Good4Good

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Closing ceremony

Premium has come to an end! Yesterday we enjoyed the Closing ceremony where we received our certificates and won the Tumblr aware for the Best Message! It has been an incredible experience and we’ll definitely miss all the activities that have brought us together. Though it doesn’t mean that the GoodGood Team has come to an end! We’ll keep on spreading the message about plastic pollution in the ocean! 

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A note from our lovely mentor

Hi everyone, I’m Catalina Goanta, the proud mentor of the most enthusiastic and dedicated team I ever had the privilege of working with in PREMIUM. I’m an Assistant Professor at Maastricht University currently doing research in law and technology and - as of the moment I started working with Team GoodGood - a super big seal fan :) Such a big fan actually that my lovely girls photoshopped my face in the proximity of seals just to make me happy :) Tadaaa

But what makes me truly happy is to see competence, passion and hard work coming together in a project with which we hope to create more impact via our Corporate Social Responsibility Lab! Hania, Pauline, Laura and Jessica are currently writing a report that they will use to reach out to local and national policy-makers and raise awareness about the water perils identified in their intense academic piece. As an educator, my heart warms up when I see the palpable fruits of the team’s labor. THIS is what education should be about.

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Seal sanctuary

On Saturday, some of the Good Good Team went to Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen, the seal rehabilitation centre near Groningen. There, they were able to find out more information about how exactly plastic impacts sea animals as well as the chance to see cute seals on a beautiful sunny day!

Using the money raised from the Trash Walk a few week ago, the Good Good Team decided to adopt two seals and support the work done by the seal centre to rescue seals that are impacted by plastic pollution in the ocean.

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On Wednesday the Good Good Team met up for a nice dinner to catch up and celebrate our achievements as the project comes to an end. Following on from our previous suggestions to live a reduced plastic life, we decided that the most perfect team gift would be Dopper reusable bottles - especially ones that give money towards cleaning up the oceans! Find yours here! :) 

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About our client

Kaiser was born and raised in Germany. He holds a law degree from Germany and studied law at the University of Bonn, the Université de Lausanne and the University of Maastricht, where he did a Master of Law, at the European Law School, followed by a PhD. His doctoral thesis with the title „Pakistani Marriages and the Private International Laws of Germany and England“ was published in December 2014. After finishing his studies in Germany, Kaiser worked as a lawyer for a law boutique in Cologne with focus on corporate and tax law.

Kaiser gained his first entrepreneurial experience, when he supported his brother, Asem Chaudhary with establishing “tigha”, a meanwhile well performing German fashion brand.

In 2013, Kaiser founded his first company dedicated to sustainability, GreenIndusTree, a high quality solar energy and solar financing provider focusing the young Pakistani solar market. He was inspired by the current developments towards a sustainable energy society, contributing to it with offering highly technological, innovativ and sustainable solar energy storage solutions, which enable each individual to produce power decentralized.

Kaiser also initiated and co-fouded DayStar Power an alternative energy company focusing on the African continent, by providing financing and solar energy solutions to banks.

Currently Kaiser is focusing on the operations of Power One for One, a pioneer among the clean energy impact asset and fund managers, with a one for one approach at the heart of its business model, with the goal to electrify hundreds of thousands of the poorest word-wide.

He is still engaged in education and currently lecturing for the master program of the Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT) of the University Cologne, with the topic „Entrepreneurship and Clean Tech in Emerging Markets“, as well as coaching students at the Maastricht University on sustainable entrepreneurship and ocean protection, as part of PREMIUM, an interfaculty honours programme for excellent master students.

In order to concentrate all activities for clean energy, clean water and ocean protection, as well as Kaiser`s involvement into education, he founded GoodGood Ventures in 2017, where all his activities for a better world through entrepreneurship are merged.

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Check out the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s website and take the No Straws Pledge to save the sea turtles! 

