Get Inspired

Join the Movement in Vancouver

“Let’s create a culture of change to make it cool to live within our environmental means.” (Resident, City of Vancouver, Talk Green to Us Survey)

Stories

Quupe

This Vancouver start-up makes the most out of the sharing economy by serving as an online platform where users can be both lenders and renters of various goods. Quupe targets the issue of overconsumption by promoting shared resources and eventually providing a return on the initial investment for certain products that can be rented out.

 ”GIVING THE POTENTIAL TO CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT RESOURCES AND ABOUT OUR COMMUNITIES”

 

Luv The Grub

Luv the Grub aims to make change taste delicious. Based out of Vancouver, founder Alia Sunderji combined a passion for sustainability with alleviating poverty issues in this venture. Each jar of jam and chutney is made from rescued food surplus and provides employment opportunities for newcomer immigrants, refugees and individuals with barriers to employment. Luv the Grub partners with farmers and markets to retrieve food surplus as well as non-profits including Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House’s Drive Youth Employment Services in the creation of a paid employment training program.

‘’SPREADING LOVE TO PEOPLE AND THE PLANET WITH DELICIOUS CHUTNEYS AND JAMS…LOVE THE WAY CHANGE TASTES’’

 

…and more:

Explore what’s happening around the World

 

Case Studies 

The Social Space – Singapore

The social space is a multi-concept store that offers fair-trade and eco-conscious retail products, a tea and beverage bar, nail salon, refillery station and workshops on sustainable living. The social space also aims to provide employment opportunities for individuals who face barriers to employment due to circumstances beyond their control and equip them with skills to promote longer-term self-sufficiency. The social space aspires to break down the perception that social enterprises offer sub-standard products and services and aim to showcase high-quality, fair-trade and social and eco-conscious products that inspire change in you, the community and the planet.The social space exemplifies how businesses can diversify the goods and services they offer to boost both their own profit models as well as promote sustainable living and employment opportunities to those who face barriers. Synthesizing the environment, business and community in one model exemplifies how companies can help pave the way towards a sustainable future.

Started as a small-scale concept pop-up store, the social space now has a permanent location as well as workshop space. Currently, they are undergoing expansions to increase the number of locations in Singapore and the surrounding areas to promote accessibility.

 

Veganuary – Global

A global campaign promoting plant-based diets for the month of january. This campaign has a strong social media footing and represents a culture-shift that is needed to change the landscape for greater policy change.

2019 saw 250 000 participants who just signed up to take the pledge to be plant-based for all of January. However, thousands more participated in the campaign without having taken the pledge. 2019 was a record-high for this campaign with a sky-rocketed social media footing and with the number of participants higher in 2019 than all previous 4 years combined. Following Veganuary, the UK estimated 22 million people who wanted to be ‘flexitarian’ meaning they enjoy meat but want to reduce their consumption. 6 out of 10 people who took the Veganuary pledge said they wanted to stay vegan even once the month-long campaign ended.

 

RD National College goes Zero Waste – Mumbai, India

RD National College in Bandra has implemented various means of recycling the waste generated on campus and will soon ask the civic body to stop sending garbage vans. Their dry waste goes directly to an authorized recycling agency and their wet waste, especially from the cafeterias, gets composted. They are ensuring that all waste is either recycled or composted directly on the college premises. 

This is one of the first campuses worldwide to take strides towards zero-waste by ultimately phasing out waste disposal and promoting circularity on campus. This has inspired other campuses, especially a host of colleges affiliated with University of Mumbai, to take similar actions and has inspired zero-waste initiatives in the students’ lives beyond the time they spend on campus. 

 

La Casa Uruguaya – Uruguay 

A sustainable and intelligent housing project in Uruguay inspired from bioclimatic architecture and equipped with technology that can reduce energy consumption while offering a sustainable and accessible lifestyle.

 

WeWork goes meat-free

Operating in 22 countries and the global office sharing company WeWork employs over 6000 staff and has more than 253 000 members and has officially extended meat-free Mondays to being entirely meat-free. WeWork has said it will no longer serve meat in the offices or for events and will not reimburse staff for their expenses that contain meat. WeWork is the first international firm to introduce such a comprehensive plan on sustainable food. We Work estimates that these actions would save 63.2 billion liters of water, 445 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and more than 15 million animals by 2023.

Valued at $20 billion USD, WeWork’s bold actions have inspired other companies around the world to take similar initiatives as well as the trickling directly into the lifestyles of staff and members, sparking a cascading effect of behaviour changes.
…and more:

  • HENNEPIN COUNTY, Minnesota (USA) runs Fix-It Clinics where residents can learn repair skills and keep objects in circulation for longer.
  • PORTLAND, OR’s Resourceful PDX and FLAGSTAFF, AZ’s Be Resourceful programs also encourage share, reuse and repair.
  • BRUSSELS (Belgium) – “Rest-o-Pack” starts changing the culture with doggybags for leftovers (source).
  • NEW YORK (USA) – Mayor de Blasio’s Zero Waste Challenge in NY led to a 31-business effort to divert 37,000 tons of material in a few months – an average diversion rate of 56% (source).
  • UNITED KINGDOM – Wasted food is tackled head on through The Courtauld (voluntary) Commitment with the  grocery sector, and through the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, both supported by WRAP UK.
  • TURIN (Italy) – The Mayor of Turin sets a 5 year plan to reduce meat consumption in the city (source).
  • USA – School innovations include “Share Tables” which redistribute unopened, unserved food at a school (source) and a vegan lunch pilot in LOS ANGELES.

 

Imagining Futures 

UBC’s Our Future Communities – Climate Change video game

UBC researchers have created a video game where Vancouver high school students can experience how their individual choices can minimize the effects of climate change.

Space 10 Future Living Lab

A future living lab headquartered in Copenhagen that seeks to research and design innovative solutions to future challenges.

They work on various domains from shared living to local food and they demonstrate through projects, events, exhibits etc.

2030 Hub

A learning hub that combines innovation, entrepreneurship and action for sustainable communities to show how the SDGs add value to living systems. The 2030 hub is global registry of voluntary commitments and multi-stakeholder partnerships.

 

Actors

Trash Tiki

Trash Tiki is a bartender’s resource for things related to bartending and sustainability. Passionate about the mixology and food industry, Trash Tiki is revolutionizing the way we view the food and beverage industry as well as inspiring other through their online hub and pop-up bars. 

Living the Change

A global multi-faith sustainable living campaign, an international campaign bringing together people of diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds with sustainable consumption experts to champion sustainable lifestyles.

Discourse on best practices for sharing narratives around climate change within faith-based communities.

Involves stakeholders from Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (Multi-faith), The Bhumi Project (Hindu), The Global Catholic Climate Movement (Roman Catholic Christian), Global Muslim Climate Network (Muslim), Hazon (Jewish),

One Earth Sangha (Buddhist), World Council of Churches (Protestant and Orthodox Christian), World Evangelical Alliance (Evangelical Christian).

IKEA’s Tiny House

This ecological living module is an experiential tiny home that runs entirely on renewable energy, it is space, money and energy efficient and will redefine how we view and shape housing and living decisions in the future

1 Million Women

A combination of a feminist and environmental movement, 1 million women seeks to empower women to act on climate change through the way they live.

1 Million Women is now a movement of nearly 800,000+ women and girls and growing everyday.

Campuses

Many university and college campuses are taking a lead in promoting sustainability on campus. Through student-run initiatives or university-led efforts, campuses are serving as a hub for sustainable lifestyles as a learning center but also inspiring change in individual lives.