Sustainability - Page 2 of 3

SUSTAINABLE HOTELS

SUSTAINABLE VACATIONS

Travelers have become increasingly aware of their ecological footprint, so they have begun to demand sustainable practices from the travel industry so as not to affect the balance of the places where they choose to vacation. “Enjoy a place yes, harm it no” seems to be the motto of the new type of traveler that is already being expressed in the logarithms of search engines around the world.

And if there is anyone who knows search trends, it is Google. In fact, in Google Trend the search for “green hotel” has quadrupled since 2020, and that is why the company has made the decision to provide a tool that meets this need, the Eco Certification of hotels on its Google Travel platform.

How does it work?

Google uses the following terms and definitions to align hotel sustainability practices: energy efficiency, water conservation, sustainable sourcing (organic and/or locally sourced food and beverage) and waste reduction.

By clicking on the “green certification” link, travelers will be able to see the details of the establishment’s specific sustainable practices, which will be uploaded and updated by the hotel’s own staff using the free Google My Business profile.

Google currently recognizes 28 independent certification programs to establish green credibility. These include Green Key, Leed, Green Seal, Green Globe and the Green Growth 2050 Standard.

This tool not only responds to the needs of a more conscious and committed traveler, but also offers more transparency against so-called “greenwashing”, where brands and institutions claim to care for the environment without any evidence in order to capture this growing demand.

At Old Surfer, we exist to unlock the latent sustainability in businesses and brands. That’s why these types of initiatives excite us. Remember, the next time you go on vacation, Google Travel is a reliable tool to help you find a place that cares for its environment and resources.

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CINEMA CAN BE SUSTAINABLE

Environmental awareness has been increasing year after year until it has become a social concern and all industrial sectors have undertaken – or are beginning to undertake – the search for more sustainable production models to leave the smallest possible footprint on the planet.

Perhaps there is no need to explain why sectors related to electricity, food or transportation should adopt more sustainable methods, nor do we need to think about it much when we talk about textiles, cosmetics, technology or automotive companies. But there are others where this explanation is not so obvious and a clear example of this is the film industry.

The demand for series and movies is increasing, which means that the film industry can become an excellent channel for transmitting messages about sustainable behavior and raising awareness among the population. In fact, in advertising, brands are beginning to demand certain sustainability criteria in their filming. And in some countries, there are even sustainability technicians whose job is to advise producers on how to make film “green” shoots. How? By reducing electricity consumption, recycling sets, optimizing transportation during filming and eliminating single-use plastics.

In Spain, one of the great references of this new cinematographic “green wave” is Another Way Film Festival, an initiative of the non-profit association Another Way, created to inform, educate and raise awareness about the climate crisis through culture, especially cinema. As agents of change, at Old Surfer we support and encourage the activity of this great team that works in alignment with the United Nation’s SDG 12 (Responsible Production and Consumption), 13 (Climate Action) and 17 (Partnerships to Achieve the Goals) of the UN Agenda 2030 for building a better world.

In addition to screening films related to sustainable development, the festival offers training courses for directors concerned about the environment along with talks, workshops and contests. Check them out! And enjoy the 7th edition of the sustainable progressive film festival from October 21 to 28, 2021.

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A wave that has already reached FORBES!

At Old Surfer we exist to unlock the latent sustainability in brands and businesses, a purpose that is beginning to generate rewards. As agents of change, we are proud and committed to being involved with a media company like Forbes, and even more so for achieving it with the most comprehensive global research on consumer behavior and the UN’s sustainable development goals. Yes, we created a new wave that reached Forbes, a space in direct relationship with our audience, an audience that today has the enormous responsibility of leading sustainable change.

