The Blue Economy NEWS 32

Ethical MarketsCommunity Development Solutions

The Blue Economy – Report to the Club of Rome 100 innovations – presented weekly over 2 years

Last week, the Blue Economy was introduced at two conferences: Gunter Pauli presented at the JCI World Congress in Osaka, and Markus Haastert spoke at the Entrepreneurship Summit in Berlin. Both presentations resonated well with participants – numerous inquiries for concrete next steps and how to get involved consequently flooded our Email accounts. An increasing number of companies are joining our network to add Blue Economy innovations into their portfolio while entrepreneurs are taking innovations forward adapted to their local settings. Just as in our case this week: Chido’s ideas on farming mushrooms on coffee waste are spreading all over Europe at the moment. Similarly, carrots and potatoes too small for EU standards are processed into premium convenience food, produced by disabled or handicapped people. More please!
Corporate Social Responsibility is understood as a series of contributions by a company for a better society: fair prices, fair salaries as well as sustainability of the products and production methods. The consumer is guided by certificates which guarantee fair trade and organic agriculture. There is a flood of certificates for coffee which stand for origin, purchase prices, controlled organic agriculture and even bird-friendly coffee. Still these labels have one thing in common: the consumer pays a higher price for them. Certified organic fair trade coffee is more expensive than the rest. Does it have to be?

The company Equator Coffees & Teas in California (USA) buys coffee from Zimbabwean farms which reuse the waste of the coffee plantations… to grow mushrooms! Chido Govero, an orphan herself, is training women to cultivate mushrooms rich in proteins which grow particularly well on the caffeine-rich substrate. These women obtain food security for themselves and their communities, thus gaining protection against sexual abuse and AIDS. The purchase of a pack of coffee finances the training for the women and creates new jobs – CSR without additional costs using what there is locally available.

Interested?
Detailed information on the business model and its potential is available at www.community.blueeconomy.de – or as pdf, if you do not wish to register there.

We wish you many inspirations and look forward to jointly changing the way we do business!
Gunter Pauli and the Team of The Blue Economy