Five Questions & Answers. Paralenz on Sustainability.
Paralenz is all about a passion for the ocean. The award-winning dive camera company is taking the lead on preserving the big blue playground by sharing data and informing science through organisations such as NOAA.
We sat down with Erikha Harket from Paralenz for a talk on sustainability and how they are pushing the agenda in the action camera category.
Everland, “How do you define sustainability?”
Erikha Harket, “I think sustainability is serving as a well functioning box to simplify and unite the importance of being climate-conscious and environmentally friendly. One could also argue that the word is misused and that no one can be fully sustainable, but I think we need to embrace the positive connotations of one term that points us in the right direction.”
“Tell us a bit about Paralenz’s sustainability journey. What got you started, and what has been the biggest eye-opener for you?”
“The company grew out from a fisherman and a diver with a great passion for the Ocean and therefore wanted to create an easy tool to “share the deep”. In the process of developing the perfect dive camera, they figured they might as well add some extra sensors to the camera for divers to be able to track their dive, but also sensors that might be of use to help marine science one day. All of that escalated into a citizen-scientist-way-of-thinking, which is the foundation for our company today – in all measures. That being said, Paralenz, like any other hardware producer, still have a huge job in front of us in terms of carbon footprint. Working with something related to the Ocean is an eye-opener in itself. The Ocean is running out of Oxygen, and every contribution counts. Divers are our witnesses of life below the surface, and what they see should be shared with as many people as possible.”
“From your perspective, how can brand fuel change?”
“Sometimes, brands can be even more powerful than governments and policies. But I think it’s dangerous for companies to act like politicians and be populist pleasers. Change takes time, persistence and context. Companies need to be first movers, even if their efforts need context for their users to follow. Without an ethical and sustainable compass among the most powerful companies in the world, I can hardly see how we can believe in our planet’s future.”
“What makes you optimistic about the future?”
“Young people and Blackrock’s Larry Fink and their $41 trillion climate pact.”
“If you were to give one piece of advice to brand owners looking to turn good intentions into actions, what would it be?”
“Never sacrifice purpose over short-term profit. You will get a long-term win if you take care of the triple Ps: people, planet, and profit. As a wise guy from Everland once told us: Little by little, a little becomes a lot!”
Visit Paralenz’s website for more information.