🌱🏙️ Urban farming: growing green in the city

Cities cover only 3% of the Earth, but they use over 70% of its resources. [🔗 link]
Urban farming helps change that. People are growing food on rooftops, balconies, and in community gardens, and it brings nature back into cities and reduces pollution respectively.

📊 Why it does matter:
• Food travels an average of 1,500 miles before it reaches our plates. Growing food in cities cuts this transport and pollution 🚛
• Rooftop gardens can make buildings 2-4°C cooler, lowering electricity use for air conditioning 🌡️
• Community gardens improve mental health and support pollinators like bees and butterflies 🐝

✨ Real examples:
1️⃣ Infarm in Berlin, Germany grows fresh lettuce, herbs, and microgreens inside grocery stores using 95% less water than normal farming 💧[🔗 link]
2️⃣ Aerofarms in Newark, USA grows leafy greens indoors without soil using aeroponics, saving 95% of water 🌿 [🔗 link]
3️⃣ Paris rooftops grow vegetables and flowers and even host honeybee hives for local honey 🐝 [🔗 link]

💡 What we can do:
✔ Start a small garden at home, school, or balcony
✔ Buy local greens from nearby urban farms
✔ Encourage cities to build more rooftop gardens
✔ Compost food scraps to feed your plants

Even in busy cities, we can grow fresh food and support nature. Let us make our cities greener and healthier for everyone.

Your Ecostain 💚

➕ Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT) – 2025

Founded in 1998, the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT) brings together nearly 1,000 talented students each year, including top performers from national and international olympiads. Distinguished not only by its rigor but also by its community, HMMT is entirely organized by students from Harvard, MIT, and neighboring schools – many of whom are alumni of the competition themselves. ✨

📌 Key Details:
• Eligibility: students under 21, from all countries
• Participation fee: $10 per person | $80 per team
• One of the largest and most respected math tournaments globally
• An opportunity to test your skills against some of the brightest young mathematicians

📆 Application Deadline: September 21, 2025

🔗 More information & registration: hmmt.org

#Opportunity

With love, Ecostain 🩶

🦋🌱 Biodiversity in cities: tiny habitats, big impact

Cities look like urban jungles, but they can also support birds, bees, and butterflies. By growing tiny green spaces, we promote city wildlife survival, and it promotes us in the bargain.

📊 Why it matters:
• Bees and butterflies pollinate 1 in 3 bites of food we eat 🐝
• Urban flower plots increase neighborhood pollinator populations by up to 50% 🌼
• Green spaces boost mental health and reduce stress levels, especially in urban areas with high population density 🧠

✨ Examples from around the world:
1️⃣ London, UK — "Bee bus stops" with wildflowers planted on the rooftops of shelters to attract pollinators 🌸 [🔗 link]
2️⃣ Toronto, Canada — Pollinator corridors that connect green spaces so bees and butterflies can fly safely 🦋 [🔗 link]
3️⃣ Singapore — Parks linked by "eco-corridors" where animals can cross roads and buildings safely 🌳 [🔗 link]

💡 What we can do:
✔ Plant flowers or herbs that attract pollinators on windowsills or balconies
✔ Help local biodiversity projects in your city
✔ Supply a "wild corner" of insects in school grounds or gardens
✔ Build bee hotels out of wood or bamboo

Even a small strip of flowers can be a sanctuary for life. Let us assist in making our cities not only greener, but teeming with buzzing, fluttering life. 🌍💚

Your Ecostain 🌱

In less than 3 days!

Do not forget to invite your friends as well 🙌🏻

🌍 The International Economics Olympiad: ECOSTAIN is LIVE! 🚀

It is finally time to test how well you think like a change-maker.

Dive into business, entrepreneurship, sustainability, economics, and marketing, then solve a real-world case challenge.