Click to read the full Forbes’ note

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Old Surfer, Double Nomination for the Premios Latinoamérica Verde

Old Surfer, Double Nomination for the Premios Latinoamérica Verde

When Old Surfer started on our sustainable path and defined our purpose of unlock the latent sustainability in businesses and brands, we never imagined such recognition. Thank you! The rewards came organically and for us this is a reason for pride and celebration, not for one project, but for two!
The first nomination in the Communication Category is for #SmileWithYourEyes, an idea that became a whole movement when we discovered the other smile, the smile that was taken away from us at the beginning of the pandemic, when the world ran out of smiles. As wave makers and agents of change, we could not leave it at that. It began as a response to the UN’s public call to the world’s communication agencies and we responded with a proposal as simple as it was powerful. We started with the idea of providing solutions to the problem of “the other health”, the emotional and psychological one, which still continues to affect more than a third of the world’s population. Looking at this problem as a starting point, we created a Call to Action that in a very short time became a movement: #SmileWithYourEyes. A call to discover a new kind of smile and it was quickly joined by leading brands that took our communication to heart. They took action, transforming smiles into donations of safe water and thousands of packets of protective gear that were taken to where they were needed to save lives.

The second nomination is Granjazul Plus for our client Granjazul, a finalist in the Human Development Category, Subcategory: Health. Granjazul Plus is an egg enriched with more nutrients than a normal egg, such as iron, zinc, selenium and vitamins A and D, it is the most important and healthy source of protein in Central America. It is a product of nutritional excellence that is linked to a sustainable production process; from the care and nutrition of the laying hens, through the production processes and a circular economy model. Granjazul has positioned itself as the number one sustainable egg brand in Central America and has been recognized and supported by the UN Global Compact, a unique distinction in the region that fills us with energy to bring the best protein to the furthest corner of Guatemala to fight malnutrition.

What is the Premios Latinoamérica Verde?
It is the most relevant Sustainability Festival in the region which each year awards, gives visibility to and creates networks among the best 500 social and environmental projects in Latin America. It thus contributes to boosting the green economy through the exhibition of regional initiatives in eight categories aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

What does it mean to be a double finalist in the Premios Latinoamérica Verde?
CNN: “A meeting with the most important actors in the region”.
El País: “The great reward for socio-environmental projects”.
El Comercio: “Exciting. Inspiring. Transformative”.
El Mercurio: “The Oscar for the environment”.
Telemundo: “The most important awards for our future”.
Infobae: “From Latin America to the world”.

What does it mean to us to be a double finalist?

It is an honor, a tremendous recognition of the effort and commitment that we assume as agents of change. It also means an enormous motivation to continue on the path that all of us who are part of the Old Surfer team have set for ourselves.

Click here to see our finalist projects:

#SmileWithYourEyes

Granjazul Plus

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EARTH PHOTO 2021

EARTH PHOTO 2021
THE WORLD THROUGH YOUR LENSES

We live in a historical moment, not only because of the global pandemic caused by Covid-19 but also because people can not avoid paying attention to global warming and other alerts from nature. That is why, as change agents, from Old Surfer, we want to promote the initiative “Earth Photo 2021: Stories of our planet”. An international photography contest created and organized by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society. The goal is to raise awareness, through pictures, of the beauty and fragility of our planet.

Collage: Earth Photo 2021 images

In this unique context, it is crucial that all of us, from our places, contribute to the conversation about the environment and human resilience. That is the exact goal of the contest. Last year it focused on confinement and pandemic restrictions. During this time, a big part of the population understood how essential is nature for our health and the health of the entire humankind.

Collage: Earth Photo 2021 images

There is already a list of finalists for the 2021 edition. Photographers and videographers from all over the world presented excellent work. There are five categories. Pictures range from urban gardens in Spain to amazing Northern Lights in Norway or mangrove conservation in Sri Lanka. The exhibition opening will be in London and will remain open to the public during July 26th and 27th. After that date, it will transfer to different Forestry England locations in the UK. Visitors will discover pre-selected photos displayed in a beautiful forest environment. Outdoors: in Dalby Forest, Noth Yorkshire from June 28th thru September 19th; Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, Dorset, from October 4th thru December 19th. Indoors: Grizedale, Cumbria, from December 20th, 2021 thru April 24th, 2022. Winners will be announced on August 19th, 2021, during a ceremony in London.

