Adam, youth serving the planet.
At COG , our perception of ethical fashion is inseparable from the people who embody its values. For that, our greatest inspirations are still you! And who is more inspiring than the youth who are active in giving voice to the awakening of the ecological cause? Today, it's Adam, 19 years old, freshly graduated from the baccalaureate, who shares with us his views, thoughts and initiatives to defend a more ecological and responsible model of life .
Hello Adam, thank you for giving us some of your time.
We discovered on your Instagram account that the mayor of your town gave you the civic prize last year for your involvement in defending the ecological cause. Can you tell us more ?
Yes ! Following numerous waste collections and awareness-raising actions that we organized, Emilie Richard and I, representatives of the eco'club of the town of L'Arbresle, the town hall applied for the Citizenship Prize of the National Association of Members of the National Order of Merit (ANMONM), aimed at awarding medals to minors involved in civic actions. The knights of the association who could not decide between two applications, decided to create the special Jury prize which was given to us in September 2020 at the Rhône prefecture (69).
Congratulations to both of you for this wonderful involvement! What event(s) led you to want to act for the planet?
I think it's the fact of becoming vegan three years ago which gradually made me aware not only of the protection of living things, but also of ecological issues. Veganism and ecology are two closely linked themes , and it just clicked. By wondering about my diet, I quickly wondered about consumption in the broad sense and then about the actions I could take to make mine more responsible, and reduce the specific impact of my purchases.
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INTERMORT: THE LINK BETWEEN VEGANISM AND ECOLOGY.
Livestock farming causes a heavy ecological toll:
The establishment of pastures and the cultivation of cereals necessary to feed the herds require deforestation and the felling of thousands of hectares of trees.
The cultivation of cereals needed to feed animals, their gastric emissions and the transport linked to their breeding and slaughter are responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. .
Spreading and waste specific to livestock farms contribute to pollution and the depletion of fresh water sources .
Fishing causing massive pollution:
Fuels emitted by trawlers are a source of large quantities of greenhouse gases .
Overfishing leads to a decline in marine biodiversity necessary for the absorption of CO2. Overfishing contributes to increased global warming in addition to damaging the seabed.
An average of 640,000 tonnes of fishing equipment (mainly plastics) would be lost or abandoned at sea every year.
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Let's talk a little, let's talk COG: can we ask you why you decided to order from us?
I know COG since your beginnings on Instagram when you posted current “victories and good news” around animals and the environment. Originally, I was intrigued by the launch of this new Lyon brand, then the design of the Winton caught my eye ;) But what convinced me above all was that the manufacturing of your models was in line with my values.
I hadn't bought shoes for a while because I no longer wanted to put my money into a product that didn't care about the well-being of the environment and workers. So a brand, ethical, vegan with all these assets that I was looking for, and what's more, from the Rhône-Alpes region; suffice to say that with COG I found myself. THANKS !
Many thanks to you Adam! So, we risk asking you (under bailiff control ;)) are you satisfied with your sneakers?
They were able to satisfy my feet, conquer my heart and ease my conscience, I am very happy with them! ;)
Last year, you helped an animal in distress, can you share with us its rescue?
It really wasn't much! While hiking with a friend, we came across a cow chewing on a plastic glove. We just took the plastic off his snout, and put the glove where it should have been all along: in a trash can.
It is difficult to measure the impact of throwing such ordinary-looking waste as a plastic bottle or cigarette butt into nature. However, the consequences are tragic, both for the environment due to the pollution they emit, and for the danger they represent for all the animal lives they harm.
Become aware has reduce its consumption of single-use plastics and worrying about the end of life of our objects has today become imperative for the common good . In this regard, trash cans remain a good option :)
Who are your models, your inspirations?
Many people inspire me! I think of Martin Skadal in Norway, to Ed Winter in England, to Isra Hirshi in the USA, to Greta Thunberg in Sweden, to Malcom Ferdinand In France. And all the actors of non-publicized change are also examples to follow!
Any personal ideas or approaches to share with us to better protect the environment on a daily basis?
I think there are as many ways to act as there are people on the planet. For me it is essential to constantly educate yourself, document yourself and question yourself on ethical and environmental problems, but also to share and transmit to us the fruit of our learning.
Then, changes happen naturally I think, each according to our affinities and our resilience. Reduce your consumption of meat products or become vegetarian, vegan, limit polluting transport, consume on a European scale, travel locally, eat organic, dress ethically, limit your use of single-use plastics; a thousand ways are available to us, we just need to be curious and explore them.
My tip: develop your concern and proximity to the environment, to the well-being of humans and animals to better support the efforts, then make the necessary changes to improve the conditions of all while listening to each other . As far as possible, we all have a stone to make, however small it may be.
Your ethical wish for the future?
There is a lot to look forward to. But my wish would be to see more people feel concerned by ethical causes, in the hope of all living together in kindness. COGs _ on your feet and your head held high ;)
Thank you very much Adam!
...for taking the time to respond to this short interview, and even more for devoting your motivation and energy to the defense of such just causes. We hope that your example inspires many people; you have already at least won the hearts of our team :) Looking forward to a future exchange, and thank you for your many signs of support.
Also discover the other articles and interviews on our blog .