🕒 Happening Now
📍 Platform: Google Forms
👉 Join the Olympiad here

⚠️ We had a short delay due to technical issues.
Thank you for waiting 💙

⸻

📌 Structure:
• 5 sections × 10 questions each
• Final Business Case Essay
• Total Time: 150 minutes (with 20 mins flexibility)

⸻

🧠 Rules:
❌ No external help, internet, or AI tools
✅ One attempt only
🔎 Honesty = your real superpower

🏅 Top 10 scorers will receive official digital certificates ✨

⸻

Good luck — the future needs thinkers like you. 🌱

With love,
Ecostain 🤍

➕ Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) – 2025

Founded in 2001, Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) is one of the world’s most prestigious pre-college programs, bringing together motivated high school students from over 150 countries 🌍. With seminars led by Yale faculty, hands-on projects, and a diverse community, YYGS empowers participants to think critically, collaborate globally, and take action on today’s most pressing challenges. ✨

📌 Key Details:
• Eligibility: High school students, ages 16–18, from all countries
• Program Focus: Interdisciplinary learning across STEM, social sciences, humanities, and global issues
• Format: Two-week residential program at Yale University, New Haven, CT
• Alumni Network: 10,000+ young leaders worldwide

📆 Application Deadlines:
• Early Action: October 15, 2025
• Regular Decision: January 7, 2026

🔗 More information & application: https://globalscholars.yale.edu/welcome

#Opportunity

With love,
Ecostain 🩶

🚨The hidden trap killing true sustainability: eco-perfectionism (and why data proves it)

It is happened to every change-maker.

You want to do everything perfectly green: zero waste, zero carbon, zero plastic.
However, perfection has a way of killing what progress would have accomplished.

This is the quiet crisis no one talks about: expecting to be 100% sustainable is stopping real climate action.

📊 The numbers are clear: perfectionism gets in the way

🔍 Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that 69% of shoppers are made to feel "discouraged" when sustainability seems impossible, meaning less eco-friendly behavior in general.
🔗 Yale: The Psychology of Climate Action

🔍 Behavioral Science & Policy Journal found that when people believe only "perfect" sustainability counts, participation drops by 45%. "Good enough" actions actually result in greater long-term change.
🔗 BSPJ: Sustainability and Participation Study

🔍 McKinsey found that climate startups that try to achieve full sustainability from the start have 60% higher operating costs and fail twice as often due to "impact paralysis."
🔗 McKinsey: The Reality of Early-Stage Sustainability

⚠️ Real-world examples: where perfection hurt impact

📉 Impossible Foods delayed expansion for years in search of "perfect taste + perfect sustainability." Competitors grew faster, and the company lost market share.
🔗 Bloomberg: Impossible's Imperfect Reality

📉 Carbon capture pioneer Climeworks admitted that "obsessing over full carbon neutrality" slowed deployment. Subsequently, they shifted to progress over perfection, scaling real CO₂ removal.
🔗 Wired: The Evolution of Climeworks

📉 Zero-waste startups that insisted on only reusable packaging collapsed under price pressure while hybrid models (recycled + reusable) scaled sustainably.
🔗 Fast Company: The Reality of Reusables

💡Who said "enough is better" and won

🏆 Patagonia is not afraid to show its imperfections and publishes repair guides instead of shame. The result? 700% boost in resale activity.
🔗 NYT: Patagonia Repair Program

🏆 Too Good To Go focused on rescuing food, not eliminating all waste, saving over 500 million meals and building a global movement.
🔗 Forbes: Too Good To Go Impact

🏆 IKEA set a 2030 circularity goal without feigning perfection; its transparency sustains public trust and drives steady innovation.
🔗 IKEA Sustainability Report

🧭 The evidence-based truth (no myths, just evidence)

🚫 Perfectionism = paralysis. (McKinsey)
🚫 Unrealistic ideals = less participation. (Yale, BSPJ)
🚫 All-or-nothing thinking = failed implementation. (Impossible Foods, Climeworks)

✅ Progress = measurable change.
✅ Transparency = lasting trust.
✅ "Good enough" action = real sustainability.

