Last week was the 3rd ever Edition of The Brunch Club; The Summer Edition.

Despite a few last-minute changes due to the weather, everything came together perfectly in the end, and that true positive, inspiring, don’t-know-why-but-I’m-buzzing Brunch Club vibe was created yet again.

Starting with the credits…

No one stays to see the roll credits, but the truth is that the event would not have been possible without the support of all of you.

A big thank you to our panelists Alex & Joanna, to Lara’s Brunch for the incredible catering, to Ana for the pictures, to Montriond for the outdoor space, and every single one of you for coming!

Now onto the event recap…

We started with Yoga

The Discussion

The topic of this Summer Edition of The Brunch Club was Sustainable Living. In order to dive deeper into the topic, we welcomed Alex Badoux, the COO of Farmy.ch (an online market place, delivering local and organic products straight from the farmer to you) and Joanna Massacand, the co-founder of kaio swim (Switzerland’s first sustainable swimwear brand). The discussion could hardly be described as any other than eye-opening.

As someone who considers themselves rather in-the-loop when it comes to low-impact living and sustainability, I definitely learned a few things that made me put everything I thought I knew into question.

Here were some highlights:

That moment where Alex said: “the ecological impact of the life cycle of a paper bag is 8x more that plastic.” Explanation: in Switzerland plastic is burned to create energy, which is actually an extremely efficient method. You don’t need much plastic to create a significant amount of power. On the other hand, recycling paper requires much energy to recycle. Conclusion: paper is “bad”, but reuse it as many times as possible before recycling.
When Joanna was asked: “does sustainable fashion even exist?” and the answer was “no, not really.” Explanation: it all comes down to how you define sustainability. There are “more” and “less” sustainable ways to create clothing. The way that fashion current works with constantly changing seasons, trends and fads cannot be sustainable. That’s where kaio swim comes in. They create timeless pieces and try to close the loop by designing swimwear created with recycled plastic.
To conclude the conversation, both panelists were asked “What’s the first step you would recommend to anyone hoping to live a more sustainable lifestyle?”
- Joanna: “Start by reflecting on your consumption habits and identify the area you feel most comfortable changing. Make a slow and steady effort to make small changes little by little. You don’t need to go waste-free overnight, but make yourself a goal and work on it every day.”
- Alex: “You can’t be sustainable in all aspects. Start by choosing a value and respecting it. Then start moving away from shopping for price but focus instead on value and quality. Understand that all produce is seasonal and learn to accept that there are certain products you won’t have depending on the season.”

When asking Brunch Club participants what was their biggest take-away, here were some replies:

“Reducing” is the first R in the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) and it should always be your first priority. They’re in that order for a reason!
Always put into question what you believe: what we believe to be the best solution isn’t always the case
Sustainability is a totally different concept that what the media presents it to be
Most plastic in Switzerland is recycled and put to good use by creating power
There’s no “right” or “wrong” when it comes to sustainability. Everyone is on a different path with different circumstances.