversation is heartfelt and goes beyond their differences. ‘Do they bully you when you tell your story?’ Anne’s son asked her and he offered to protect her if they did. Anne and Vusi are visibly moved by his words, and she must feel proud to have raised him well. There’s hope for us humans yet.
They say prejudice is rooted in fear and ignorance, so just to be sure: an HIV infection is far from a death sentence anymore, if you take your medicine, you can live a long and healthy life with no risk of transmitting the virus to anyone. Our battle should be about making sure everyone has access to lifesaving medicine. No one dealing with (mental) health issues should have to face the additional burden of ignorance and stigma.

What should, and shouldn’t!, we say to someone struggling with their (mental) health?

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