No guilt. No paralysis. Just progress.

With balance,
Ecostain 💚

📝 Harvard International Review – HIR Academic Writing Contest 2025

Founded in 1979, the Harvard International Review (HIR) is a prestigious quarterly on international affairs. Since 2020 HIR has run the Academic Writing Contest to spotlight outstanding high-school analysis on global issues. It is a great chance to publish, win medals, and defend your work before Harvard judges. ✨

📌 Key Details:

• Eligibility: High-school students (grades 9–12), US and international entrants welcome.

• Topics: International affairs (e.g., environment, economics, tech, public health, security, trade, urban futures, and more). Choose one of the announced themes.

• Length: 800-1,200 words (diagrams/tables and author declaration excluded).

• Format: Submit an analytically driven article; finalists are invited to a virtual HIR Defense Day to present and defend their piece (15-minute presentation + Q&A).

• Rules: AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) are strictly prohibited; submissions will be screened with multiple AI detectors. Follow AP style and provide source citations.


📆 Submission cycles & deadlines:

• Fall/Winter 2025-26 – Article deadline: January 2, 2026; HIR Defense Day: February 5, 2026.



🏅 Prizes & recognition: Certificates for all submitters; finalists compete for Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals (global top tiers) and public listing on the HIR site (plus opportunities for publication and wider exposure).


🔗 More information & registration: https://hir.harvard.edu/contest/


#Opportunity


With love,
Ecostain 🤍

🚨 The quiet gatekeeping of green: "sustainability for the premium few" – and why that stops real impact 🌍

It is a trap hiding in plain sight.
We celebrate every new "eco" launch… until we notice that most people cannot afford it.

From $200 recycled sneakers to $15 bamboo toothbrushes, sustainability often comes wrapped in exclusivity, and that is killing the movement before it scales.

Let us unpack the myths that got us here 👇

1️⃣ Myth: People will always pay a big green premium.
🔍 Reality: Consumers care about sustainability, but price still decides. Most are willing to pay up to 10% more, not 50%. When green costs too much, it stays niche.
🔗 PwC Voice of the Consumer 2024

💭 Lesson: Sustainability has to compete on price, not just purpose.

2️⃣ Myth: Sustainability is just a marketing feature.
🔍 Reality: Changing materials, logistics, and packaging can raise costs 20-30%. The "green premium" is baked into the supply chain.
🔗 McKinsey: Capturing the Green Premium

💭 Lesson: To make green affordable, we need new materials, smarter manufacturing, and policies that support lower-carbon production.

3️⃣ Myth: Eco-products fail because people do not care enough.
🔍 Reality: Most people do care – they just do not see easy options. Accessibility and convenience matter more than slogans.
🔗 Wiley: The Psychology of Sustainable Choices

💭 Lesson: If sustainability requires effort, it will lose to convenience every time. Design the default, not the exception.

4️⃣ Myth: Big brands cannot scale affordable sustainability.
🔍 Reality: They already are. IKEA is building a circular business model while keeping prices stable, showing that mass sustainability does not have to be luxury.
🔗 IKEA Circular Agenda

💭 Lesson: Real change happens when sustainability becomes invisible, just built in.


🌟 Proof it works:
📦 Too Good To Go focused on rescuing surplus food, not selling moral perfection and saved over 500 million meals globally.
🔗 Too Good To Go Impact Report 2022

👟 Allbirds teamed up with Adidas to launch the world’s lowest-carbon shoe, proving collaboration beats competition.
🔗 Adidas x Allbirds Collaboration


✅ Three rules for founders + funders:
💡 Price for the many, not the few.
🚀 Build convenience before perfection.
🤝 Partner with mainstream players to make green normal.


