Avoid straws. Green business—especially those started by young people on the world’s most populous continent—offers hope in a burning world: Asia
“When one person starts doing something that has a snowball effect and spreads to people around them, and they start thinking why is that person doing that, and it can plant a seed in that person’s mind, and it can grow over time, and I think we underestimate that,” says Greta Thunberg.
Many young individuals are fighting the climate catastrophe like the Swedish campaigner.
They feel that tiny gestures may make a great effect, like one Filipino student’s coconut company.
Coconuts for a sustainable future.
Samuel Tecuala dreamed of creating something substantial to make the future sustainable since childhood.
“I wanted to be good enough to go to a community and potentially help them make their lives better,” he says.
Tecuala discovered his purpose in coconuts—though he didn’t anticipate his bowel motions to be involved.
Tecuala was astounded by the range of non-dairy milk when he arrived in the UK to study business management at King’s Business School.
I discovered I was lactose intolerant in London. I realized I didn’t need to use the restroom four or five times a day. “That’s abnormal,” he says.
He wondered why coconut milk wasn’t available in his native Philippines after discovering its advantages.
Research revealed:
- Asians are lactose intolerant to 80%.
- Philippines imports 99% of dairy milk.
- dairy has 2–5 times the carbon impact of plant-based milk.
Cow’s milk requires 3–6 litres of water.
High carbon footprints cause climate change, environmental disruption, and air pollution.
High water consumption depletes freshwater resources, worsens water shortages, and disturbs ecosystems. Tecuala calls this environmentally harmful.
Human-harmful too. Calcium deficiency makes many Filipino youngsters micronutrient deficient.
This enlightened Tecuala.
Dehusk is his sustainable coconut milk firm.
Dehusk makes tasty, nutritious, economical, and sustainable plant-based milk from organic Laguna Tall (LAGT) coconuts, a Filipino coconut type.
At the end of 2021, Tecuala traveled to Singapore to cooperate with Tetra Pak Singapore after months of working with engineers in Singapore and balancing his schoolwork and the epidemic.
The barista-worthy coconut milk contains calcium, iodine, vitamin D, B2, and B12.
Asians slowly embracing green business.
Asia’s green business assistance continues with Dehusk.
A poll of 16,000 Asia Pacific customers indicated that 90% would pay more for sustainable items.
40% of customers intend to buy more sustainable items in three years.
The research indicates Asians care about the environment as much as Westerners. They prioritize health-related ESG issues.
A pandemic that showed how weak and unequal certain countries are may have caused this transition, which may worsen as the earth heats up.
Many worry. “How to live a sustainable lifestyle” searches increased 4,550% in 2020, according to Google Trends.
The lockdown provided optimism during the epidemic.
Pollution decreased. Nitrogen oxide levels dropped 40%–50% in New Delhi and Mumbai during shutdown.