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Holy Cow! A global perspective: Waste Management in India

A few weeks ago, our team member Laura followed a class within the Global Health Program at Manipal University, India. During the two weeks program, she and her team focused on "environmental health" which incorporated the topic of "Waste Management and its Impact on Health in India". In order to create a system map to see the interrelation between the different stakeholders involved, the team did some field trips e.g. to a waste dump, a water treatment facility and a slum, but they also conducted interviews with local experts on the topic. Even though the class did not concentrate on marine waste, the insights that she got during that time have also been extremely valuable for our project as we could see the problems of waste management and how it is dealt with on a more global perspective.

What is the link between India and marine waste? Every year, between five and 13 million tonnes of plastics end up in the oceans and 80% of it is mainly caused by just 20 countries. According to a study by seven US-based research institutes in 2015, the country of India with 7,500 km coastline has emerged as one of the top 20 coastal populations that sends plastic waste into the ocean (Rebello, 2015). And if this development continues, within a decade India will be among the top five contributors of marine pollution. Here, a huge amount of marine waste does not originate from waste that directly goes to the sea, but is actually mismanaged waste - i.e. waste that was intended to be thrown away but was somehow lost in the process, perhaps by wind blowing it out of open dumps. The researchers considered that landfills and dumps in low-income countries are inadequately managed and that some percentage of the total mismanaged plastic waste enters the ocean and becomes marine waste (Nordrum, 2015). Concerning plastic waste management, the issue with developing countries as India is that - with the development of the country - the use of more plastic also increases. Hence, as the population grows and becomes more affluent, waste becomes a bigger problem - not only on the national level, but in form of marine waste also on a global level.

How can that be changed? 

The field trips and expert interviews in India provided insights, ideas and answers to this question. Even though the numbers seem to be bad for India when it comes to waste management, the country itself realises the problem and future consequences. Thus, it tries to steer its development into the right direction by new regulations for waste management (e.g. SWM Rules 2016) and environmental initiatives like "Clean India, Green India" to promote waste management to the population (Sambyal, 2016). Nevertheless, within the talk with some locals, it became clear that even though the problem is known by the government and population, it is not prioritised as there are other problems that need to be solved in the country, like poverty and healthcare. Furthermore, it appeared that the link between poverty, health and waste management is not fully perceived. According to one of the experts we talked to, the most important and effective method to tackle the waste problem in India is to raise awareness and to change mindsets, especially in the middle to high-income population. As the visit to the slums highlighted again, low-income to poor people are the more conscious population concerning waste management and recycling as they realise the value in everything, even in plastic waste that others just throw away after a single use. This is a lesson we could all learn when it comes to managing plastic waste. 

References:

Nordrum, A. (2015, February 12). China, India, US Among World’s Worst Marine Polluters: Country-By-Country Breakdown Of Plastics In Oceans. Retrieved May 24, 2017, from IB Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/china-india-us-among-worlds-worst-marine-polluters-country-country-breakdown-plastics-1813476

Rebello, S. (2015, February 15). India one of top countries that sends plastic waste into sea: Study. Retrieved May 24, 2017, from Hindustan Times: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-one-of-top-countries-that-sends-plastic-waste-into-sea-study/story-ae81uk084bVBb35T19R89N.html

Sambyal, S. S. (2016, April 05). Government notifies new solid waste management rules. Retrieved May 24, 2017, from Down to Earth: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/solid-waste-management-rules-2016-53443

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Reflections from our coach

With the project coming to an end, we were interested to see how the rest of the Good Good Premium team have found this time. Our lovely coach Lijsbeth wrote a few words about her experience with us :)

I am Lijsbeth Bruens. I am a language teacher transformed into a coach of (future) physicians and caretakers. Working with the team GoodGood has been my second experience working as a competence coach. So far, it has been Good…( yes … really)... Good. 