With practicality and heart,
Ecostain 💚

📝 Hello Tomorrow Challenge – Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge (11th edition, 2025–26)

Founded in 2011, Hello Tomorrow is a global deep-tech organization that connects science-based startups with investors, partners, and industry leaders. Its Global Challenge is the longest-running deep-tech startup competition and spotlights early-stage ventures building breakthrough technologies to solve industrial, societal, and environmental problems. It's a fantastic route to equity-free funding, investor introductions, and high-visibility pitching at Hello Tomorrow’s Summit.

📌 Key Details:

• Eligibility: Early-stage startups (up to Series A) based on a new technology, scientific discovery or complex engineering process; team of ≥2 people; not a subsidiary/spin-off of an existing company.

• Topics / Tracks: Wide deep-tech coverage – Advanced Computing & Cybersecurity; Aerospace; Automotive/Maritime/Rail; Climate Tech & Environment; Digital Health & Medical Devices; Energy; Food & Agriculture; Industrial AI & Robotics; Industrial Biotech & New Materials; Medical Biotech; Resource Efficiency & Circular Systems; Semiconductors & Advanced Electronics; Sustainable Construction & Infrastructure; AI Horizons; Emerging Pioneers (cross-track). Pick the track that best matches your tech.

• Stage / Size (instead of “Length”): Tailored to early commercialization. The Challenge explicitly supports startups from idea / pre-seed (via the Emerging Pioneers prize) through to pre-Series A.

• Format: Apply through Hello Tomorrow’s online application platform (you’ll complete the application form and upload supporting materials via the portal). Selected teams join the Deep Tech Pioneers community; finalists pitch on the Pioneers Stage at the Hello Tomorrow Summit.

• Rules / notes: The program prioritizes genuinely novel technology and independent startups (not subsidiaries). There is a dedicated Emerging Pioneers prize for very early teams. Always read the Challenge Terms & FAQ on the site before submitting.


📆 Submission cycles & deadlines:

• Applications open: September 15, 2025.

• Q&A / AMA sessions: September – November 2025 (check site for dates).

• Early applications close (for feedback): October 31, 2025.

• Final applications close: November 30, 2025.

• Deep Tech Pioneers selected: January 2026.

• Finalists announced: March 2026.

• Hello Tomorrow Summit & Challenge Finals (Amsterdam): June 11–12, 2026 (Investor Day on June 10).


🏅 Prizes & recognition:

• Equity-free funding opportunity ( headline figure on the site: €100K equity-free) and tailored investor access.

• Massive investor exposure: access to Hello Tomorrow’s investor network and Investor Day (350+ VCs/CVCs).

• Deep Tech Pioneers community & Summit stage: finalists pitch to an expert jury and get global media / partner exposure; 70 Pioneers exhibit at the Summit.

• Proven track record: past winners and finalists have gone on to raise significant capital (site notes >$4B raised across winners/finalists).


🔗 More information & registration: official Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge page.


#Opportunity


With love,
Ecostain 🤍

🚨 The silent killer of sustainability: the data problem, and why it is holding back real impact 🌍

It hides behind good intentions. We talk about "net zero," "ESG," and "impact," but ask most companies for hard proof, and you will get spreadsheets, estimates, and hope.

Without real data, sustainability turns into marketing. That what is killing credibility before change even starts.

Let us unpack the myths that got us here 👇

1️⃣ Myth: "We are already tracking our footprint."
🔍 Reality: Most firms can't measure their full emissions, especially Scope 3, which makes up the majority of their value-chain impact. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol's “Scope 3 Standard" is the globally accepted method.
🔗 Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard | GHG Protocol

💭 Lesson: If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Real sustainability starts with verified numbers, not press releases.


2️⃣ Myth: "Offsets make us carbon neutral."
🔍 Reality: Many offsets simply shift responsibility rather than reduce actual emissions. Researchers call offsets "phantom credits" in many cases.
🔗 Corporations invested in carbon offsets that were 'likely junk', analysis says

💭 Lesson: Prevention beats compensation. Fix the source before you fund the symptom.


