Photography for a purpose

People who know me know that topics like equality, animal rights or the protection of the environment are very important for me. However, the things I photograph – usually outdoor sports or lifestyle – don't reflect this and often that bothers me as I think my photography is too superficial or egocentric only about fun.

But recently I have teamed up with POW – Protect Our Winters Switzerland and this was the first time I could put my photography to use for the protection of our environment and to do so while being active with one of my favourite outdoor sports, in this case, ski touring.

What is POW?

According to their website, "Protect our Winters Switzerland is a non-profit organisation and a part of the global POW network. Together with our athletes, members and partners, we work for thorough protection of our climate." 

Protect Our Winters was founded in 2007 in the US by snowboarder Jeremy Jones who worried about climate change in his favourite resorts and now has partner organisations in different countries. On an international level POW has a huge network of professional athletes, scientists, photographers/videographers and internationally active companies.

What do I like about POW?

I don't remember where and when I noticed POW first. As a visual person, I like their branding because it looks fresh and modern.

Of course way more important is the message. As far as I know, POW is one of the few organisations which aims to bring outdoor enthusiasts together to protect what they love. In my opinion, this is very important because often I don't feel represented by traditional environment protection organisations.

I have been vegetarian for most of my life and since some years I gather as much information as I can on different diets and their impact on the environment. According to a study by the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, the diet makes the second biggest impact on the environment for people living in Switzerland (general consumption: 31 %, diet: 28 %, transports: 12 %, source Vegan Society Switzerland). This is mainly due to our high consumption of animal products such as dairy and meat. If we could replace some of these products by plant-based foods, huge reductions could be possible in a very easy manner! As most environmental protection organisations – and even more politics – still rather base their focus on electric mobility, renewable energies, taxes and energy consumption labels I also don't feel very represented by them (these fields are not wrong but they don't feel like the big picture either).

With that said I felt totally lucky to volunteer for POW for their campaign "Climate Protection on your Plate" which is all about vegetarian, seasonal and local food!