What does sustainability look like?

Welcome to the latest edition of ‘What Does Sustainability Look Like?’

In this series, Edge Impact's Brand and Communications team showcases the purpose-driven designs, sustainable brands, and impactful ideas that have recently inspired them.

This month, we're taking a trip to the Paris Olympics, exploring a recent promotional stunt, and amplifying young voices in climate action.

Written by Alex Shute, Designer

My sustainability beige flag: I’d rather risk giving myself food poisoning than throw away a meal that’s been in the fridge one too many days. Some call it “irresponsible”; I like to call it “fighting food waste”, or “not giving more money to Woolworths than I have to”.

Perhaps my heroic antics wouldn’t be necessary if GRO-OP, Driftime Media's latest brainchild, was more than just a concept. Born from a four-day creative sprint, this digital platform is set to revolutionise how we think about surplus produce and community connection.

Driftime's approach to UX/UI employs "invisible design" that uses AI-assisted identification to list surplus veg quickly and easily. This means, seamless trades between consumers, home gardeners, community plots, and farmers (and less time that wrinkly cucumber languishes in the back of your fridge).

GRO-OP isn’t just a pretty (inter)face. Its identity is characterised by clever, punny headlines that create an informal and approachable brand voice. What I especially appreciate about the brand is its deliberate departure from the expected 'eco green' aesthetic, by way of a deep purple hue that compliments the range of vegetables featured in the communications.

Most importantly though, GRO-OP's potential impact extends far beyond reducing food waste. By fostering connections between local growers and grazers, it's planting the seeds for stronger, more resilient communities.

The potential for an app like this in places like Sydney is ripe. I’d love to see a platform like GRO-OP come into fruition so we can all reimagine our relationships with food, our neighbours, and our planet.

Written by Alanna Roy Bentley, Senior Creative

There is a growing landscape of award and mentorship programs aimed at recognising and amplifying minds at the forefront of climate action. Arguably the most known one today is “The Earthshot Prize” founded by Prince William in 2021, which “searches the globe for game-changing innovations that will help us repair our planet, awarding the very best five solutions each year with £1 million to scale their work”. Since 2011 the United Nation’s Climate Change has been running “The Global Climate Action Awards”, and in 2022 even the International Olympic Committee launched their own “IOC Climate Action Awards” to celebrate those within the Olympic Movement who are taking concrete measures to address climate change. 

At the the end of July applications for “The Young Climate Prize” closed - one such award and mentorship program aimed specifically for those under 25 in the design industry. Currently in it’s fourth year, it was launched by The World Around - a “global non-profit platform” that aims to make new ideas in architecture accessible to all through public programs and events.  Although The World Around’s roots lie in architecture, The Young Climate Prize is aimed at designers and design thinkers from all disciplines, offering emerging talent the opportunity to be mentored by experienced professionals from across the globe with a focus on interdisciplinary, progressive, actionable ideas and climate justice.

In the first cycle of The Young Climate Prize, winning applicants Sophia Tabibian and Lulu Goulet-Hofsass were mentored by design living legend Bruce Mau (Caroline Leung wrote about one of his agencies’ visual identities in our April Issue if you want to check that out here) to refine and expand their project “Covalence Global”. Together they developed The Climate Map, which aims to outline the complexities of climate change on a streamlined, action-oriented mind map.

The increase in number of these award and mentorship programs, and by extension the desire to recognise and elevate the important work that is being done in climate action space, is really inspiring. The fast-pace of change and innovation in sustainability can be hard to keep up with, and in creating these spotlights for the impactful change that is happening it can help to tangibly see the work that is being achieved. 

Young voices need particular attention in the climate action space. Greta Thunberg catapulted this emphasis when she started the School Strikes for Climate, and has since been fighting for the world to realise that young voices need to be heard when it comes to the solutions for our future problems. What does the totem of young voices think of this emerging plethora of awards being awarded? Well, as we would expect - she receives them with a healthy dose of scepticism. In 2019 she famously refused an environmental award from the Nordic Council, saying the climate movement needed people in power to start to “listen to the current, best available science” and not awards. Weeks later, however, she did accept the Right Livelihood Award — known as the Alternative Nobel — "for inspiring and amplifying political demands for urgent climate action reflecting scientific facts.”

