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About

Hello everyone! I am Christoph, Environmental Scientist, passionate Authorand sports enthusiast Animal and nature conservationists.

I have been living for many years vegan, waste-avoiding and minimalist wherever possible.

I would like to take this opportunity to to welcome you to CareElite and you my personal story to tell.

About CareElite

With this blog, I would like to raise our awareness of the uniqueness of nature and the ecological problems of our time and show how each of us live more sustainably and consciously can. You'll also find everyday tips, helpful tools and products - and clear answers to all sustainability questions.

Since I am here Absolutely transparent holistic solution approach, the Variety of topics from zero waste, plant-based nutrition, animal welfare, gardening, mobility, travel, fashion, finance, do-it-yourself, work, technology and minimalism to personal development.

Good to know: The word part "Care" is derived from the English word for care & mindfulness and fits perfectly with what we want to achieve. And the term "elite" stands for a group of great people and therefore for our sustainable community.

My story: How it all began

Since 2015, I have been actively committed to protecting our planet and all the creatures that roam it. But that wasn't always the case, of course.

After training as a banker and studying online marketing, I was initially quite surprised to realize that I lacked a real, long-term goal in life. What do I want to achieve, what do I want to stand up for and what could be my mission in life? I didn't have an answer yet - but I wanted to find one.

The decisive moment in Sri Lanka

With a Backpack trip in Sri Lanka, I gave myself 3 weeks to think about the answer. And on my first casual walk along the beach in Arugam Bay, a wave of individual flip flops, crumpled straws, cups, juice packs and lots of disposable plastic bottles came crashing down on me. On one of these plastic bottles - still easy to read - was an expiration date of 1986. The contents had of course been enjoyed long ago - but the bottle itself still looked as if it had only been thrown into the water a few days ago.

While questions such as "How is it that the bottle still looks so brand new?" and "What is the cause of this? Waste wave?" were running through my head, I first got myself a few garbage bags and started to tidy up. And not just the one wave, but also all the other disposable garbage I could find on the beach.

Just twenty minutes later, there were already four of us, as a local resident and two tourists lent a hand. Only 2 hours, six more participants and twelve bulging garbage bags later, the beach then looked again as one knew it from the typical vacation catalogs. A truly satisfying moment.

Question marks become exclamation marks

Incidentally, the garbage then disappeared at a local recycling company, which I had contacted after our action. However, the questions kept piling up in my head"Why hasn't anyone done anything, even though the garbage has obviously been sloshing around here for decades?" and "To what extent am I actually part of this problem?".

After a well-earned after-work beer with the helpers, I started researching on my laptop: Plastic is eternalbecause it is not biodegradable. I wasn't aware of that until then. I also found out that a plastic bottle takes about 450 years to decompose through sun, wind and waves into smaller plastic bottles. Microplastics has decomposed - and that no one was doing anything about it because waste was omnipresent and single-use plastic had become a permanent, convenient part of everyday life. Waste that I also produce in large quantities at home - and which at the time was also exported from Germany, mainly to Asian countries without functioning recycling systems. 

So I had found all the answers to my questions. Also to the really big one regarding my mission in life. I had understood that it is not enough to hope and wait for someone else to save our planet. Instead, I have to become part of the solution myself if I want to see positive change.

What has happened since the trip

Back in Germany, I then got my analyzed personal waste from one week and specifically looked for waste-free alternatives to bottles, straws and other disposable plastic products. I also founded my Blog and the global CleanUp community on Facebookwhich now involves over 5,000 people from all over the world actively collecting waste from nature.

CareElite Environmental Protection Project Plastic Waste

CareElite has been growing steadily ever since. The Store with plastic-free, sustainable products was added. In addition, the "mvg Verlag" me - so that together we could some books published and the odd appearance on TV and other media followed.

I then also went to Indonesia and India to More CleanUps and to raise even more awareness of the human waste problem. I am now traveling the world less often, but I am still too 100 percent focused on my mission and my work as a blogger.

I am also no longer as dogmatic as I was at the beginning, as I have realized that nobody has to do everything perfectly in their life. Striving for positive change is much more important.

Driven by my work for environmental protection and my love of animals I have also been vegan since 2019. A step that has made me much happier, as I can now in line with my personal values (including respect and compassion) - and no more animals are killed for my lifestyle.

Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that the plastic-free blog will inevitably become a sustainability blog over time developed with a more holistic approach ๐Ÿ˜‰

And now have fun at CareElite!

I hope that with these lines inspire and motivate to do something for our planet ourselves and simply live more naturally and consciously.

Simply use CareElite as a constant contact point and devote yourself next to these, for example Core topics of the blog:

And here you can also find out how you can Join our community simply by following your heart.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to fighting with you to protect our planet - and all the creatures that live on it.

Do you have any questions?

Then use the Comment function below - or contact me personally via the Contact form with me. I look forward to your message and will try to answer you as soon as possible.

47 thoughts on “About”

  1. Hello Christoph,
    First of all respect and a high five for your commitment! I'm only recently active in the blogging world and come about the gentle parenting and sustainability (which has set with me with the Nachwuch) to plastic-free. Dei blog is really super informative and I love what you have accomplished. I would like to order a few things through your store. Unfortunately, I found on amazon that yes again the things often pack in plastic / bubble wrap or similar. Do you have alternative sources or an idea? With it is eg around the Panda kitchen roll.
    Many love greetings from Frankfurt
    Laura

    1. Hi Laura! Danke fรผr dein Feedback ๐Ÿ™‚
      Unfortunately, I also have to realize this again and again. Therefore, by the end of the year, there will be the own CareElite store, where the products are guaranteed to be shipped plastic-free. Of course, I can not guarantee this for all third-party products, but this is an important step.
      Amazon is also currently working on more environmentally friendly solutions for shipping, as the pressure is becoming increasingly higher. We can certainly expect an adjustment soon. Some products already state that they will be shipped in environmentally friendly packaging.
      Many greetings
      Christoph

  2. Hello Christoph,
    I am currently using their source for my thesis.
    However, to explicitly mark the source I need your last name.
    Lg
    Johanna Brylowski

  3. Hello Christoph,
    is it really necessary for you to travel the world as a digital nomad and organize clean-ups?
    If I look at Rwanda, for example, which already bans plastic bags, then you don't need to organize more clean-ups, do you?
    And one more question about the bamboo toothbrushes. Can they not also be produced in Germany? (from wood)
    LG Georgia

    1. Hi Georgia, thank you for your nice comment. I'll try to summarize the answer in a few sentences.
      Zu den CleanUps: Es geht nicht nur um das Mรผllsammeln an sich, es geht um die Aufklรคrungsarbeit hier vor Ort. Die schafft man durch die CleanUps, aber auch durch Events, bei denen รผber das Thema gesprochen wird. Durch Social Media kann ich sehr viele Leute damit erreichen und die Aufklรคrungsarbeit auch dahin ausweiten, wo das CleanUp รผberhaupt nicht stattgefunden hat. Theoretisch kann ich es natรผrlich auch wie jeder andere internationale Unternehmer machen und einfach nur in der Welt hin und herfliegen ohne CleanUps zu machen. Was ist dir lieber? ๐Ÿ˜‰
      Regarding the wooden toothbrush: I am currently trying to find a European solution that does not require such a long sea transport. However, the masses of bamboo wood here always have to be imported, whether as whole wood or as a finished product. Always happy to hear suggestions, including other alternative plastic-free products.
      Thank you for your commitment and best regards
      Christoph

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