The projects
The ecological interview: Olav, Jesse and Tim
Our first project was to interview a ecological company. We decided to interview a company named Doppers. They sell eco friendly water bottles. We sent them an e-mail with the questions in dutch and after a few days we got a respond with all the awnsers. Unfortunately we had to translate the whole interview in english but it was worth it.
1. What is the difference between the normal products at another company and the ecological products of your company?
¨All Dopper bottles are Cradle to Cradle certified. Cradle to Cradle certification is a global recognition for safer and more sustainable products made for a circular economy. This means that every raw material and every material that is used for a product can also be reused. This is of course also the case with recycling, but the difference is that with Cradle to Cradle the raw material loses no value during reuse. The Dopper bottles are designed to last and made with 100% safe and reusable materials.¨
¨Many products have the "take-make-dispose" step-by-step plan, but Dopper has a new view on sustainable design and sustainable production with a view to reusability. Dopper is busy creating a closed circle, so that nothing is wasted. After the first use, the product can be used again as a raw material for the next product. There is no life cycle "from cradle to grave", but from "cradle to cradle.¨
2. Is there a big price difference between regular and ecological products and do you think this will change in the future?
¨There is no big difference in price between Dopper bottles and reusable water bottles that are not ecological. A Dopper Original is € 12.50 and the price of an average water bottle that is not ecological is also roughly this price.¨
¨Ordinary products are often made to be used and then thrown away. Ecological products, such as Dopper bottles, are made to last a lifetime.
In the long run, Dopper bottles are cheaper than, say, plastic bottles that are not designed for a lifetime of use.
Drinking from plastic (P.E.T) bottles is also more expensive than purchasing the Dopper reusable bottle.¨
3. Why is it beneficial to make products more environmentally friendly?
- Today, consumers expect products to be environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly products are now the norm.
- We at Dopper want to contribute to saving our planet. The ocean doesn't belong to anyone, so it's our job to protect it all.
- We inspire, educate and make a difference.
- Dopper has no packaging so less storage is required.
- Recycling or re-using can be more beneficial than making it from scratch
- You need to find and mine less resources
4. What is the thinking process of making environmentally friendly products?
¨An environmentally friendly product does not damage the living environment in the production process, during use or in the waste phase.¨
- Design product should be easy to repair if any part is broken
- Materials made for a circular economy
- Production process reduce emissions
- Quality long life cycle
- Sustainable purchasing
- Staff decent working conditions and fair opportunities on the labor market
- Place of production as little transport time as possible
¨The thinking process already starts with the design of the product. The product must have materials that are made for a circular economy and of the right quality, so that the life cycle is long. We also want most of our products to be produced as close as possible so that the transport time is not too long.¨
5. Is your business difficult to finance because it is ecological?
¨If a company has a good business plan and strategy, the company can in principle always be properly financed.
Because sustainability is now an aspect of society that can no longer be underestimated, it also makes targeted financing essential. This also often makes it easier for a sustainable company to obtain financing. Consumers nowadays also find it very important that companies are sustainable, which makes a sustainable company a good way to win customers.¨
6. How do your employees feel about working in the ecological business? And what do you see from this?
¨Most of the people in the Dopper team chose Dopper because of Dopper's mission. Because of this clear mission of protecting the world's water resources, everyone also has a good cause in mind, which is very motivating. Everyone wants to propagate Dopper's message and contribute to Dopper's concept.
The entire Dopper team has signed "The Dopper Wave", which means that everyone is very "plastic conscious" and does not use single-use plastic water bottles.¨
