Impact Startup against Greenwashing

This startup also takes on some big players: Flip checks sustainability promises and uncovers cases of greenwashing. The goal: Flip’s research, which appears in media such as ZEIT and SPIEGEL, is intended to give consumers a better overview of the sustainability jungle.

The young startup’s biggest scoop is the “Sneaker Hunt” series. It’s a cross-media documentary that follows the tracks of sneakers equipped with GPS transmitters – with astonishing results. The research put Nike in a difficult position to explain themselves because the Flip team was able to prove that sneakers ordered on the Internet and returned by customers were not sold new, but destroyed. Other test shoes that were supposed to be recycled ended up in a landfill in West Africa.

Who are the people behind Flip? The four founders include journalists Felix Rohrbeck and Christian Salewski. They used investigative methods to uncover the Cum-Ex scandal, among other things. Christian Sothmann and Dominik Sothmann come from the business world. For more than ten years, they have been developing business models, products and digital platforms for companies (including Gruner & Jahr, Lichtblick), and have established several companies.

Flip is nominated for the Grimme Online Award 2022. Since authenticity, especially when it comes to sustainability, is also one of our heartfelt topics, we at flustix also recommend the Greenwashing newsletter. Click here for flip.

Image Credits: flip