You can now enjoy some outstanding work. Pre-selected pictures that captured wonderful moments of our planet and the behavior of its people, more important now than ever.

Balancing act – Ju Shen Lee / Earth Photo 2021

Blue pool – Markus van Hauten / Earth Photo 2021

Foggy ocean island – Yevhen Samuchenko / Earth Photo 2021

The right to education III – Rosie Hallam / Earth Photo 2021

The sea moves us, the sea moves I – Antonio Pérez / Earth Photo 2021

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#WorldOceanDay

Old Surfer’s new wave for #WorldOceanDay

This year, as every year, in Old Surfer, keeping in mind our commitment to enhancing our role as change agents, we prepared an invitation to adjust some behaviors for World Ocean Day. As every year, it is an action without any kind of business interest beyond reinforcing our commitment with a cause that involves all of us: reducing the impact of our waste in the oceans.

However, this year it will be better, we will reach more people and the voice of the ocean will be heard. Because this time, we prepared an action that, besides raising awareness, will give everyone a funny tool to contribute with their grain of sand towards the big change we are trying to make. In order to accomplish this, we have an inspiring video that will lead us to put ourselves in the place of marine life, specifically a dolphin, one of the most endearing creatures from the ocean. This video is just the beginning, in addition to what the dolphin tells us in its own language, we created a tool that will allow all internet users to put themselves -literally- in the place of those who live in the ocean.

How? We created an Instagram filter that, when framing your face with the frontal camera of a cell phone, the face of a dolphin will be activated and when you open up your mouth, you will be able to speak with dolphin noises and share one of the messages we have available for you. This World Ocean Day we invite you to join us in a funny way while we collaborate to spread a message that becomes more necessary and essential every day.

#DolphinsForOceans #WorldOceanDay #WorldOceanDay2021

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Tourism closer to sustainability

TOURISM, CLOSER TO SUSTAINABILITY

There are always more and more places around the world betting on sustainable development, of the environment and also of the local population, and these places are putting efforts every single day in getting better because so far, a 100% sustainable place does not exist.

Green Destinations organization has the goal of giving recognition to the destinations that are working hard to improve tourism to a more sustainable and responsible industry, and at the same time, they create attractive experiences for visitors to share, and with that, they try to put their story of good practices in the spotlight.

Every year, Green Destinations elaborates the list Sustainable Top 100. Last March, the 100 winners of 2020, are competing in a new ranking: the best cases of success related to sustainability, divided into six categories.

After evaluating the efforts made by each territory, such as environmental protection, innovation, energetic transition, or the impact of tourism in the local economy, the winners of the category “Success Stories or Good Practice Stories” were announced at the ITB in Berlin, celebrated from March 9th thru 13th. As a new feature, the category “People’s choice” was included, and participants took the place of the jury.

From each category, organized according to the impact of the story in the community, the culture, the environment, the tourism, and even COVID-19, three destinations were selected in first, second, and third place.

We now show you the first place winners from each category:

FIRSKAS-FINLAND
Category: Communities & Culture

PICTURE: iStock

In the Year 1649, an iron Factory named Fiskars, where knives, scissors, and other products were produced until the ’80s of the last century. For more than 300 years Fiskars employed blacksmiths and boiler workers from Finland and also foreigners, a reality that set the alarms off when the company was relocated. The company’s CEO and managing director, Ingmar Lindberg, decide to invite professional artists, to live and work in the village, giving a new life to the workshops, studios, and apartments. Such was the success that by 1994 the first art exhibitions were organized, and years later, the Cooperative of Artisans, Designers, and Artist in Fiskars (Onoma) was formed.

The expositions attracted tourists that were amazed by its rural charm, currently reaching 200.000 visitors every year. Also, every year events and festivals are organized in order to promote art and design, and also, anyone who wishes to start a business in Fiskars must go thru a process of selection and must execute an agreement based on equitable distribution of the benefits of tourism.

