We recently announced our participation in TV2 Denmark’s new program, Min Idé – Vores Mission a new show dedicated to promoting sustainable ideas and innovation here in Denmark. It’s exciting to be on a national program, but our excitement goes beyond simply seeing our idea on television- we’re excited to see sustainable ideas and innovation get their time in the sun!
Sustainability is often referred to as something that we as individuals must choose, be it by reducing our intake of meat, avoiding single-use plastics, buying electric cars, or choosing sustainability-marked items at the store. It’s portrayed as our individual responsibility for the future, putting the burden of rising temperatures and melting ice caps on our shoulders as we try and make the best choices for our budgets and our families.
While we as individuals can move the market as a collective unit, avoiding the disastrous 1.5 degrees will require large innovative ideas that drastically change things we as individuals have no control over (i.e. wildfires, transportation methods etc.). This is exactly what the judges on Min Idé – Vores Mission are on the lookout for: large-scale, innovative ideas that can impact our collective future.
An example of such an idea (though they were not chosen to go further) is Biomend. Their idea is to establish treatment plants where greenery works with the existing system to absorb remaining nutrients found in wastewater (nutrients that harm our oceans). Their idea doesn’t end there! When their systems are established and tested they foresee use cases within other industries such as biogas for electricity production. It’s largescale ideas that have the potential to alter an industry where consumers typically have no influence.
This new show is the first of its kind here in Denmark, where sustainable ideas are promoted for their mission to save the planet. We would, however, be remiss if we didn’t mention the impact organizations like the Footprint Firm are already making when it comes to promoting sustainable ideas. An investment firm in Copenhagen, the Footprint Firm makes targeted investments in green, sustainable ideas, helping them make the journey from idea to business. Their investment in Robotto allowed us to finalize the development of Robotto Fire, putting us in a position to aid firefighters to control large-scale wildfires at an earlier stage, helping lower emissions.
While ideas that help implement changes to our recycling methods as individuals can provide some benefit to creating a sustainable future, it’s important that we also focus on finding and supporting large-scale innovative changes to pollutive industries (where individual consumers’ choices have no impact).