Last month between the 23rd & 24th of June, me and our designer, Jack went to Berlin to check out the Greentech Festival.
Held at Berlin TXL, which was formally the main airport for the city, it provided a fantastic and unique environment. With the exhibition and conference held in one of the main hangers, there was a real buzz of excitement and positivity.
Greentech Festival is an event showcasing the best green technologies from around the world. It also provided a space and forum for some of the leading thinkers and activists to collaborate and connect.
We were lucky to be blessed with sunshine and temperatures in the low 30’s, which made our forays, test driving some electric cars with air con, a welcome treat!
At the opening of the conference, I came away massively impressed by 15 year, Vinisha Umashankar who won the young person award. It wasn’t only her invention, the Solar Ironing Cart that was impressive but also her composure and eloquence when giving a talk in front of 100s of people! I always find it mind blowing when people can do this, particularly when so young and speaking in a second language 🤯
You can watch a video of a few highlights from our trip, along with reading our highlights down below 👇
Boston Dynamics Dog
This robot dog had an incredibly impressive range of motion and could become a tool to help people and planet in situations that are too dangerous for humans.
Audi e-tron GT
Both me and Jack are big petrol heads, which is why we were making a beeline for test driving the range of electric cars available to drive at the exhibition. The highlight of which was when I was able to drive a couple of laps around the airfield, finding out how incredibly capable and quick these current electric cars are!
Supernatural Nut Butter
This was a beautifully designed and built machine that would extract all the goodness out of nuts, creating the most delicious fresh nut butters. This machine is already being used in some elite sports clubs, such as Liverpool FC and Bayern Munich.
Moyu Paper
It’s hard to know if this is more gimmick than practical. But it was surprising and impressive to see a paper substitute that is made from the stone and rock waste from quarrying.
Grover
Whilst not available in the UK at present, Grover is helping to redefine what it means to own and use technology. Grover is a subscription bases service that allows customers to hire and borrow the technology they need. Think of it as what Spotify is to the old notion of owning your music.
Natch Toothpaste
This stand initially drew us over as I needed a toothbrush .. But we came away having experienced tooth paste pellets for the first time. Made from natural ingredients and coming in glass bottles, this is a far kinder to the environment alternative, to the conventional plastic toothpaste tubes we use.
It’s fair to say the whole trip made quite the impression on us. It also helped us firm up our ideas for our new Design for Good grant. We want to help those that are developing and creating new green technologies.
If you want to read more and how it may be something you could take advantage of, please visit the page here.
