Monika Poppy

Monika Poppy

29 Oct 2019

"We need to stop shaming the ones that do wrong when they attempt to take action and try to instead educate each other in a kind way."

Monika, welcome to A Good Community! You are London-based as we understand it, but where are you originally from?

I grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden. This is where my sustainability stems from as Swedes are encouraged from a young age to care for the environment. As a teenager, I moved to London for studies and haven’t left since.

How do you spend most of your days?

As and influencer and a public speaker, my work place varies every day. Some days I will spend the entire day at home discovering new sustainable brands and researching the latest news regarding sustainability. Other days I will be out and about photographing or looking for inspiration.

I have a couple of public speaking engagements every month. This can be anything from teaching a seminar at a university to being on a panel at an event, or making an appearance for media segments. Every day is different, this is why I really love what I do.

Sustainable tip from Monika's Instagram sustainabilityiscool: "If youre like me and develop a soup addiction during the cold months then you should try making your own vegetable stock. All you do is save your peels and scraps, you can chose your own flavours, I like to use lemons in mine. Then simmer in water for an hour, drain out the liquid back into the jar and taadaaa: vegetable stock!"

Sounds like you have a very inspiring and flexible work life! In which ways does your work reflect your passions and goals?

My greatest passion is to educate and inspire. I know that a lot of current sustainability activists are all about raising awareness about our present climate emergency. I work towards empowering individuals to become more sustainable in their everyday lives and gain a deeper understanding of what steps to take.

My ambition and goal is to get to the same level of influencing as the major influencers of our time. I truly believe that they are the marketing leaders of our future. This is powerful, and if this power falls into the wrong hands it could be very detrimental to the future of sustainability.

What, in your view, is society’s greatest challenge and what can we as individuals do to address it?

I think our biggest challenge right now is that everyone is entering a state of panic without acknowledging that panic is counterproductive. It is not enough to merely be aware of everything that is wrong.

The awareness has to lead to real changes.

I think innovation is key here as you can’t always guarantee products will be liked or needed when you purchase online. There needs to be more focus for research and development of sustainable packaging.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on sustainability challenges and opportunities. Our final question to you: What in your mind signifies A Good Community?

A Good community is one where we stop shaming those that do wrong when making an effort to lead a more sustainable life and try to instead educate each other in a kind way.

I think what everyone really has to work on is removing fear from taking steps to being sustainable. I think a lot of us don’t take action or don’t raise our voices because we’re scared to be wrong or make mistakes.

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Anders Ankarlid

Anders Ankarlid

Co-founder & Product Development Lead

Co-founder of agood company and product development lead. A serial e-commerce entrepreneur, and a father of three. Have worked in e-commerce for more than a decade. Mindless consumption activist.

"I want to be able to look into my kids’ eyes and honestly say: "I did everything I could to hinder climate-change”

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