3️⃣ Myth: "Data is a back-office job."
🔍 Reality: It is the backbone of credibility. The EU Green Claims Directive is moving to require that green claims are verifiable, comparable, and evidence-based.
🔗 Green claims directive: Council ready to start talks with the European Parliament - Consilium

💭 Lesson: Treat impact data like financial data: audited, structured and public.


4️⃣ Myth: "Accurate tracking is too expensive."
🔍 Reality: Ignorance costs more. Regulatory risk, lost trust, investor pushback – the hit is worse than the investment. The EU has adopted laws strengthening consumer rights for the green transition.
🔗 Consumer rights: final approval for the directive to empower consumers for
the green transition

💭 Lesson: Data is cheaper than scandal. Transparency pays for itself.


🌟 Proof it works:
📊 Some firms have built internal systems where every shipment, material change, supplier audit feeds into live dashboards. I have seen one small brand with ~40 employees build supplier-emission tracking from day one, going from "no idea" to full visibility in 12 months.


✅ Three rules for founders + funders:
💡 Measure before you market. No data = no credibility.
⚙️ Build systems, not slogans. Make tracking automatic, not optional.
🤝 Collaborate on transparency. Shared data builds shared progress.


With honesty and precision,
Ecostain 💚

📝 Keep The Future Human Creative Contest – Future of Life Institute (2025 Edition)

The Future of Life Institute is a global nonprofit focused on steering emerging technologies toward positive, human-centered outcomes. Their Keep The Future Human Creative Contest invites creators to translate the ideas from the "Keep The Future Human" essay into powerful visual or written formats that inspire public action. This is a sharp opportunity for visibility, prize funding, and creative impact in one of the most influential tech-ethics communities worldwide.

📌 Key Details:

• Eligibility: Open to everyone (no age, nationality, or background restrictions).

• Topics / Tracks: Any creative format that communicates the themes of technological responsibility and human-centered futures. Accepted categories include: video, essay, infographic, interactive project, or mixed-media submission.

• Stage / Size: Suitable for individuals and small teams; early creators welcome. No portfolio required.

• Format: Submit your work through the contest’s online submission portal. Each entry must directly reflect or expand ideas from the official “Keep The Future Human” essay.

• Rules / Notes: You can submit in multiple formats. All submissions must be original and must clearly engage with the essay’s concepts. Always check the Contest Guidelines & FAQ before applying.


📆 Submission cycles & deadlines:

• Submissions open: Already open (2025 cycle).

• Creators' Q&A sessions: Throughout 2025 (check site for dates).

• Submission deadline: November 30, 2025.

• Review & selection: December 2025 – January 2026.

• Winners announced: Early 2026.


🏅 Prizes & recognition:

• Cash prizes up to $10,000 for top entries.

• Special grants & merchandise awards.

• Visibility within the Future of Life Institute’s global network of AI researchers, safety experts, and policy innovators.

• Potential outreach amplification: selected works may be featured in FLI campaigns and global digital exhibitions.

🔗 More information & registration: https://keepthefuturehuman.ai/contest/

#Opportunity

With love,
Ecostain 🤍

🚨 The invisible climate cost of our screens: why digital infrastructure and AI are the next front in sustainability 🌐

We celebrate renewable pledges and clean tech, but one fast-growing blind spot is the emissions hiding inside our digital lives: the servers, networks, chips, and models that power everything from video calls to large language models. These impacts are real, tricky to measure, and already material for companies’ Scope 3 accounting. If we do not treat digital footprints as first-class climate risks, "tech for good" can easily become "greenwashing 2.0."

