Okay, maybe it’s not so secret. A movement as progressive and promising as GreenTech needs to be open and collaborative, not a collection of closed-off and siloed businesses keeping their cards close to their chests. Clickbait titles aside, we have something pretty special that perfectly poises us as a tech agency ready to take on sustainable projects.
In this piece we’re going to share a little background on GreenTech—the what and the why—as well as explaining why, as a team, we are so well suited to working on GreenTech projects large and small.
What is GreenTech?
GreenTech is surprisingly broad as a sector, if you can even call it that. It transcends industries in the same way that sustainability and regeneration has. GreenTech could be anything from mass-scale vertical farming to residential air source heat pumps. Whilst it may sound like technology that is out of reach of the average consumer, it’s important to understand that commercial products such as plant-based meat and sustainable smartphones are also considered GreenTech.
Despite the breadth of GreenTech, that doesn’t mean there’s a low barrier to entry. Neither is it a trend or an opportunity for greenwashing. GreenTech must reduce carbon emissions or carbon footprints, enable sustainable growth, or repair the damage people have made to our planet.
Fundamentally, GreenTech is the science and technology that reduces the negative human impact of everyday products and services. As is usually the case, a quick Google Images search of ‘green tech’ shows us exactly what it isn’t. Leaves growing out of circuit boards, Matrix-esque iStock graphics, wind farms. Always the wind farms. In fact, some examples of GreenTech are so low-fi that the name doesn’t really do it justice. A few examples below:
Milk textile: a silky-smooth, chemical-free and zero-waste fabric made with casein, a byproduct of milk
Cool pavements: roadways or pavements using highly reflective paint to lower surface temperatures
Plastic roads: yes, plastic is bad (most of the time). But the world is full of it, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Plastic roads are modular and prefabricated and are already being used in the Netherlands
Why do we need GreenTech?
I think we all know the answer here. We know why we need the technology and the solutions they bring, but why the GreenTech movement?
Think about the glass-walked secrecy within the consumer technology industry. Closely guarded secrets, thousands upon thousands of patents, lawsuits, mocking adverts and indiscriminate leaks. All of this around a smartphone that the average user will change for a ‘better’ model in just twelve months.
GreenTech is none of this. Whilst there is somewhat of a race to be first and be the best in individual sectors, the general feeling amongst GreenTech startups, organisations and VCs is ‘the more the merrier’ and ‘we’re in this together’. This is refreshing to see, and whilst we don’t expect everyone to be sharing their innermost prototypes, ideas or breakthroughs, it’s important that an industry striving to make the world a better place first and foremost take a more mature and realistic approach to innovation.
We recently read a brilliant article from Pinsent Masons’ Jo Alderson on ‘The risks and rewards of collaboration in green technology’ which perfectly outlined how competition law and sustainability agreements are governed. Ultimately, the law around GreenTech should work in favour of the planet, and not profits, shareholders and greed.
GreenTech is capitalising on the staggering technological progress that we’ve made as a planet, and using it to better itself. With that, GreenTech should be self-aware. For instance, if a plant-based meat startup does more harm than good simply by existing as a company, they have instantly failed by the concept of GreenTechnology. Whilst the sector is open to anyone and everyone, phonies and fakes will be weeded out.
Why are we a GreenTech agency?
It’s in our blood. That’s the long and short of it. Our collective interests as a team unite us in a passion to improve the world, improve lives and leave the planet in a better state than how we found it. We don’t think these are loft ambitions. We are challenging what we’ve learned in web design, engineering and product development and applying it to what we believe to be the best possible thing we can do to fight climate change and a global carbon meltdown.
As an agency, we have the freedom to somewhat do what we like. We could specialise in luxury brands or travel companies. We could focus on games and immersive experiences. And we could pick just about any programming language we like. Instead, every choice we make as an agency is done so with a planet-first mentality. From how we code to how we operate as a company, we are always thinking “How could we do this better?” And for us, better = greener.
With GreenTech being such a broad arena, where do we start? We think we’ve found a sweet spot between what we want to do (improve life on earth) and what we like to do (our collective hobbies and interests). A common theme across the entire team is music, electric vehicles and personal technology. What’s to stop us looking for clients who tick both boxes (improving life on earth + music/EVs/tech)? Well, absolutely nothing.
Walking the walk
We recently visited the Fully Charged show and just last week, Keiron had a meeting INSIDE a music festival about a potential project. Are we living the dream? Not quite yet. Our dream is a little more ambitious than cool clients and meetings in unusual places. Our dream extends years from now and a bustling portfolio full of some of the coolest projects, products and platforms that underpin weird and wonderful GreenTech projects all over the world.
We can’t wait to tell you more about what we’ve been working on lately. Check back next week when we’ll have an update on what’s been keeping us busy.
The secret sauce? Find something you enjoy doing, get very good at it (become a craftsman), and then use that (career capital) to apply it to the areas you love and connect with…
That brings you your purpose and mission (see So Good They Can’t Ignore You)
Who’s with us?