Laura, Jessica, Pauline and Hania are motivated women, who have chosen to work on many (!) tasks simultaneously. All are eager to learn more about themselves and willing to experiment with new behaviour. Although we have not met so many times as a group, I can observe that each team member is determined to make this team work a joyful experience for everyone. And as far I can see, it works!

And the enthusiasm about raising awareness is contagious ;-)

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Tips to cut down on plastic use

Throughout our time researching the topic of marine plastic pollution over the course of the Premium project, the Good4Good Team has come across a number of changes that are easy to make, but will have a big difference on the amount of plastic that will enter our waterways. 

1. Bring your own mug/flask/portable cup for tea and coffee at university

The paper cups at University are still not plastic free, which makes them very difficult to recycle! Until the university comes up with a solution, how about bringing something from home? The Dutch are the biggest consumers of coffee in the world! And many of that will be coffee on the go - just think about all the disposable cups that end up in the bin and the plastic that can end up in our water!

                                                                           (Source: Euromonitor, 2014)

Personally, we’ve come across these portable coffee cups that we really like! Keep Cup let’s you customise your own cup, so you can use saving some plastic as an opportunity to make a statement too! 

                                                                                      (Source: Keepcup, 2017)

2. Use a reusable water bottle

On the same note, bring your own water bottle!! Water in the Netherlands can be taken straight from the tap, so there’s no need to buy bottled water! You can save yourself a bit of cash too. 

Dopper are a reusable bottle brand that are on a mission to create a circular economy, just like Good Good. To make it even better, they’re Dutch so you know that you’re supporting a local company! 

3. Bring your own utensils! 

This one is a bit of a no-brainer. We all have plenty of cutlery at home, so why not bring some of your own and keep them in your bag so you don’t have to use plastic cutlery when you grab your lunch on the go! 

4. Keep a shopping tote on you for your groceries

If your prone to spontaneous shopping trips on the way back from university, then keep a shopping tote bag in your uni bag to stop yourself from having to buy the plastic bags when you get to the till! This will save you a few cents too. 

5. Say no to straws!

Join the Straw Wars! Straws are unlikely to be recycled and evidence of this is showing up on beaches across the world and even in the noses of turtles. 

                                                                           (Source: The Telegraph, 2015)

6. Reuse take out packaging

Our busy lives mean that it’s hard to prevent eating on the go and ordering take out. Lots of these meals come in plastic or styrofoam packaging. It’s difficult to always be prepared when hunger strikes, so rather than throw the packaging straight into the bin, it’s best to re-use it as much as possible. You can re-use the packaging from your Thai curry for your lunch the next day. If you’re really committed, you can bring your own Tupperware to your favourite take out place and save on the plastic packaging altogether. 

7. Use reusable containers

If you bring your own lunch or snacks to university, then you can use reusable containers to prevent needless waste! Rather than putting your sandwiches in sealable plastic bags or cling film, you can just pack them in Tupperware. Or even better, steel containers which are much more durable and will last you a life time. 

We hope that people reading this are inspired to make a small change that will help to stop plastic from polluting our oceans! If you have any more suggestions, then comment to let us know :) 

References:

Dopper. (2017). Dopper Mission. Retrieved May 22, 2017, from Dopper: https://dopper.com/mission/

Eco Lunchbox. (2017). Ecolunchbox. Retrieved May 22, 2017, from https://ecolunchboxes.com/collections/lunch-boxes/products/ecolunchbox-solo-rectangle

Euromonitor. (2017). Coffee. Retrieved May 22, 2017, from http://www.euromonitor.com/coffee

Ferdman, R. A. (2014, January 15). Here Are the Countries That Drink the Most Coffee—the U.S. Isn't in the Top 10. Retrieved May 22, 2017, from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/here-are-the-countries-that-drink-the-most-coffee-the-us-isnt-in-the-top-10/283100/

Lockhart, K. (2015, August 14). Plastic straw removed from turtle's nose by marine biologists in heartbreaking video . Retrieved May 22, 2017, from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/22/plastic-straw-removed-from-turtles-nose-by-marine-biologists-in/