FUTALEUFU-CHILE
Category: ITB Earth

PICTURE: iStock

In the province of Palena, there is a village called “Big River”, Futaleufu in Mapudungun language, surrounded by natural attractions that are difficult to access. Because of the geographical isolation and reduced number of inhabitants, it was necessary to develop a comprehensive waste management program that nowadays is an example of sustainability. Back in 2012, the first steps were taken in order to achieve urban waste management and, they also starting projecting how the city would work after implementing waste segregation into three categories, following the example of Esquel, a neighboring city in Argentina.

In 2016 a plan was implemented: door-to-door differentiated collection in 1.000 homes. For the execution of the project, the consulting company https://www.geociclos.cl/ was hired, they were in charge, during one year, of providing containers, realizing information campaigns, and organizing environmental education activities. An effort that helped maintain natural areas free of pollution, especially the Futaleufu and Espolon rivers, which are the main attractions of the area.

TIVAT-MONTENEGRO
Category: Nature & Ecoturism

PICTURE: iStock

This land, situated at the southwestern end of the Kotor bay, used to be a salt flat, and it was a stable source of livelihood for the local population. Several hundreds of families used to live off the salt, until the production stopped and Solila was forgotten, Tivat then became a landfill and also a natural area in equal parts. Nature flourished and the area started to be seen as a refugee for different animal species, it became one of the most important habitats for birds and halophytic vegetation in this territory.

Management tasks transformed the coastal environment into an attractive getaway to nature near to the city of Tivat, with walking trails, hides for bird watching, and information panels about the natural and cultural values of Solila. After years of work, they have been earning conservation certificates and Green Destinations recognizes their leadership in the utilization of tourism potential for the conservation of nature.

NIUE ISLAND
Category: Islands and Seaside

PICTURE: iStock

It stands out for being one of the places with the clearest sky in the world, thanks to its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but also thanks to the efforts to fight against light pollution. They have been working, for years now, in protecting their natural and cultural values, as well as in managing carbon emissions and waste. However, the sky was the only component that was not officially recognized for its natural and cultural values even though the stars and the moon have a long story related to the navigation and the life of their inhabitants, influencing the culture, the environment, and even health matters.

Light pollution affects negatively the night sky and the wildlife and, facing this reality, they tried to ensure a sustainable future for their sky the same way they did with their land and water, by protecting birds and insects, preserving cultural astrology stories for future generations and an innovative job opportunity thru night sky tourism.

NIJMEGEN-NETHERLANDS
Category: Covid & Tourism

PICTURE: iStock

They developed a plan to improve the entertainment industry affected by the pandemic. They focused on educating tourists and residents of the most crowded spots and offer less packed options therefore safer.

The operation is really simple and result seem very hopeful: several experts are in charge of updating the state of the destinies according to the occupation in commercial areas, attractions, and urban center. This can be checked online on a map with a color code: green means quiet, orange is normal, and red is crowded, this information is offered to visitors to help them plan their trip.

BITEZ (BODRUM) – TURKEY
Category: People’s Choice

PICTURE: iStock

It has unique beaches and a great location, however, the number of tourists that visit every year made them reconsider the business model for entertainment. They created an environmental awareness plan with the goal of improving the condition of their waters.

The Bodrum City Council carried out studies and detected that the level of pollution of the seas, especially where tourist ships dock, has dramatically increased during the last few years. Additionally, the loss of biodiversity and the increase of marine debris is clear.

That’s why for the first time, they initiated a clean-up campaign of the seabed under the slogan “Blue is the best color for the sea”.

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Rocket falls into ocean

Garbage doesn’t go into the oceans

During the first days of May 2021 the whole world was captivated by the news of an out of control rocket re-entering Earth’s orbit. This fact was the main topic of conversation in hundreds of countries around the world. Projections of where and how a rocket of more than 20 tons would make contact with Earth had the world’s population in suspense for days.

When it finally made contact with Earth by falling into the Indian Ocean, we observed something with which we don’t agree. The media in many countries interpreted the fact of falling into the sea as a positive event which did not harm anyone.

At Old Surfer we are very aware of the consequences that human waste has on the marine world. Pollution and waste generated by the trash we throw into the sea affects the lives of thousands of species, including our own.

