FoamLife was recently named as an official brand partner of the inaugural Blue Earth Summit in Bristol. In this blog, FoamLife Co-Founder Daniel Macaulay gives us the low down on one of the newest, most innovative, and most important events in sustainability.
Having worked in the sports and apparel industry for the past twenty years, I’ve seen sustainability slowly making its way toward the top of most brands agenda. The question no longer being ‘if’ they should become more sustainable but more often, ‘how’ to go about making that happen.
Most sustainability events I’ve previously attended focus on the problems and finish by telling the world that we all need to urgently do ‘something’ about it. That’s where The Blue Earth Summit was very different from the outset…
The Blue Earth Summit focused on bringing together many of the leading sustainability figures and brands to focus on solutions. Essentially; ‘what can we do?’
When the concept was first presented to us by the organisers, Wavelength Magazine, it immediately struck a chord. We are proud to have FoamLife as an official brand partner and to have lent our support in bringing this amazing event to life.
Day one of the summit took place at The Marble Factory, a former iconic Bristol Night Club. The day consisted of a series of keynote talks from many of the world’s leading minds in sustainability including Sir Tim Smit KBE, Founder of the Eden Project and Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss explorer who was recently the first person to successfully fly solar powered, non-stop around the world.
The summit also consisted of a series of panel discussions and workshops with:
- Actionable insights from sustainability business leaders.
- Inspirational story telling from adventurers and explorers.
- Ideas for work culture at home, office, and outdoors.
- Activities aimed at wellness and team building.
I was asked to speak on a panel discussion hosted by leading sustainability broadcaster and journalist; Lucy Siegle entitled ‘Ditching the rhetoric: when purpose becomes the product’. The panel included some fascinating insights from Ketty Key from Women in Adventure, Emma Crome from Cold House Collective, and Jack Samler from Voi Technology.
Day two was hosted at The Wave, Bristol, one of the world’s leading inland surfing venues and FoamLife activation partner and retailer. The day consisted of an inspirational talk from big wave surfer, Andrew Cotton as well as a pro-surfing demo from many of the UK’s leading surfers.
All in all, Blue Earth Summit was a massive success for everyone involved. In my view, it was a credit to the Wavelength team who had the vision, courage, and capabilities to deliver something truly unique. I also believe that this event will become the benchmark against which all future sustainability events around the world will be measured.
For us at FoamLife, the summit was a perfect opportunity to get behind something that both mirrored and manifested our own values and beliefs.Suffice to say, we’re looking forward to next year’s Blue Earth Summit already.
For more info on the Blue Earth Summit, check out: www.blueearthsummit.com or follow @blueearthsummit on Instagram.
Images supplied by Blue Earth Summit & www.kylebakerphotography.com