In MeetDistrict Diegem we organised a Sustainability Lunch where we invited our Members to take part in an inspiring – and delicious – workshop centred around reducing food waste. This workshop was hosted by Nowa Market, the online zero waste shop that takes plastics at war on their mission to make the world more sustainable and circular.

The key take-away from this lunch was that your food cabinet has so much more to offer than you might believe. For instance, did you know that you can make chocolate mousse from chickpea juice? It sounds weird, but tastes amazing nonetheless!

In the evening, we welcomed our Members in MeetDistrict Gent for an insightful sofa session focused on the sustainability topic moderated by Jocelijn Geurts from Axudo, the organisation that aims to bring awareness to the business world about long term sustainability policies. Joining her on the sofa were Michel Flamme, one of Art Center Horus‘s artists, Manon Verstraeten from Nespresso and Sarah Parent from Go Forest.

These experts in their field enlightened us with their views and efforts on this topic, ranging from how art plays a role in raising respect for the planet, to how a large brand like Nespresso can actually make a difference both for the Earth and for the people that live on it – contrary to what you would expect from such a large corporation. The absolute show stopper of the sofa session were our Members of Go Forest, who announced that they planted a tree in their Mangrove-planting project in Madagascar for each of the 70 Earth Day attendees at MeetDistrict Gent. Mangrove trees are true carbon sinks, absorbing more than 600 kg of CO₂ during a lifespan of minimum 20 years. These trees are the perfect breeding place for biodiversity as well, making locals notice a difference in their fish and crab populations in no time.

After the sofa session, 13 teams took part in Earth Day’s main event: the Earth Day Quiz. Naturally –this activity was centred around all things sustainability as well, with questions ranging from which Belgian festival was recently crowned as world’s most sustainable music event (Paradise City) to which MeetDistrict Members have made sustainability a major part of their professional activities (being: bonsai, Enperas, house of projects, Durably, The Acquired, Go Forest, and Digital HQ).

Of course, there were some amazing prizes to win too. And given the day’s topic, we made sure that they all scored high on sustainability. Congratulations are in order for The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, & Ben (Abylsen), who made first place and walked – or rather: rode – home with the RE:CYCLE bike by Vélosophy and Nespresso, a bicycle that was created from recycled aluminium Nespresso capsules. Next to the RE:CYCLE bike, they won three beautiful art pieces made from sustainable materials by Art Center Horus’ Michel Flamme. Second prize went to The Urft Smurfs (Global PMI Partners), who were gifted a delicious wine selection by Lambrecht Wijnen, and finishing third was Team Agilent (Agilent), who walked away with some beautiful Berghoff knives that are sure to last a lifetime, kindly gifted by Salubris.  An honourable mention goes to Young Abylsen (Abylsen and Trade Tracker), who were for showing a wonderful effort. Don’t believe us? It’s true! Though it’s worth mentioning that they are made of porcelain…

But when you unite for sustainability, everyone is a winner. That’s why we made sure to give everyone the ecological Jordan Green Clean toothbrush on their way out, kindly gifted by our Members of Benckmar.