That is why a few days after this happened we decided to make this video, sharing our point of view regarding the gravity involved in seeing our oceans as places where we can throw away anything without consequences. Because #OceanDayIsEveryday and we must understand that garbage doesn’t go into the oceans.

Music: Provided to YouTube by TuneCore Wonder · Generdyn

#OceanDayIsEveryday
#WasteInPlace
#OceanIsNotGarbage
#NoMoreRocketsInTheSea
#NoToSpaceJunk
#OldSurfer
#SustainabilityUnlocked
#SDG14

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Tri Marine + OldSurfer We are on the same ship.

We are very proud to officially announce the beginning of our relationship with Tri Marine, the world leader in sustainable tuna. After competing with four US agencies, we won the opportunity to work with Tri Marine. Yes! A sustainable company both in the ocean, and in the most distant communities of the world. A true lighthouse for people like us who work day by day as agents of change.

Today we are creating a big new wave with Tri Marine, a pioneering company, which has been in the fish business since 1972, innovating and bringing together a wealth of knowledge, relationships and experience. A dedicated team of industry experts with offices around the world.

Old Surfer -the full team- is more than happy and excited to be working with a brand that believes and works in the same way as we do: “Sustainability means more than just protecting fishery resources. It is also about our communities.”

It’s not about words, it’s about actions with the highest positive impact: “Tri Marine is implementing industry-leading sustainability policies that emphasize collaboration with a range of stakeholders in the private, public and non-profit sectors.”

We are Old Surfer and yes!, they’re the perfect partner for us in order to maximize our efforts in sustainability. “Tri Marine sources and promotes responsibly caught products – those from abundant fish stocks, caught in ways that minimize ecosystem harm.”

Tri Marine’s activities include fishing, trading, processing and marketing with global offices and operations.

Welcome Tri Marine, thank you for trusting us.
Now we are on the same ship.

Old Surfer.
Sustainability Unlocked.

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The first egg with the UN seal

The first egg with the UN seal deserves recognition.

Suddenly a wave takes us to Guatemala and from there we begin to create a new wave with one of our clients, one that fills our stomachs and hearts.

A bit of context: Guatemala faces two serious problems that determines its present and blocks its future. On one hand, it is one of the countries most affected by climate change at a global level and on the other, there is advanced child malnutrition. Starting with this reality and as if it was in a superhero movie, Granjazul appears – a poultry company that more than 50 years ago imagined a 100% Guatemalan farm that is capable of producing the freshest and highest quality eggs.

Granjazul Plus

Today, exceeding that dream, Granjazul is determined to work for more: to achieve zero hunger in Guatemala and we have what we need to achieve it. Granjazul is already on the sustainable path of solutions using a process where everything is recycled and regenerated to create an egg enriched with Iron, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamins A and D, in order to deliver the most complete and healthy solution naturally. It is something that can only be achieved by beginning with the nutritious care and feeding of chickens, before they begin to produce eggs.

With such a powerful egg and a brand that dared to dream, the Old Surfer team developed with Granjazul a strong strategy of a sustainable circular economy, thus sealing our commitment in three key pillars to help solve the problems of Guatemala which are malnutrition and climate change. The three pillars of the SDG objectives according to the UN are: first and most important is Zero Hunger involving human and animal nutrition. The second is Health and Wellbeing and the third is Responsible Consumption and Production.

Thanks to actions throughout the production chain and under the highest international quality standards, we can proudly say that we are the most important and healthy source of protein in Central America and we are supported by the UN global pact.

Of course, being the first egg with the seal of the UN global pact is already a prize but it deserves to be news. An achievement like this leads us to believe that Granjazul deserves recognition as an agent of change in the next Latin America Green Awards. We will present this case of sustainability as an example of revolutionary work in the industry. The case will be presented to a jury of specialists in the Communication category, which focuses on SDG 2 Zero Hunger and SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production.

Welcome to the Eggvolution.
Old Surfer
Sustainability unlocked
#granjazul #huevosgranjazul #laHuev

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