Sustainable living with Diana Verde Nieto from Positive Luxury

Auli Conversations

We talk to the wonderful Diana Verde Nieto, CEO and Co-founder of Positive luxury, about sustainability and what is keeping her inspired during isolation.

“I’ve taken this opportunity to re-think, to challenge myself and to dig deep. I think that humanity will be better after this. It won’t be easy, but in the long run, I think we will end up with a more mindful society”

Meet Diana Verde Nieto- Co-founder and CEO of Positive luxury, the women behind butterfly mark, awarded to luxury brands in recognition of their commitment to having a positive impact on people and the planet. Having been trained by Al Gore at the Alliance of Climate Change and being honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, she sits on the Sustainable Development Goals Advisory Council.

Diana is an adviser to the British Fashion Council, and the European Council of Conservation International.

Read to find out more on how our choices can have a positive impact on the world every time we shop and what is keeping her inspired during isolation.

How are you keeping yourself positive and inspired in the current crisis? Can you share your thoughts?

As they say, don’t let a crisis go to waste. So, I’ve taken this opportunity to re-think, to challenge myself and to dig deep. I think that humanity will be better after this. It won’t be easy, but in the long run, I think we will end up with a more mindful society.

What is the inspiration behind positive luxury and butterfly mark?

My Co-founder Karen Hanton MBE and I decided  to combining our skill sets, tech on her side and sustainability on mine, and we created a mark that is technology-driven to create mass change and mobilise consumers to choose brands that have a positive impact in the world.  We were inspired by the story of the Large British Blue Butterfly, which became the most successful insect reintroduction in the world when it was brought back from near extinction in the UK. Sir David Attenborough told me this story in 2010 when I presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and it exemplifies how we can come together to reverse the negative impact we are having on our planet’s resources. It’s taken us nine years to get to where we are, now sustainability is the new black! I dreamt about this moment in history since I’ve started by career in this field 23 years ago.

I vote with my money every time I shop. It feels good to support the companies that invest in leaving our world a bit better

What does positive luxury mean to you in your day to day life?

For me, it is choosing brands that are having a positive impact on the world. I vote with my money every time I shop. It feels good to support the companies that invest in leaving our world a bit better.

Contemplation is taking place in our living rooms; kitchens as our hyper-connected world has slowed down. Do you think this could have a positive impact on our attitudes towards over consumption in the post covid world?

I think re-thinking the way we shop is definitely good, but with COVID-19, where the world has come to a halt, the planet is healthier but the economy and therefore people are not. I hope we are entering a new phase where we can to figure out how we can run restorative business where people, profit and planet do not have to be a trade-off.

What causes are closest to your heart?

So many that are too long to describe. But I’m on the committee for Grassroots Soccer. It very easy to see first-hand the impact of the work that we do.

As a modern consumer how can we have a more conscious lifestyle contributing towards a greener future?

Choose a brand that has the Butterfly Mark certification.

What are your top tips to connect with nature whilst staying home?

Make that one-hour count and walk in the park if you have one close to you, or garden. Love that.

Your top picks to read, watch and listen.

I love reading. Recent books: The Ten Types of Human by Dexter Dias; Diversify by June Sarpong; Humans are Underrated by Geoff Colvin; H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald; Gorillas in the Mist by Dian Fossey; and Leadership and Self-Deception from the Arbinger Institute.