7. Is there a lot of competition in your ecological way of working or not?
¨There are now more and more companies that sell sustainable water bottles, but Dopper remains unique because of their water bottle with a mission, the unique design of the bottle, because of their Cradle to Cradle concept. Dopper not only offers a product, but they also have inspiring projects such as educational packages for primary schools and B2B, and the “Changemaker Challenge Junior.¨
¨All Dopper bottles are Cradle to Cradle certified. Cradle to Cradle certification is a global recognition for safer and more sustainable products made for a circular economy. This means that every raw material and every material that is used for a product can also be reused. This is of course also the case with recycling, but the difference is that with Cradle to Cradle the raw material loses no value during reuse. The Dopper bottles are designed to last and made with 100% safe and reusable materials.¨
¨Many products have the "take-make-dispose" step-by-step plan, but Dopper has a new view on sustainable design and sustainable production with a view to reusability. Dopper is busy creating a closed circle, so that nothing is wasted. After the first use, the product can be used again as a raw material for the next product. There is no life cycle "from cradle to grave", but from "cradle to cradle.¨
2. Is there a big price difference between regular and ecological products and do you think this will change in the future?
¨There is no big difference in price between Dopper bottles and reusable water bottles that are not ecological. A Dopper Original is € 12.50 and the price of an average water bottle that is not ecological is also roughly this price.¨
¨Ordinary products are often made to be used and then thrown away. Ecological products, such as Dopper bottles, are made to last a lifetime.
In the long run, Dopper bottles are cheaper than, say, plastic bottles that are not designed for a lifetime of use.
Drinking from plastic (P.E.T) bottles is also more expensive than purchasing the Dopper reusable bottle.¨
3. Why is it beneficial to make products more environmentally friendly?
- Today, consumers expect products to be environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly products are now the norm.
- We at Dopper want to contribute to saving our planet. The ocean doesn't belong to anyone, so it's our job to protect it all.
- We inspire, educate and make a difference.
- Dopper has no packaging so less storage is required.
- Recycling or re-using can be more beneficial than making it from scratch
- You need to find and mine less resources
4. What is the thinking process of making environmentally friendly products?
¨An environmentally friendly product does not damage the living environment in the production process, during use or in the waste phase.¨
- Design product should be easy to repair if any part is broken
- Materials made for a circular economy
- Production process reduce emissions
- Quality long life cycle
- Sustainable purchasing
- Staff decent working conditions and fair opportunities on the labor market
- Place of production as little transport time as possible
¨The thinking process already starts with the design of the product. The product must have materials that are made for a circular economy and of the right quality, so that the life cycle is long. We also want most of our products to be produced as close as possible so that the transport time is not too long.¨
5. Is your business difficult to finance because it is ecological?
¨If a company has a good business plan and strategy, the company can in principle always be properly financed.
Because sustainability is now an aspect of society that can no longer be underestimated, it also makes targeted financing essential. This also often makes it easier for a sustainable company to obtain financing. Consumers nowadays also find it very important that companies are sustainable, which makes a sustainable company a good way to win customers.¨
6. How do your employees feel about working in the ecological business? And what do you see from this?
¨Most of the people in the Dopper team chose Dopper because of Dopper's mission. Because of this clear mission of protecting the world's water resources, everyone also has a good cause in mind, which is very motivating. Everyone wants to propagate Dopper's message and contribute to Dopper's concept.
The entire Dopper team has signed "The Dopper Wave", which means that everyone is very "plastic conscious" and does not use single-use plastic water bottles.¨
7. Is there a lot of competition in your ecological way of working or not?
¨There are now more and more companies that sell sustainable water bottles, but Dopper remains unique because of their water bottle with a mission, the unique design of the bottle, because of their Cradle to Cradle concept. Dopper not only offers a product, but they also have inspiring projects such as educational packages for primary schools and B2B, and the “Changemaker Challenge Junior.¨
The eco friendly product: Aghata and Nishant
Our second project was to make an eco friendly product with the information of the interview. We thought of an app that stimulates people to clean the enviroment, we call it ¨EcoBuddy¨. Everytime you pick up trash from the street and put it in a special ¨EcoBuddy¨ bin, a code will show up, you can scan this code and the app will give you coins. One piece of trash equals one coin. You can use these coins in other games.
Comunication
Communicating with each other went very well in the end, the planning was great. We had several meetings via Microsoft Teams and a couple via WhatsApp. Our teamwork was great and the roles were equally divided. Here are some photos:
Comparision with India
We did not have a matching group because of the topics in India so we could not do the comparision. Which is sad because we really want to know how they did.