Awards are valuable for spotlighting great work, but let’s not fall into the trap of keeping them at face value and not following through with the impact they are celebrating. Awards are just one of the ways that we can amplify those who need to be heard. It is also important to actively seek out their opinion, and to include their voices in important conversations about climate action.

Written by Elise Margaritis, Strategic Communications Principal

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games weren’t just a celebration of athletic prowess - they were a showcase of how major global events can be both spectacular and sustainable. But not every message walked away with gold… 

The Champions

Keeping the Message Clear 
Paris 2024 hit the ground running with its bold ambition to be the first climate-positive Olympics. They set out with a clear, simple message: ‘We’re not just cutting our carbon emissions - we’re flipping the script.’ By committing to reduce emissions by 50% and utilising existing venues, they painted a picture of a Games that would set the benchmark for innovative solutions and demonstrate how sports can support the UN Sustainable Development Goals​.

Sharing the Load 
Like any successful relay, the Paris 2024 team didn’t try to do it alone. They passed the baton to a range of stakeholders - from local communities to global partners. This collaborative approach was key to their communications strategy. By involving everyone from the City of Paris to the UN, they ensured the message was consistent and that every partner felt like they were part of the victory lap. The ‘Event Climate Coach’ app was launched to help organisers understand and reduce the carbon impact of their events.

Social Media Moves 
Paris 2024 didn’t just rely on traditional media to spread the word - they took their sustainability story to social media to create a conversation achieving unprecedented results with over 32 million new followers and 12 billion engagements, more than double that of Tokyo 2020. They engaged with audiences in real-time, addressing questions, sharing updates, and making sure the world knew they were serious about their goals. By the time the torch was lit, their social media game was strong​.

The Defeated

Surf’s Up on Stakeholder Engagement 
One of the more memorable hiccups was the backlash over the aluminum tower built in Tahiti for the surfing competition. Locals opposed with a petition gathering more than 160,000 signatures as the planned construction would damage the coral reef. While Paris 2024 adjusted the build to minimise impact, the damage to their green image had already been done. A more proactive approach in listening to and communicating with local communities could have prevented the sting of bad press​.

Staying Cool Under Pressure 
With temperatures soaring during the Games, the much-touted geothermal cooling system in the Olympic Village started to sweat under the spotlight. When some teams decided to bring in their own air conditioning units, it led to whispers of a “two-tier” Olympics - those who could afford to stay cool and those who couldn’t. Addressing the potential for discomfort earlier and offering more equitable solutions would have kept athletes from breaking a sweat before the starting buzzer​. Still, this was a clear demonstration of the barriers to climate action experienced currently around the globe. 

Balancing Goals with Reality 
The challenges faced in cleaning up the Seine River for open-water events, which included frequent failures in bacterial level testing, underscored the difficulty of delivering on such high environmental promises. Future communications could benefit from setting realistic expectations and clearly communicating the potential risks and contingency plans from the outset, ensuring that the narrative remains both inspirational and honest​. 

Paris 2024 taught us that even when you aim high, unexpected hurdles abound - like cardboard beds that can reduce waste but also hinder athlete performance. Bold goals need strong, clear messaging, a willingness to listen, and the agility to pivot when things don’t go as planned. Aim for gold, but be ready to adjust when the going gets tough. Because in the grandest game of all, the real victory lies in leaving a healthier planet that future generations can stand proudly on, long after the medals have been won.

Written by Jordan Stokes, Global Creative Director

I have always loved a good promotional stunt, especially those that combine a great concept, art direction and strategic time and place. This collaboration by Mssng Pieces, Climate Power and Annie Saunders definitely has all 3 nailed.

