EU decision to reduce its carbon footprint praised, but overlapping climate emergencies require stronger focus

“The recent EU agreement to fast-track further carbon emission cuts is good news, but much more needs to be done to turn words into actions to spur and harness human ingenuity to find ways to reduce the impacts of overlapping crises,” said Blue Founder and CEO Bengt Rittri, a Swedish environmental entrepreneur who has built successful air and water purification companies such as Blueair and Bluewater.

“The single use bottle industry is causing a gigantic carbon emissions tail resulting from their cradle-to-grave manufacture, filling, transportation, and end of use collection for recycling or disposal to land fill … or unregulated waste. The UN Environment Programme says plastics are choking our planet, with over one million plastic bottles purchased every minute and around 85% ending up in landfill or in the oceans.”

Mr Rittri notes that the events division of Blue holding Bluewater already today has disrupted the market for plastic bottles at a number of major sporting events with public water distribution solutions that end the need for single use plastic bottles to hydrate large numbers of fans. The world's first Bluewater 'wall of water' launched at the 2022 British Open, for example, offering multiple water dispensers and integrated digital signage screens.

According to the UN most plastic items never fully disappear; they just break down into smaller and smaller pieces, entering the human body through inhalation and absorption. Microplastics have been found in human lungs, livers, spleens and kidneys, and even in the placentas of new-born babies.

“It is particularly scary that the full extent of the impact of microplastics on human health is still unknown,” said Mr Rittri, who has made it his mission to leave a healthier planet for future generations though his purpose-driven Blue fund.

Apart from investing in Bluewater, a world leader in innovating planet friendly water purification and beverage solutions, the Blue fund includes a number of companies actively involved in energy saving projects. These include companies like Luma Energy (formerly known as Save-by-Solar), and Baseload Capital, which are both striving to substantially decarbonise the energy system to reduce the impact of climate change and Karün, a high-quality eyewear brand from Patagonia that uses natural, noble, and recycled materials.

Blue communications director Dave Noble says Blue supports environmentally and socially responsible solutions that deliver clean water, air, and energy and can make a tangible difference to how we live our lives better and more sustainably.

“Blue focuses on harnessing human ingenuity to return our suffering planet to health. We do that by actively supporting, engaging with, and investing in innovative and impactful entrepreneurship, from venture funding to providing hands-on advice,” Noble said.