Let us unpack the myths that keep this hidden 👇

1️⃣ Myth: "The cloud is magically green. We buy renewables so it is carbon-free."
🔍 Reality: Data centres already consume hundreds of TWh/year and, driven by AI, demand could more than double by 2030. Clean power helps, but location, timing, and grid mix matter; renewable contracts do not erase real-time emissions.
🔗 Tracking Data Centres and Data Transmission Networks

💭 Lesson: Count real operational emissions (hourly grid intensity), not just annual RECs.


2️⃣ Myth: "Software has negligible embodied impact, only electricity counts."
🔍 Reality: Software choices change hardware demand (more GPUs, shorter refresh cycles). The embodied carbon of chips and fab processes is non-trivial and shows up in lifecycle accounting. Ignoring embodied emissions understates full impact.
🔗 Data Centre Energy Use:
Critical Review of Models
and Results

💭 Lesson: Track both operational energy and embodied emissions from silicon and datacenter hardware.


3️⃣ Myth: "We can estimate AI/ML emissions with a single number."
🔍 Reality: Training, inference, experimentation, storage and developer experimentation all differ wildly. Recent modelling frameworks show end-to-end carbon for large language models must include training, inference, and embodied hardware – otherwise you miss most of the story.
🔗 LLMCarbon: Modeling the end-to-end Carbon Footprint of Large Language Models

💭 Lesson: Use end-to-end models and publish assumptions (compute hours, region, PUE, chip type).


4️⃣ Myth: "Scope 3 will not include software because it is a supplier issue."
🔍 Reality: The GHG Protocol and stakeholder consultations are moving to explicitly include software and cloud as material Scope 3 categories; companies will need shared, verifiable metrics like Software Carbon Intensity (SCI). Without supplier transparency, corporate claims remain unverifiable.
🔗 Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Summary of Scope 3 Proposals

💭 Lesson: Push cloud providers for standardized SCI data and make software emissions auditable.


🌟 Proof it works (and how to start):
Measurement + design reduces waste. Teams that instrument model training (tracking GPU hours, PUE, region) and optimize inference (quantization, batching, regional routing) cut real emissions, and cost, by double digits. Use SCI guidance, report assumptions, and include embodied estimates when buying hardware.


✅ Three rules for founders, builders & funders:
1️⃣ Measure end-to-end: training, inference, storage, hardware lifecycle.
2️⃣ Demand standardized SCI from vendors: do not accept black-box numbers.
3️⃣ Optimize for carbon per useful unit (per query, per user-hour), not per-server.


With clarity and data,
Ecostain 💚

➕ Non-Trivial Fellowship – 2025

The Non-Trivial Fellowship is an eight-week online program designed for ambitious young people to tackle pressing social issues through original research, policy, or entrepreneurial projects 🌍. Participants receive mentorship, resources, and a supportive community to bring their ideas to life, with opportunities to apply for project grants and scholarships. The program emphasizes creativity, impact, and leadership, empowering teens to make meaningful contributions beyond the classroom ✨.

📌 Key Details:
• Eligibility: Ages 14-20, not currently in university, worldwide
• Program Focus: Social impact projects, research, policy, and entrepreneurship
• Format: Eight-week online program with mentorship and community support
• Scholarships: Project grants up to $1,000; top research scholars $2,000-$10,000

📆 Application Deadline:
December 22, 2025

🔗 More information & application: https://www.non-trivial.org/programs/overview

#Opportunity

With love,
Ecostain 🩶

The online realm produces more emissions than people assume

We browse for hours – watching videos, chatting, looking things up, trying out AI tools, saving pictures we will not check later. It seems light on our devices; yet hidden behind this are huge server farms, complex cooling units, along with computer parts built in power-hungry plants.

Digital seems neat since pollution occurs out of view.

I have looked into this lately because I was curious. What stands out is how intriguing it seems.

Our digital footprint stems from several sources:

• the power running data centers ⚡
• production of chips or graphics processors
• cooling uses more power than you'd expect ❄️
• endless space for files – also logs, plus backups, along with copies 💾
• models are often built larger than necessary 🤖
• hardware gets swapped out rather than improved during updates 🔄

It does not mean the internet is bad. Rather, it shows how grounded it really is instead of mystical.