Parker, L. (2017, April 12). Straw Wars: The Fight to Rid the Oceans of Discarded Plastic. Retrieved May 22, 2017, from National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/plastic-straws-ocean-trash-environment/

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A reflection on our objectives, processes & outcomes

Now that we’re coming to the end of our Premium project, it’s interesting reflect on the objectives, processes and outcomes that we have managed to accomplish in this time. With just a couple of weeks left before the closing event, it’s our last chance to try to our achieve our goals and objectives the best we can! 

Project Objectives

In this project, our main goals include raising awareness on the excessive use of plastic, as it is heavily polluting our oceans and water systems. We want others to become aware of the consequences of plastic since many negative effects of plastic are still unknown, thus education plays an important part!

As part of the PREMIUM project we are also writing our report. The topics covered here includes the current international and European policies to investigate what is currently being done to prevent plastic from entering the ocean, we also look at the health consequences of plastic entering the ocean for both animal and humans as well as the economic consequences.

Alongside this, we are trying to create a long term impact by setting up the ‘Good Good foundation’, which includes the collaboration of the two organisations that are part of this project: the Good Good start up and the CSR Lab from the law faculty. Together we have a sports and lifestyle brand which fulfils the social pledges to prevent ocean plastic pollution.

Processes

Our team has regular meetings where our activities include many things! For the Good Good startup company, we have been brainstorming ideas to create a circular, sustainable, and responsible business model.

For our report, we have been conducting research in order to create future recommendations and action plans. For this, we are interviewing experts and collaborating with other NGOs. Our regular meetings may also include team dinners to support the team building process.

To take action, we have already organized a Maas cleanup day during the sustainability week to get people involved and currently we are planning our second event!

Outcomes

So far, we have already achieved our goal of raising awareness among the community by hosting a trash walk, being part of the tree planting event at the law faculty as part of the efforts of the university to achieve sustainability, and created a strong bond between our team members.

At the end of this project, we hope to finalise the business model for Good Good and finish our final report. We would like to bring our report forward to policy makers and influencers in order to create a long term impact and stop the unnecessary plastic pollution that is ruining our oceans!

By Jessica

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Until Maastricht University sorts out recyclable disposable cups, how about bringing a flask or a mug from home for you coffee? :) 

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Remote Pacific island found buried under tonnes of plastic waste

A tiny, otherwise pristine island is smothered by our blast from the past: vast amounts of decades-old plastic from around the world

Even paradise is now covered in plastic :( Due to the currents in our oceans, plastic we throw away in one part of the world can end up on the pristine beaches of an isolated island on the other side of the world! Now is the time for us all to reduce our plastic use! 

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A little story about our team process

Today, we would like to tell you a story—a story about the development and dynamics of our Good4Good team. We started our project 2.5 months ago but it seems to us like if we have worked together for a much longer period of time.  As all of us have faced difficulties in previous group work at university, we set ourselves clear goals and objectives of what we expected from each other at the beginning. Having said that, we developed a unique team dynamic with a foundation of trust and respect.

                                                                                         (Source: Wiley, 2017)

Along similar lines, Wiley (2017) describes these factors as the foundation and heart of efficient group work. With the help of a pyramid, divided in five levels, he describes it as being transparent and honest to each other. We were aware that this trust can only be established through time and experience—and patience has paid off! Throughout the past months, we felt a steady enhancement of trust towards another which made it much simpler to be open about our thoughts and fears. With this as a solid basis, we were able to engage in healthy conflicts, which is labelled by Wiley (2017) as the second stage of the pyramid. In our context, we could rather characterise it as providing constructive feedback to one another. Up to now, we did not face any arguments as we make sure that we are on the same page and all agree upon our final product. However, we are aware that such conflicts could occur in the future but we believe that we are able to argue constructively, while valuing the other person’s opinion. 

