SwedCham HK’s Sustainability Platform consists of 15-20 companies, all committed to adopt sustainable business practices in Hong Kong and beyond. We have given the committee members and other friends of SwedCham HK a chance to further explain their ambitions and thoughts on the subject. Their views are presented as a series of sustainability stories on our website every week. This week’s story comes from Jesper Lindquist, co-founder of the eco-resort PARADAZE and member of SwedCham’s Sustainability Committee.
How would you describe the way you work with sustainability at your company today?
– Sustainability is at the core of PARADAZE. When we started the company, I and my business partner Oliver Riman decided that we needed to be environmentally friendly. We aim to go beyond being carbon neutral. Everything that we need to develop within the scope of our business, we first have to look at it from a sustainability perspective, balance it with a financial perspective and then get creative to make sure we get them both into the chosen path. This adds to the difficulty of making a business profitable, however, as we see it, there is no other way.
A few of the ways we work towards a better sustainable world, apart from the obvious reducing plastics and eating less meat, we apply environmentally smart solutions to our construction, our farm grows organic vegetables and herbs for our future F&B, we support local initiatives with charity donations. You can read more about our sustainability work on our website www.PARADAZE.com
Tell us about your own journey within sustainability!
– To be frank, I used to work in fashion and designed and produced seasonal products, products of great quality to last, yet seasonal. One evening a few years ago I happened to watch “Before the flood” and just like that, I lost all interest in producing more products that would just make things worse. Strange feeling but being an entrepreneur, passion is everything so I just had to rethink my focus. I immediately started to find a new way to live and also use my experiences to inspire people to also make a stand for a better world. Just the way that the documentary had inspired me to do. It all culminated when I talked with a good friend of mine and we, after some research and planning, decided to buy some land in Philippines and build an eco-resort. And just like that PARADAZE was born. It is not a walk in the park to try to do something like that in a third world country, but after having a lot of talks and discussions with other eco-prenuers we feel like we have chosen a path that we are more than happy to travel upon.
What made you join SwedCham HK´s Sustainability Committee?
– Having lived and worked in Asia for about 15 years I have many times come across the great work of the Swedish Chambers (Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong). I heard about the Sustainability Committee from a long time friend of mine, but since PARADAZE wasn’t a member of the Chamber, we first had to join before being able to be a part of the committee. I have seen all the positive things the Sustainability Committee been able to perform since the start and I feel very blessed to be able to join such a great initiative with like-minded people.
How would you like to help make Hong Kong and the world more sustainable?
– Getting the possibility to get a voice through the SweCham HK is a first step to make an impact actively and going out into the world ourselves. We would like to support all like-minded people out there in their fight for a more healthy and sustainable future. The tipping point of the earth’s health might be closer than we think and we cannot sit at home and wait for a change that might not come at all.
Paradaze will set an example in how to build, create and deal with everyday problems of consumerism. We aim to inspire and influence guests, in a way to create more fans of our concept. Fans that learn from us and can bring those lessons back home to their families and friends. We hope to be able to multiply and amplify the positive message to create an impact. We want people to realise the problem, and inspire them work towards the solution.
Read more about PARADAZE at www.PARADAZE.com
or visit their Instagram @paradaze.ph or Facebook www.facebook.com/welcometoparadaze/
