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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 Cristoph,
    My name is Robin and I am 16 years old. I will write my Abi next school year and at my school you can write a seminar paper to replace an exam subject.
    In the 'Challenges of the 21st Century' section, let's pick a topic area.
    I have chosen plastic as a topic. Since I love the sea and have already read a few novels about plastic in the oceans, the topic is very close to my heart. And I hope to have a job in this direction sometime in the future.
    Unfortunately, the topic must have a subject reference and since I plan to replace chemistry as an exam subject, my priorities must naturally lie there.
    I wanted to thank you for your article, about the production, recycling, etc.. It is very detailed and well explained and will certainly help me. Probably your whole blog will help me, because I will have a focus on the chemical, but the rest, as far as the environment is concerned will not leave out.
    Now to my actual request, I text once again too much:D Do you know by chance technical literature on the subject, where it is also explained, for example, what chemical processes happen during decomposition, or anything else that helps me. I have found very little in the university library in my area. Websites or the like on the Internet would also help me.
    Best regards and thanks in advance :)
    Robin

    1. Hallo Robin! Danke fรผr dein nettes Feedback und ein frohes neues Jahr wรผnsche ich dir ๐Ÿ™‚
      As an introductory technical literature I can give you the book Plastics Knowledge for Beginners recommend. However, there is also a lot of juggling with technical terms.
      I have a good contact in plastics processing and will get back to you if you like.
      Best regards
      Christoph

      1. Hi Cristoph
        Thank you. I will definitely have a look at the book.
        If it wouldn't inconvenience you, I would be very happy for you to get in touch with someone like that for me.
        Warm regards
        Robin

        1. Hi Robin, please send me your very specific questions again. Then I will pass it on to him directly.
          Thank you and best regards
          Christoph

          1. Hi Cristoph
            Sure:), sry something mixed up:D
            1.I know that plastic decomposes to microplastic but what happens there for chemical processes e.g. under UV radiation, with salt water, etc?
            2. what exactly are monomers?
            3. are there substance formulas for plastic e.g. like for water H20
            4. where in the industry are there possible applications and for what?
            5. differences with "cheap" and "expensive" plastic.
            6. what exactly happens in the recycling process?
            7. is there an environmentally friendly production?
            8. how exactly do governments envision the future to this (trash fishing etc.)
            9. other uses besides household and industry?
            10. what resources other than petroleum are needed?
            11. production in Germany/Worldwide
            12. in the case of polyaddition/condensation: what are the starting materials?
            13. which organic solutions attack plastic?
            In a hurry I can not think of more now
            Thanks for your effort, I appreciate it very much:)
            Warm regards
            Robin

            1. Moin Robin,
              due to lack of time I have to put you off with a short answer:
              You can answer all the questions with Google. In the article What is plastic and Plastics recycling bekommst du hier bei CareElite auch schon eine Menge davon beantwortet ๐Ÿ™‚
              I hope that I have been able to help you.
              Best regards,
              Christoph

      2. Jรผrgen Feierabend

        Hello Christoph,
        the idea is simply mega and such a project anleiern......Respect.
        I travel all over the world for work and am often depressed and helpless at the same time when I see how we deal with our livelihood.
        Helpless, therefore, because as an individual I only have a minimal, if any, chance of changing anything.
        Therefore, hats off to your commitment, dedication and will.
        Great to read about something and something worth supporting and pushing forward.
        Greetings Jรผrgen

        1. Hallo Jรผrgen! Ich danke dir herzlich fรผr dein nettes Feedback! Wir alle gemeinsam kรถnnen und werden etwas verรคndern. ๐Ÿ™‚
          With best regards and a happy new year,
          Christoph

      3. Hi Christoph
        I love your website and what it/you stand for. More and more I hate the disposable society we live in....
        One of my pet hates is the over-packaging of fruit and vegetables in our supermarkets. Why is it necessary? I am originally from Australia and 20-30 years ago pretty much everything was unpackaged and you bought by weight which also reduced waste as you only bought as much as you need. Why can't European countries change the way they do this? Why does one bulb of garlic need it's own package? Why does broccoli and cauliflower need to be wrapped 5 times in cling film? Open-air markets don't do it, why do supermarkets? Even worse, the organic products have twice as much packaging as the non-organic products. Kind of defeats the purpose....
        I find it so frustrating! Anyway, if you know of a group/petition on this I'd be happy to know about it.
        Thanks a lot

        1. Hi Keiryn, thanks for sharing your thoughts about that big environmental and social problem. My answer: It's all about the profit. We are consumers, we have to change our behavior. Companies will have to change or will change voluntarily.
          Just keep' going with your awesome attitude. We will change the world but should not lose time.
          Have a great new Year, Cheers, Christoph

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