For those of us who aren’t familiar with Green Insights, in short what do you do and why is your work suddenly popping up all over Amsterdam?

With the advent of the pandemic, for better or worse, the majority of us have had time to sit back and reflect on what's truly important to us as a community; what really matters; what makes us happy. Like family & friends... like nature & the environment. We've realized how fragile our ecosystem and biosphere is, in the face of nature's wrath. Apparently, it's not just we individuals... businesses have been spending time reflecting, too. 2021 seems to be a year of reckoning where individuals and businesses have decided to put their money where their mouths (and minds) are. Coming out of this pandemic in a resilient and sustainable way is a theme that is being debated in board rooms and at the coffee stations (or should I say zoom calls and park walks) alike. That is essentially what Green Insights does. We help companies understand what "sustainability" means in their context, measure impact, help them reduce it, and communicate it with their customers. It helps that some of our recent projects like LOT61's circularity transformation and B-Corp certification were an overwhelming success and word seems to have got around.

Green Inights was introduced to us when you were a team of two, with a big vision. Fast forward a year later and your business has grown expantionally, how did this happen, and how do you see it growing in the next few months?

Our mantra is that good work is its own reward. You do smart work, you help your clients where they need it most, and it automatically translates to growth and success. As for future growth, we see a big need for small and medium-sized businesses with not so big pockets wanting to go sustainable. We see a lot of our growth coming from this segment. You shouldn't need hundreds of thousands of euros to do a basic impact assessment, identify the biggest areas of impact, opportunities, and ultimately do the right thing. If doing good for the environment comes at the expense of running a financially viable business, how can we expect this model to scale and save our planet and communities? Our focus this year is to create scalable and cheap impact assessment tools for our clients to know, reduce and communicate their impact, and get certified for their efforts. 

Ajay, we have known each other for some time now and what I’ve often wondered is ow do you stay motivated and inspired when you see a lot of harm done to our planet?

I read an article today on how knowledge can be a curse as much as it can be a blessing. When one is too deep into the details of what harms the planet, every decision, be it personal or professional, causes guilt. So yes, you're right - knowing what I know, it causes me great anxiety watching "business as usual" go about, to the point of losing motivation altogether. However, let's consider the alternative - let's say we were to do nothing and just act in our own selfish interests. In fact, let's take it a step further - the whole world loses motivation and does nothing. That's a recipe for certain disaster. The combination of wanting to avoid this doomsday scenario + the need to preserve the planet for future generations is what keeps me constantly motivated.

Sustainability, going green, eco friendly, conscious, so many terms out there but if a business could choose to focus on one aspect what would it be?

Let me add a few more to the mix - circularity, donut economics, true price, triple bottom line, SDGs, BCorp. It is easy to get sucked into this maze of picking the best sustainability frameworks. At the end of the day, they are all the same thing. "Sustainability" was first coined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future to meet their needs - that means doing good for the environment, the society, and the economy. In the context of doing business, what's important is to keep the ultimate mission in mind - it is not to pick the coolest sounding name that matters because while that might keep you relevant in the short-term, in the long-term, if the root cause is not fixed, the entire economic system on which today's businesses operate will be compromised. That's a lose-lose for everyone. So pick any framework you want - just make sure to actually reduce your impact and communicate it with those that matter most - your customers. 

What’s the impact you want to have on our community?

If I am able to inspire 1000 businesses and a million people this year to know and act to reduce their impacts, I would be happy.

In case you have any questions - I am addicted to my email. Connect with me here.