What struck me was seeing better results without giving anything up. A report showed one group kept their software identical, only adjusted its operation. By shrinking the model, shifting tasks to cleaner grids, removing outdated files, or cutting unused processing, they cut power use and expenses. Identical output, less waste. Not flashy fixes – but smart, focused tweaks made all the difference.

Some hands-on solutions people currently apply:

🎯 Cutting size via quantization or removing parts by pruning → lighter models need less power
🌍 Selecting areas with greener energy for data centers where feasible, opting for sustainability without compromise
🗂 Keeping data just as long as needed
🔋 Operating intense workloads during times with greener power supply
📊 Using Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) to compare providers
🧠 Keeping hardware longer instead of chasing specs

Seems less about quitting technology, instead focusing on mindful usage.

We can stay online – yet must quit seeing the cloud as an endless, clean storage room.

With love,
Sustainable Economics Club ECOSTAIN 🤍

🇯🇵 Japan Youth Summit 2026 – Fully Funded Trip to Osaka

Japan Youth Summit 2026 brings together young leaders, activists, and innovators from around the world for five days of discussions, workshops, and cultural exchange. It is a chance to meet inspiring people, pitch ideas, learn from experts, and dive into Japan's social and cultural scene up close. Selected participants can receive a full scholarship, including accommodation, meals, and local transport — a rare chance to explore Japan while growing as a leader and changemaker.

📌 Who can apply:
• Open to all nationalities
• Ages 15–35
• Students, youth activists, early-career professionals

📌 Grant includes:
• Accommodation and meals
• Local transportation
• Workshops, sessions, and cultural program
• Excursions + certificate

📆 Program dates: May 10-14, 2026

⏳ Deadline: February 10, 2026

🔗 More info & application: https://japanyouthsummit.com/sign-up?program=japan-youth-summit-2026&type=fully_funded

#Opportunity

With love,
Ecostain 🩶

Calling sustainability costly often shows reluctance to tackle tough tasks 🌱💸

Some believe operating an eco-friendly firm is not practical or profitable — on the surface, that view seems fair. Yet in truth, it tends to reflect a deeper hesitation: avoiding changes in business methods. Sticking to familiar routines beats reshaping them 🔄.

This mindset holds firms back – as they focus on obstacles, rivals begin trying fresh tools ✅, reach buyers who value ethics 🔍, yet show ethical practices boost profits 📊.

Patagonia stands out. Rather than encouraging endless buying, they fix products to extend their life. Used goods are seen as assets, not trash, making resale a source of income. Their focus on clear sourcing and durable builds strengthens customer loyalty slowly but steadily. When the owner handed control to groups supporting environmental efforts, it reshaped the business's future direction.

These actions involve steady choices – choices that lower waste, save money over time, or strengthen customer trust. While some firms hesitate, calling change difficult, others move ahead: refining loyalty instead of just labels.

What you can try personally:
✔️ Begin with just one thing – choose a single task, item, or routine to adjust this month. Make changes step by step; avoid trying to fix all at once.
✔️ Share updates honestly –incomplete outcomes still offer lessons while motivating people around you through example.
✔️ Fix it first instead of tossing it – mend gear, items, or habits prior to swapping them out 🔧.
✔️ Monitor progress – pay attention to choices that reduce waste or boost efficiency 📊.
✔️ Learn from feedback – each error leads to a better, longer-lasting setup.

Sustainability becomes natural once embedded in operations. Though beginning disorganized, it gradually improves – since grounded in reality.

