Reporter Carolina Bluemke interviews Giulio Pavesi, one of the student organizers and founders of the sustainability start-up Oxygen.
On April 22, 2024, the student sustainability group “Oxygen” celebrated Earth Day by hosting six guest speakers who gave rousing speeches about their sustainable solutions. This event was supported by various student associations, such as SEC, Mercurius, SEFA, and SIB. Additionally, it was sponsored by the UvA Faculty of Humanities and Reusify. The speakers included entrepreneurs Melissa Wijngaarden (Legal and HR at Project CECE), Sofie Wijlens (Sales at Tex Tracer), Brad Vanstone (Co-founder of Willicroft), Katarine Dabo (CEO at Reusify), Steef Fleur (Creative Director at Billie Wonder) and Merijn Everaarts (Founder and Owner of Dopper). From changing our everyday habits to transforming the global business landscape, all agreed that addressing their daily challenges was the first step.
“Our mission is to be out of business because this means that the problem is solved,” said Merijn Everaarts, whose brand specializes in reusable water bottles. The core objective isn’t to sell — it’s to solve.
The solutions presented by the speakers ranged from fashion to food, but all of them emphasized daily issues. Melissa Wijngaarden noticed the absence of a platform for sustainable brands while shopping for clothes and began brainstorming at UvA’s Science Park campus in 2016. Meanwhile, Steef Fleur noticed the flaws within baby products while changing her baby’s diapers, and Katarina Dabo thought of the waste we leave behind with coffee cups while sipping on her daily brew. Additionally, Brad Vanstone highlighted the green shift in the business landscape due to recent EU policy updates. He advocates introducing more product variety on the dinner table to lower our carbon footprint and make dairy net-positive. Sofie Wijlens mentioned that 90% of investors consider ESG issues (environmental, social, and governance-related standards) before investing, showing a shift in investor mindset.
The Amsterdammer reflected on this event with Giulio Pavesi, a UvA student and organizer at Oxygen, who is also the co-founder of Gen Z Now and founder of GP Creative Services.