Op-ed: Nanette Medved-Po believes that we can be the generation that ends the plastic crisis

Twelve years ago I set up HOPE, a non-profit to help build public school classrooms in underprivileged communities in the Philippines. We sell millions of bottles of HOPE-branded water to fund these projects. But, as sales grow, so does our concern about where all that plastic is going.

As in many emerging markets, there is little to no recycling infrastructure in the Philippines. Precious tax dollars are already stretched over many urgent, competing priorities such as education and health care, leaving little to manage a large and highly fragmented waste problem. The net result: the Philippines is listed by the Ocean Conservancy as the third-largest ocean plastic polluter in the world.

I realised that in our attempt to solve one societal problem, we were adding to another. So in 2018, I started an experiment. While we encouraged consumers to return HOPE bottles for recycling, we also tried to take responsibility for our own plastic footprint and cleaned up its equivalent from the environment. The a-ha moment came when we hit our targets within the first year: I realised that if I could do it as a small player in a low-margin business, so could larger companies.

Read the full story here.

Back

Similar Stories

Abenson completes new classroom for Bungo Elementary School in Gapan, Nueva Ecija

View details

VOGUE: Nanette Medved-Po’s Message in a Bottle

View details

Career Confessions: The actress who became a prolific and internationally recognised philanthropist

View details

Banker After Dark: Stephen CuUnjieng sits down with Nanette Medved-Po and Chris Po | ANC

View details

Nanette Medved-Po shares the narrative of her advocacies and the eco-warriors behind a revolutionary solution to plastic pollution

View details

Bago City starts trash-to-cash program to reduce plastic waste

View details

[HIPE Stories] Can you put HOPE in a bottle? Nanette Medved-Po can

View details

CNN PH: HOPE launches awards to honor unsung Filipino Heroes

View details

Business Mirror: Recognizing top ‘Real Leaders’ of 2023

View details

Inquirer: CEMEX Philippines and Friends of Hope ink agreement for sustainable waste management

View details

TatlerAsia: HOPE Founder Nanette Medved-Po Receives the Coveted Asia Game Changer Award

View details

HerAgenda: A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Nanette Medved-Po

View details

CNNPH: Nanette Medved-Po receives Asia Society Game Changer Award

View details

CNBC: ‘Surprisingly easy’ to get companies to commit to reducing plastic waste

View details

PhilStar: The passionate Nanette Medved-Po

View details

Inquirer: Nanette Medved-Po named one of 2022’s game changers

View details

When in Manila: HOPE Founder Nanette Medved-Po Receives Prestigious Asia Society Game Changer Award

View details

Palmolive Seeds HOPE

View details

New Seedlings, New Beginnings: HOPE’s First Coconut Relief Drive

View details

GMA News: 1M coconut trees to be planted in Mindanao via Century Pacific, GCash, HOPE

View details

1 Million Coconut Trees To Be Planted in Mindanao

View details

Business World: Century Pacific to plant a million coconut trees in South Cotabato, Sarangani

View details

HOPE recognized as a “Best For The World™” B Corp for performance excellence beyond just profit

View details

Hope in the time of the pandemic: HOPE supports vaccination…

View details

ANC’s Insight with April Lee Tan: Generation Hope Chairperson & Founder Nanette Medved-Po

View details

CNN’s New Day: Spreading HOPE through Education and Environment Protection

View details

MSN Entertainment: Hope in a Box, Philippines’ First Carton-Packed Water by Tetra Pak Bags ‘Best CSR

View details

Inquirer: Nanette Medved-Po’s waste-to-cash business model shows way to better normal

View details

Inquirer: Nanette Medved-Po on what she learned from showbiz: ‘Don’t waste your platform’

View details

Hope in 100 classrooms and counting: Social Enterprise hits 100th classroom milestone amid pandemic

View details

CNN: Anong hope mo? Join HOPE Founder Nanette Medved-Po in spreading hope and raising awareness

View details

Philippine Tatler: Nanette Medved-Po Shares HOPE’s Progress and Impact to Education and Beyond

View details

CNBC International: Entrepreneurs need creative solutions to sustainability challenge

View details

Philippine Star: The Philippines’ first-ever carton-packaged water inspires ‘Hope in a Box’

View details

CNN: “The Source speaks to Nanette Medved-Po”

View details