Introducing ourselves…
We are Eléonore van Rijckevorsel & Viv Mestdagh, two Belgian women who live and work in the Netherlands.
Eléonore was raised French-speaking and she lives with her Belgian husband and three young sons in Eindhoven. She has been an expatriate almost all of her life; first as a daughter; later as a wife. Because of professional and family reasons, she has been lucky to get to see something of the world. Besides living in Belgium and the Netherlands, Eléonore has also lived in Italy, Cameroon and Japan.
At Globus, Institute for Globalization and Sustainable Development of Tilburg University (now a competence center of TiasNimbas Business School) Eléonore has done research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for a number of years. CSR is a fascinating and inspiring subject that actually starts at home.
Viv grew up in Flanders and now lives with her Dutch husband and their son in Tilburg. She also has experience as an expat and she has worked almost all of her professional life in an international environment; first in the pharmaceutical industry and now for the university. Viv works as project manager for Globus and as International Program Manager for the Sustainability Challenge Foundation where she takes care of the day to day business, together with the SCF board. For her work for the foundation, she travels around the world to organize SCF programs on negotiation techniques for sustainable development by which she hopes to contribute to making the world a better place.
BRight?
Lately, Eléonore kept hearing her children asking “why”? Why do we have to turn out the light? Why do I have to eat healthy food? Why do we always go by bike?
From her European background and especially from her responsibility as a woman, a wife, and a mother, she started realizing that now is the time to pursue a Bright way of living: sustainable, yet trendy and affordable.
Like most women, Viv truly loves fashion and nice things. But it is not those things that make her really happy. By working with many inspiring and motivated professionals worldwide, Viv started rethinking her lifestyle. She believes that the time has come to do things totally differently. Sustainability is hot and we can no longer ignore it.
Now is the time to promote a new way of consuming, creating space for innovative and attractive spending patterns. We truly believe that consuming in a good and conscious way is not only making our own life more interesting, richer and healthier, but that, at the same time, it also increases the chance to a better life for everybody.
That is why this blog (started by Eléonore at first) is dedicated to sustainable family life in Eindhoven. And here we will explore, together with you and other visitors, sustainable and affordable answers to all sorts of daily questions:
- How can I shop for groceries and cook in a sustainable way?
- How can I live and (re)build in a sustainable way?
- How can I decorate and furnish my home in a sustainable way?
- How can I travel in a sustainable way?
- How can I organize sustainable vacations for my children?
- How can I organize sustainable children’s parties?
- Where can I buy or make sustainable gifts?
- Where can I buy sustainable clothing for myself and my children?
Where does Bright stand for?
It simply means right and bright choices. We have to make the best and the smartest (brightest) choices to strive for the very best for our families and our children.
Right choices
On the one hand it is all about making good choices from the large amount of products that focus on family and children, with an eye for the environment, health and fair trade issues.
We make these choices by looking at labels and certification, but also based on the opinion of experts in the field of sustainability.
Bright choices
On the other hand it is also about choosing a smart lifestyle. Undoubtedly, it is a lot of fun to organize a children’s party at McDonald’s, but there are more interesting alternatives. It might also be fun to spend your holidays on a beach in Turkey, but that is not the only option for people who want to give more meaning to their vacation. We prefer activities where creativity, health and moderate consumption are central.
Have a look at the pages that interest you. And if you have a tip about sustainability, we would love to hear it from you!
Eléonore & Viv
