Inspiring Conversations with Sarah Ganzenmuller of Ripplfect

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Ganzenmuller.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Our earth is dying. Every week we see undeniable climate events. Entire ecosystems are collapsing from a range of human-caused activities. The UN’s recent climate report clearly states we are running out of time.

We need to act now, but there is so much climate doomism in the media it is paralyzing. It’s easy to feel hopeless when the reality is as consumers, the choices we make every day have a tremendous impact. An estimated 66% of carbon emissions are linked to decisions we make about how we live, eat and move. There’s no time to wait on corporations and governments – we can collectively spark the change.

I felt it was a time a platform brought people together to focus on small steps. One that educated consumers on what it is they should be doing or buying and rewarded them for it. Current climate apps charge consumers to offset their carbon footprint instead of actually helping their users mitigate their emissions through purchases and behaviour change. I believe rather than blaming and shaming consumers, we should help them make progress toward a more sustainable life. Carbon footprints were created by big oil – at Ripplfect, we aren’t here to blame you for the climate crisis because it isn’t your fault, we are here to empower you and give you the tools you need to make a change.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like most startups, the original vision looks completely different from what it is today. The arch of Ripplfect followed a typical environmentalists journey, where first I was hyper-focused on waste. The original apps main purpose was to get people to bring reusable cups to coffee shops. I quickly realized partnering with small businesses like coffee shops wasn’t a scalable model – and as I started to get more into the space learned how waste is such a small piece of the puzzle. Advocacy, education, influence play a huge role. I also learned what a huge gap there was in the market when it comes to helping individuals take climate action beyond offsetting their impact. I realized what a need there was for consolidated information on what an individual should be doing or buying to make a difference. On the Ripplfect platform, we quantify the collective impact to make your contribution more real- inspiring the community to take action – because sustainability shouldn’t be in a silo.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Ripplfect?
Through our community-based platform, Ripplfect proves that our individual actions can create ripple effects that inspire and motivate collective actions, moving us toward systemic change.

Sustainability looks different for everyone. Ripplfect find’s you where you are – wherever that may be and rewards you for your impact. Whether it’s switching to a shampoo bar, bringing a reusable cup, signing up for a composting program, shopping at a zero waste store, biking instead of driving or buying clothes secondhand. Ripplfect makes it extremely easy to understand what you should be doing and buying to make a difference.

What’s next?
We will launch the full version of the app early next year!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theripplfect.com
• Instagram: @theripplfect
• Facebook: @theripplfect
• Youtube: @theripplfect

Image Credits
Callum Shaw