Combining art, design, lighting and live performance across 6 store front windows to bring to life in a visually captivating way the effects of extreme weather conditions. In a part ‘Tracey Emin’ part ‘Selfridges window’ inspired activation that was positioned just yards away from where the 2024 Republican National Convention was taking place in Milwaukee. The piece makes comment on big oil’s corruption and apocalyptic level contribution to our climate devastation.

“Big Oil and their corrupt political allies have sold out our environment and threaten the future of our planet, economy, and health,” said Climate Power Senior Advisor Alex Witt. “By putting Big Oil’s corruption on full display, we’re confronting Republicans with scenes inspired by real-life damage caused by their disastrous policies and reminding voters about the catastrophic consequences for our environment and economy if we don’t keep far-right extremists out of office.”

The scenes depicted in the different windows were all inspired by real life stories and experiences of extreme weather events that were then conceptualised as art pieces by Annie Saunders and Mssng Pieces, bringing to life the fleeting imagery people can easily scroll past daily on social media and news outlets, translating them into a three-dimensional space meant to stop people in their tracks.

The different scenes described are;

Seek Alternative Shelter: Extreme heat:
Plastic chairs melting, toys disintegrating, and walls bubbling under a haze of orange light symbolising thick air pollution.

Vanishing Act:
Office setting with figures in suits seated at a conference table, their heads buried under sand, glitched news playing, highlighting ignorance and denial.

Overburden: Extreme rain and flooding. Furniture overturned, broken glass, and water-damaged walls amidst a chaotic scene of stormy weather.

We are always thinking about how the effects of climate collapse and the risks it poses to communities, places and businesses can be translated to people in ways that they can not only understand, but have a meaningful and change-inducing connection with. From digital twins, to data visualisation and messaging.

This installation reminds me of experiencing the immersive work of Tracy Emin, Ron Muek among others as part of the Saatchi collection when I was still at art school. It has the same power to demand your attention and transport you into a completely out of context and terrifying version of someone else’s experience, like real life VR, but even more real life.
The power of these kinds of experiences to really help people engage with ideas and potential futures has so much potential, and; if done right has the opportunity to connect with people beyond media or traditional comms but in a way that truly ignites their imaginations.

I’d love to see more crossover between climate communication and the art world, especially if it’s as unique, clever and compelling and drives action and change. Annie Saunders perfectly sums it up with “Among the greatest powers and functions of art are its ability to evoke emotions, provoke thought, and bring the issues of our time to the forefront.”

Written by Caroline Leung, Design Director

Although this little find leans more towards art than brand and design, I found this clever project worth sharing.

Rose McAdoo, originally known for her wedding cakes in New York, made a significant shift when she moved to the Antarctic, using her edible creations to raise awareness about climate change.

For Rose, the challenge lies not only in the logistical hurdles of baking in remote locations but also in the task of translating dense scientific data into digestible narratives. Whilst I question what specifically is meant with dense scientific data, Rose draws a compelling parallel between baking and our understanding of our planets fragile biodiversity, explaining it as similar to removing an essential ingredient like baking soda from a cake recipe. As she puts it, "In the same way, if you move one species from an environment or if you remove one piece of the glacier formation equation, it doesn’t necessarily still work. Every ingredient must be present in nature to maintain homeostasis."

Rose’s work continues to bridge the gap between art, science, and public awareness, aiming to make daunting topics like climate change more understandable through the universal language of food - what a treat!

Stay tuned for more of what delights us from the world of sustainability creative next month.

Or if you were hoping for something a little more technical, head over to our insights page for the full range of thoughts, ideas and opinions from the brilliant minds at Edge Impact.

As experts in the full spectrum of sustainability topics, we are here to guide you through the complexity. Our team includes specialists from across the globe; from strategists to economists, engineers to creatives. Since 2008, we have been helping businesses, organisations, industries and societies make transformation happen.

Our areas of expertise are focussed around the following areas:

Leadership and Transformation
ESG and Strategy
Decarbonisation and Climate Resilience
Circular Economy and Lifecycle Thinking
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