With love,
Sustainable Economics Club ECOSTAIN 💚

➕ Civics Unplugged Fellowship – 2026

The Civics Unplugged Civic Innovators Fellowship is a free, eight-week virtual program for high school students who want to rethink how communities solve real-world problems 🌍. Fellows explore civic innovation and learn how to use modern tools, systems thinking, and bold ideas to build healthier, more resilient futures. Through discussions, collaboration, and hands-on learning, students develop the mindset and skills to create meaningful change beyond traditional civics ✨.

📌 Key Details:
• Eligibility: High school students or students whose gap year began in June 2025
• Eligible Countries: All (global program)
• Cost: Free
• Format: Eight-week virtual fellowship focused on civic innovation and community impact

📆 Application Deadline:
January 31, 2026

🔗 More information & application: https://www.civicsunplugged.org/programs

#Opportunity

With love,
Ecostain 🤍

🚨 The economy of forgetting: why modern systems are designed to erase consequences 🧠

What keeps things running is not just speed or progress – it is what gets erased. Products lose their history, firms ignore old mistakes, people overlook consequences. That pattern does not happen by chance. Letting go takes little; holding on demands much. One effect shows in damaged ecosystems, yet the real problem lies in how systems stop recalling at all.

Let us unpack the myths that keep forgetting invisible 👇

1️⃣ Myth: "Information is everywhere, so nothing is really hidden."
🔍 Reality: It is scattered – hidden in layers, delayed past usefulness. Across global supply networks, details vanish every three months. Accountability fades among participants. Awareness alone rarely leads to response. What matters often slips through gaps before anyone moves.
💭 Lesson: Clear information alone cannot ensure responsibility if it lacks consistency over time.
🖇️ Sustainable Business Practices: A Systematic Literature Review
Of Corporate Integration Strategies, Supply Chain Management,
And Strategic Implementation

2️⃣ Myth: "Once a product is sold, the story is complete."
🔍 Reality: Selling marks halfway through. What happens before – digging stuff up, making things – is left out by design. Choices ignore what comes after use, even when it piles up later. Value gets measured at purchase, never during decay or reuse. Consequences stretch far beyond that single transaction.
💭 Lesson: A single number captures what people will pay right now. What matters is the current deal, never future promises. Value shows up in exchange, not expectation. Prices reflect agreement at a moment, nothing more.
🖇️ Extended Producer Responsibility: Basic facts and key principles

3️⃣ Myth: "Records and reports preserve memory."
🔍 Reality: What you see might not last. Snapshots dominate most reporting – each one replaces what came before, instead of building on it. Change hands, and information vanishes. Shift leaders, and goals shift too. Holding onto knowledge needs care. It doesn’t stick just by being written down.
A single moment of attention means little if it fades. What matters is showing up again when nobody notices. Staying present through small choices builds real regard.
💭 Lesson: When actions stop, so does trust. Following through, even quietly, keeps connection alive. Absence speaks louder than promises ever could.
🖇️ Carbon emissions embodied in product value chains and the role of Life Cycle Assessment in curbing them

4️⃣ Myth: "Recycling closes the loop."
🔍 Reality: Recycling gives people a sense of having done enough, even when materials vanish into complex systems. Out of view, this disappearance is part of the design. The act of sorting creates distance, not solutions. Responsibility fades once the bin is closed.
💭 Lesson: Being far away does not mean the issue clears up. Sometimes space just stretches silence without fixing what matters.
🖇️ Closing the loop: Establishing reverse logistics for a circular economy, a systematic review

🌟 Proof this matters (and where systems break):
Where memory is enforced, behavior changes. Long warranties, deposit schemes, product passports, and extended producer responsibility work because they block forgetting. Costs reappear later, so decisions improve earlier.

✅ Three rules for designing systems that remember:
1️⃣ Stretch responsibility across time, not just actors.
2️⃣ Make past decisions visible to future ones.
3️⃣ Penalize forgetting structurally, not morally.

What slips away seems light. What stays carries weight. Yet prevention stands alone in stopping harm from happening again.

With love and clarity,
Sustainable Economics Club ECOSTAIN 💚