🌇 Feel like giving up on the planet? Solarpunk might just change your mind.

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Read time: 3 minutes 54 seconds

Hi friend👋,

Last week I went through some old photos and I found a picture of myself as a seven-year-old at my grandparents’ house in the countryside.

Seeing that photo was like hopping in a time machine. It took me back to my childhood vacations that we often spent at my grandparents’, where everything was green and quiet compared to the busy, noisy streets of Berlin.

As a kid, I used to daydream about building a treehouse in the woods near my grandparent's house.

Not a small one, but a huge tree house that spiralled up with the trees. It would have rooms branching out like the tree itself, each room a window to the world below.

In my dream, this tree house was magical, it could disappear and shine in bright colours.

Fast-forward to today, my sister introduced me to the concept of Solarpunk. Solarpunk is all about the harmonious symbiosis of tech and nature. Thinking of this concept reminded me of my childhood tree house.

So, what’s the deal with Solarpunk? Let’s dive into that today:

1. [Insights]: 🌇 Solarpunk – Envisioning a green tech utopia

2. Fast Snacks:

   [Good News Food]: 🍫 How chocolate is saving 140 bird species

   [Good News Climate]: 🌍 Meet PACE: NASA's latest climate guardian

   [Fun]: 🤖 AI-Enhanced Culinary Experiences  

3. [Community Space]: 🤔 Over 70% of Europeans lack omega-3. Are you one of them?

1. [Insights]: Solarpunk – Envisioning a green tech utopia

Imagine stepping into a city where skyscrapers are wrapped in gardens, roads are made of breathable materials, and public transit systems run on solar and wind power.

Buildings are not just structures, but ecosystems that contribute to the health of the city. Food is grown in vertical farms integrated into every block, and everyone has a green thumb. This is the vision of the Solarpunk movement.

Solarpunk is a movement that merges technology with nature to create a future that’s vibrant, highly functional, and most importantly, sustainable.

It champions solar power and other renewable resources to create not only energy self-sufficient communities but also a thriving culture of creativity and cooperation.

The term "Solarpunk" first popped up on an internet blog in 2008 as an anti-movement to Cyberpunk, which most often paints a dark dystopian future dominated by technology and corporate power.

As the movement grew among tech nerds with a green heart, it inspired countless short stories, images, and ideas. Solarpunk enthusiasts worldwide began to connect, forming a community with its own value system.

In 2020, the blog Regenerative Design published what's known as the Solarpunk Manifesto, which defines the community in 22 points. The manifesto begins, "We are Solarpunks because our optimism was taken away, and we are trying to reclaim it."

Why does Solarpunk matter?

Looking at this video feels like a scene from a Disney movie:

Even if it feels a bit over the top, who wouldn’t want to live in a Disney movie?

I firmly believe we all should look at some Solarpunk art from time to time.

Why? Because we are constantly surrounded with negative news, with wars and climate catastrophes happening around the world. This can feel paralysing.

Solarpunk is like an antidote - it shows us a vision of a future that’s worth hustling for.

It’s hopeful, it’s actionable, and hey—it’s a world where the tech serves us, not the other way around.

To me, it’s a great motivation to keep going with my mission of transforming our food system, believing that we can have an impact.

More and more founders, investors and (hopefully soon more politicians) are stepping up the climate game, developing and financing solutions that help work toward the Solarpunk utopia.

So if you ever get frustrated again, and you feel like giving up your climate effort, just google “Solarpunk future”.

And then use that vision to amplify your own mission.

Ps: I case you were wondering what the tree house of my childhood dream looks like, here you go:

2. Today’s fast snacks

• [Good News Food]: 🍫 Sierra Leone's innovative cacao project is enhancing local incomes and preserving biodiversity.

  This sustainable agriculture initiative combines organic cacao cultivation with environmental conservation, creating agroforestry plots that mimic natural forests and support an impressive array of over 140 bird species.

  This initiative is not just about chocolate; it’s a vital strategy to combat the alarming statistic that globally, the cacao industry is a significant driver of deforestation, threatening over 70% of the world’s biodiversity hotspot.

  Read more here.

  

  A farmer in a Gola community works in a shade-grown cocoa plantation. Image by Michael Duff

• [Good News Climate]: 🌍 NASA's new PACE satellite is now orbiting Earth, tasked with studying our oceans and atmosphere to enhance climate science.

  This mission is pivotal in providing data that could influence future environmental policies.

  Read more here.

• [Fun]: 🤖 From robot chefs to AI-powered cooking assistants, the culinary world is getting a high-tech makeover (as we discussed in the last two newsletters).

  At CES 2024 this year, innovations showcased included everything from robotic kitchen assistants that can cook meals from scratch to smart cooking appliances that enhance culinary precision and creativity​.

  Read more here.

3. [Community space]: 🙌

• Anke Noak is the mastermind behind Beyond Projects - they develop customized ideas for all sorts of (business) challenges, mostly for food tech. If you are looking for a helping hand, check out Beyond Projects.

• (Personal advertising): 🤔 Over 70% of Europeans lack Omega-3. Are you one of them?

  Omega-3 fatty acids are the unsung heroes of cellular health, keeping our hearts ticking and brains clicking. Yet, according to the WHO over 70% of Europeans have a deficiency of Omega 3.

  So we all need to boost our Omega-3 consumption. You could eat fish 3 times per week, or you supplement - ideally with an oil made from algae.

  Why algae? Because algae oil has a nutrition profile that is en par with fish oil. Its taste is much more pleasing, though, and it is by far the more ethical and environmental solution.

  Fish get their Omega-3 actually from eating algae, so we just can bypass the fish and use the algae directly as the source. If you are looking for a high-quality Omega-3 product, check out my husband’s brand Spoon of Change:

  Everyone in our family takes this oil every day - highly recommend it!

  Cheers, Lia

xx

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