Scriptoria Sustainable Development Solutions

Plastic Free July encourages us to rethink our reliance on single-use plastics. We want to use this occasion to celebrate innovators developing sustainable alternatives. 🥤

A fascinating case study, featuring Mexican entrepreneur Ana Laborde, was written by one of Scriptoria’s Strategic Communications Specialists for World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). ⬇️

While studying for her MSc in Business Innovation, Ana learned that over 400,000 tonnes of agave leaves are left over from tequila production each year. At the same time, Mexico City’s congress was drafting a bill to ban single-use plastics, so she thought that producing bioplastic bags could be a successful and sustainable business opportunity. Ana developed a process to extract cellulose from the fibrous agave pulp and turn it into biodegradable plastic products, such as bags, straws and beer glasses.

Discover more about Ana’s innovation: https://www.wipo.int/en/web/ip-advantage/w/stories/biodegradable-plastic-made-from-tequila-agave

This is a great example of how innovative thinking can transform a waste product into practical alternatives. It shows us that tackling plastic pollution requires action from everyone, from governments to entrepreneurs, and from policymakers to individuals in our everyday choices. Here are three simple ways to get started:

- Start small: Plastic Free July isn’t about perfection, so rather than trying to eliminate all plastics in one go, identify one or two single-use items you use most often, such as water bottles, coffee cups or plastic bags, and swap these for reusable alternatives. ♻️

- Use what you already have: The most sustainable swap is to something you already own. Reuse jars and takeaway containers for food and drink on the go, and dig out that old conference tote bag rather than purchasing a new one. 🫙

- Shop locally: Visit your local market to buy loose fruit and vegetables and support small businesses. Independent retailers usually offer goods with less packaging, which helps build demand for more sustainable ways of shopping. 🍅

Share your favourite plastic-free swaps in the comments below. ⬇️

Scriptoria’s Strategic Communications Team is proud to have supported the UNFPA with writing and editorial expertise since 2014. This collaboration has given us insights into the complex links between population, sustainable development and some of the world’s most pressing challenges. To mark World Population Day, themed “Realising the hopes and aspirations of young people – today and for the future”, we’re looking back at some of our recent work with UNFPA. ⬇️

Lives, Choices and Futures – Demographic Futures Survey 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Our uncertain world is prompting an urgent, global debate about fertility, family life and the future. “Lives, Choices and Futures”, UNFPA’s findings from the 2025–2026 Demographic Futures Survey, was just published and is a must-read. It explores how young adults around the world feel about relationships, parenthood and their future. Scriptoria’s Strategic Communications Specialist, who provided editorial support, recommends this as one of the most revealing and surprisingly optimistic publications of the year. It uses UNFPA’s well-honed style of statistical storytelling to draw connections between topics as varied as housing and jobs, dating apps, and the joy and happiness that children bring.

🔗 https://ow.ly/Fi3r50Zmrp3

UNFPA (2025): “The real fertility crisis”, State of World Population report 🗺️

Scriptoria has supported UNFPA’s flagship State of World Population report every year since 2019. The 2025 edition explored reproductive agency. A fifth of those surveyed said fears about the future, such as climate change, environmental degradation, wars and pandemics, would lead or had led to them having fewer children than desired. It is a thought-provoking report that sheds light on the many interconnected factors shaping global demographic change.

🔗 https://ow.ly/6tl650Zmrp1

Taking Stock: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Climate Commitments 🌏

Climate impacts are increasing in scale and intensity, with women and girls often among the most affected. In 2023, we provided editorial support for UNFPA’s “Taking Stock: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Climate Commitments” series, which covered a global review and five regional reviews of the integration of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and rights-based approaches in 119 countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The report highlighted the importance of addressing inequality and discrimination alongside climate change impacts.

🔗 https://ow.ly/fKTm50Zmrp2

If you are looking for an experienced strategic communications team that understands the complexity of the international development sector, get in touch.

[email protected] ✉️

We are continuing our series, “Celebrating 25 years of Scriptoria”, looking back at some of the Strategic Communications Team’s work from the past 10 years, since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This time, we are exploring GIZ’s EnDev programme, which for 20 years has been bringing clean, reliable energy to millions – powered by strong partnerships with governments, businesses, institutions and communities. Whether it’s lighting up homes, empowering businesses or fueling socio-economic growth, EnDev’s work directly supports SDG 7 and the global energy transition.

🔸Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy 🔸

Project: GIZ Energising Development (EnDev)

Services provided: Strategic communications | Messaging | Storytelling | Writing | Editing | Proofreading

EnDev is a strategic partnership of like-minded donors and organisations. Working in more than 20 countries, EnDev improves access to modern energy in order to promote social and economic development.

To celebrate EnDev’s 20th anniversary, Scriptoria’s expert writers created a library of best practices and human impact stories, as well as two flagship reports on clean cooking and electrification, showcasing EnDev’s successes over the years.

We loved working collaboratively with the EnDev team on this project. One highlight was an interactive workshop we facilitated to pinpoint key impacts and opportunities, as well as find the voice for EnDev’s story. Our expert writers also enjoyed conducting interviews with past and present implementers and partners to get to the heart of the stories.

If you would like our experienced Strategic Communications Team to help you develop a suite of communications products, get in touch.

📩 [email protected]

With recent record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather warnings across the UK and Europe, it can be difficult to think of anything else. The world is poised to overshoot the goal of limiting average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Experts believe these kinds of heatwaves are exacerbated by climate change and will become more common globally. 🌡️🌎

Despite this, there is still a lot of wonderful progress happening across the sustainable development sector. For example, the Alsama Project in Lebanon has won the Global Schools Prize for continuing to operate education centres amid conflict. Around 90% of Alsama students arrive illiterate and innumerate, yet most learn to read, write and count within six months. The $500,000 prize will help Alsama to increase its impact and open a school in Homs, Syria, where 14 years of conflict have destroyed over 8,000 schools. 🏫📚

Grab a cold drink and take five minutes to read June’s positive news stories. 🧊🥤🌍

Swipe through to read more. 👉