On these grounds, Wiley argues that commitment towards the project is crucial for its success.  All of us specifically decided to be engaged in this honours project as we wanted to work in an interdisciplinary team with students from different academic backgrounds. Raising awareness on the excessive amount of plastic that pollutes the world’s ocean is an issue that affects everyone and so we never lost interest or had troubles staying committed. These three levels build the basis for accountability, meaning that team members have to take responsibility for their actions. In the GoodGood team, everyone has set deadlines and related goals to live up to everyone’s expectations.  Having set these objectives, we hope to achieve a good quality result. At the moment, we are finalising our report and are looking forward to our visit at the seal centre. The team dynamics meeting, which we had last week, highlighted to us how much we value each other, also outside of our project. Notably, over this time we became more than just team members—we became friends. 

By Pauline

References:

Wiley, J.(2017). What makes a team cohesive?. Retrieved 8 May 2017 from: http://www.fivebehaviors.com/About.aspx

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Best Tumblr page overall

Which team had the best Tumblr page overall? Take a look at the individual PREMIUM team pages for the link to their Tumblr page: http://edlab.nl/excellence/premium/about-premium/premium-projects-2016-2017/

Which team had the best Tumblr page overall? Take a look at the individual PREMIUM team pages for the link to their Tumblr page: http://edlab.nl/excellence/premium/about-premium/premium-projects-2016-2017/

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If you’ve enjoyed reading our tumblr, don’t forget to vote for us here! :) 

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Even your sea salt is almost certainly contaminated with plastic

What goes around, comes around, eventually.

So it’s not just seafood that’s potentially contaminated with microplastics! It’s in our salt too... Well seafood is pretty easy to avoid, but salt not so much! I think it’s time we do something about this, don’t you? 

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More plans!

The Good4Good team had its weekly meeting today - this time virtually to fit around our busy schedules!

We finally solidified some exciting plans for the final weeks of the Premium project! The upcoming weeks will include:

- Interviews with some experts in the environmental field from Germany

- A team dinner to celebrate our achievements so far

- A trip to the seal rehabilitation in Groningen to interview a marine biologist

- The finalisation and release of our report

- The Premium closing event

- Another trash walk event (hopefully on a beach this time!!)

We will of course keep you updated on our progress and any other interesting discoveries we find along the way!

The Good4Good Team

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A little reflection on the relationship with our client

                                                                                      (Source: Incygneia, 2016)

“The truth is that entrepreneurship is more like a roller coaster ride than a cruise.” - Vivek Wadhwa

It’s already May! After 4 months of working for the GoodGood Gmbh, we are moving towards the final phase. Looking back, we can say that we had an extremely exciting time so far, full of valuable experiences and insights that we could not have imagined before. Especially in the beginning, the project work with our client Dr. Kaiser Chaudhary resembled more a roller coaster ride - like it is typical for working with a start-up! 

Having been constantly inspired by new ideas and new research directions, we now know how dynamic the process of creating something new really is and that you have to see every idea from different angles in order to identify new opportunities. Even though it sometimes caused us quite a headache, we appreciated being challenged a lot and could especially improve our flexibility, creativity, stamina and team work skills. So that - throughout the whole roller coaster ride with its ups and downs - we still managed to keep up our team spirit! But even if the work with our client  Kaiser started very much like a roller coaster ride - uncertain where we gonna end up - as the project progressed, the creation of something new and the group work to achieve this, actually stabilised the project. 

We are especially grateful for the help and the constant availability that our client offered us throughout the project. It was not only once that we got to set up skype calls from different parts of the world!  As well as his participation in the trashwalk! Today, we can say, we now grew together as a team including our client Kaiser, mentor Catalina and coach Lijsbeth. Being proud of what we have achieved in the last months, we are now looking forward to the final part of the project in the following weeks - but also the time after the PREMIUM project!

Written by Laurone