It's weird and awful that planting the wrong tree can kill people. But it did. 62 people died in Portugal's worst ever forest fire in 2017. Most of them trapped in their cars. 70% of the burned area was covered in eucalyptus plantations - not native to Portugal. Planted for pulp and paper profit. Unfortunately this sounds like the usual profit over people story in politics and in business. The science was there. The fires had already happened before. Warnings existed. People died. And yet the lobbying to keep planting eucalyptus continues anyway. As it does for so many other things that hurt both people and the planet. We don't have a forestry problem. We have a people problem - specifically, people making decisions without empathy, without care. Now with Trump in power, the corporate gloves are off. Some of these firms care less about optics than they did just a few years ago. Inevitably, when the pendulum swings back, remember this. Stronger regulation with competent enforcement, run by well administered institutions is not anti-competitive or bureaucratic sludge. It is the missing system that creates healthy competition - ensuring businesses exist to solve problems and make profit in the process. Not the other way around. Please vote, advocate, learn and engage meaningfully. It takes more of us paying attention than them paying lobbyists. Save this, share this or just read and watch.

But he turned down a stranger's donation because he didn't want to be a burden. Turns out this stranger was a millionaire. This is integrity, kindness and empathy rolled neatly into a single Hungarian. This week's radar: Adam Csomor, Commercial Director at MIELL GREEN. MiellGreen takes plastic waste and turns it into fencing, pallets, garden furniture etc. that last 20-30 years. They've already given new life to over 1,100 tonnes of recycled plastic - the equivalent of 56 million PET bottles. Here's where it gets interesting. Hard-core sustainability professionals (often loudly) share their anti-plastic concerns. (I'm one of them 😅 ) Fair enough, but when only 9% of plastic worldwide is actually recycled, and with adoption and innovation in new materials still lagging... We need a solution to deal with the waste we have... Right. Now. Instead of being defensive, Adam gives them the space to say their piece. Get it all out. Feel heard and understood because he agrees! And then he asks one question: given that only 9% of plastic worldwide is actually recycled, and given what treated wood is doing to construction - don't we need everything in our arsenal? We do. We must all do what we can. That's Adam's whole philosophy. And it's MiellGreen's too. The best sustainability companies aren't perfect. They're relentlessly honest about where they are and where they're going. If you're interested in Adam's environmental or activist story (more in the comments), give Adam Csomor a follow and check out MIELL GREEN - good people doing necessary work.

📣 If you're here from the Mastering Networking session with Mr. G. at CIC Warsaw. This is the right place. To get the most out of the session: 🔗 Open Optomize: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67efedb68b88819188f8e16518032210-optomize-the-business-sustainability-ai-agent-mvp Paste these three questions in and let it coach you through them. REMEMBER: If it's not honest, it's not useful, right down everything. Copy from here: --- Coach me to master my networking, I'm attending a session with Mr. G, who's covering interpersonal communication and the first 3 of the 5 spheres of empathy from a networking perspective, defensive energy and influence. I'm now answering these questions below to kickstart an actionable plan I can take immediately to improve my ability to network. My name is 1. When you walk into a room full of people you don't know, what's the story you tell yourself about who you are in that moment? 2. What does being here today get you — and what's the version of that answer you'd be less comfortable saying out loud? 3. Think of someone who made you feel genuinely seen in a conversation. What did they do — and do you do that for others? ---- Then reply here with the one sentence that felt most true and most uncomfortable. We'll start the session from there :)

Something worth sharing with this community, especially if you're working with brands on sustainability claims or packaging decisions. Compostable packaging is often worse than plastic. Untouched World (NZ fashion brand, B Corp) just documented a 3-year research process they ran with Callaghan Innovation ,full Life Cycle Assessments across plastics, paper, compostables, and novel materials. The uncomfortable finding: plastic won on emissions. Compostable failed because the processing infrastructure doesn't exist at scale, PLA and synthetics end up in landfill anyway. Their solution: switch to POLLAST!C by Better Packaging Co, 100% ocean-bound plastic rescued from SE Asian coastal communities. Independently verified as the lowest carbon packaging commercially available. Lower than paper. Lower than compostable. Resealable and returned through a store programme for reuse. Why I'm sharing this here: this is exactly the kind of contested, evidence-based sustainability decision that's hard to make and even harder to communicate publicly. They did it right! Three years of research, external verification, B Corp accountability, and a transparent blog post explaining the whole reasoning. For anyone advising brands on sustainability messaging, this is a great case study in how to move from aspirational claims to operational proof. Full story: https://www.untouchedworld.com/en-us/blogs/journal/how-we-tackled-the-polybag-conundrum-with-pollastic POLLAST!C detail:https://www.row.betterpackaging.com/pages/pollastic