Q&A: Claudi Sult about Berlin’s green scene

Claudi Sult, founder of GreenMe Berlin, explains how she is raising awareness for sustainability in urban spaces with innovative & eco-minded tours.

Claudi is a life enthusiast and founder of GreenMe Berlin – a colorful city guide connecting travellers and locals with the urban “green scene”. Through guided tours, podcasts, maps and events, she inspires people to explore the city from a creative, sustainable angle. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and GreenMe Berlin. How did you come up with the idea?

I have a degree in sustainable tourism, but couldn’t really identify myself with the preaching tone and passive approach in parts of the industry. I much rather wanted put my focus on positive examples and talk about what is actually being done. Back in Berlin, I realized that the city is full of cool, creative, eco-minded projects. Food, fashion, zero waste, bikes, urban gardens, from one-man/woman shows to grassroots to social startups – it’s all around us!

With GreenMe Berlin, I wanted to give all of them a face, and travellers and locals a resource to easily connect with them and get inspired – without pressure or dogma. It all started as an online platform in 2016, including a map, podcast, event calendar and more. But somehow the ‘human’ element was missing, which is why we added our guided tours last year. We are truly grateful for how everything has turned out so far!

What are your “Green Berlin Tours” and what can participants experience?

Our GreenMe Kiez Tours (Kiez is Berlin slang for neighborhood) are what I always search for (but rarely find) anywhere I travel – an immersive neighborhood tour, off the beaten path, that guides you to the coolest sustainable projects in town.

We’re taking a bunch of like-minded people on an uplifting journey through Berlin’s most creative neighborhoods. For our routes, we pick some of our favorite places, which we all have a deep personal connection with – from local producers to urban gardens, vegan cafés, ethical fashion stores, collaborative communities, transformed artist spaces, and more.

In small intimate groups, we dive into various aspects of sustainability, try delicious natural food, connect with positive people, get a behind-the-scenes look of inspiring green projects and businesses – all while soaking the lively Berlin Kiez culture. And did I mention there’s tastings involved?! (I’m a massive foodie!)

What’s unique about your tours?

We give people a whole new perspective on local neighborhoods. It’s about opening our eyes and minds for the good things happening around us. We’ve had people on our tours who live in the area and were blown away by how many cool sustainable projects there are in their own home kiez. For example DingsDums Dumplings, one of the cooles food saving startups, making delicious dumplings from surplus food or Rent a Bike 44, a friendly neighborhood collective, who saves and fixes old forgotten bikes and rents them out for a cheap price.

We don’t carry around umbrellas or red flags. It’s super important to me that we create a friendly, open atmosphere where everyone is encouraged to share their ideas, visions and experiences. We also strive to build a connection between participants and the people behind the projects by starting the conversation.

In the end, it’s about motivating and empowering people that everyone of us can make a positive impact and that our actions do matter. Instead of talking about sustainability, we go out and experience it.

Plus, GreenMe is a social business, reinvesting its profits into strengthening the eco scene, and donating a part to cool NGOs within our network like Love For Life.

Do you plan to launch GreenMe in other cities?

Already done! Last winter, we launched a series of tours in Melbourne, Australia. It’s the home of my partner, so we’re there each year – and the green movement there is equally inspiring!

From December, we’ll kick it off again and also add our freshly redesigned GreenMe Map to it (Berlin launch coming soon, very exciting!)

Since starting GreenMe Berlin, it’s always been my dream to bring it to many other urban hubs. Another one might be Detroit, where our contributor Klara just moved back to. There’s SO much good stuff going on everywhere in the world – not just in the “Berlin bubble”.

What are your tipps for travelers wanting to explore cities in a more sustainable way?

Start with one thing you’re really passionate about and go from there, step by step. For many people (myself included) that’s food. For others, it’s fashion, zero waste, permaculture or future mobility. Choose what you love, then google where you can find it in a new city.

Like with most things in life, less is more – by picking one area of sustainability, it’s a) easier to find the relevant information and b) not be overwhelmed. It really isn’t hard – go taste yourself through the best vegan restaurants, check out some cool urban gardens, do some DIY workshops, hop on a bicycle.

There’s lots of tools and platforms like meetup.com, visit.org or Facebook groups where you can find all sorts of eco-minded activities. You just need to know your keywords 🙂 Staying local is another one. Choose homestays or small BnBs over global hotel chains. It’s not only sustainable, but usually guarantees a much deeper, more authentic travel experience

Thanks, Claudi!

Follow Claudi and GreenMe Berlin on Travel Massive to connect and learn more.