The climate crisis is immediate, terrifying, and overwhelming. The only way to address it is with huge political and systematic change. I hate that oil companies came up with the concept of the individual carbon footprint in order to shift responsibility onto individual. (Yep, that’s right, BP’s PR company invented it in 2004.)
But I aim to run a ‘good’ business. And to me, a big part of that is being environmentally responsible and reducing carbon emissions. So here’s what I’m doing to that end:
- I signed the Clean Creatives pledge. I don’t work with fossil fuel companies or those associated with them. The ‘associated with them’ bit is important, as I work in the arts and culture sector where oil company sponsorship is a contentious issue. Find out more about Clean Creatives.
- I switched my website hosting to a company that uses 100% renewable energy and does carbon offsetting. Technically I think that makes my website carbon positive.
- I redesigned and rebuilt my website so that it uses less energy. I’ve still got more work to do on this
- I’m offsetting my business’s emissions with Ecologi. I know carbon offsetting isn’t perfect, but this is something I do as well as reducing my emissions, not instead of. And I like knowing that my business is planting trees (157 to date) and supporting clean energy projects. Find out more about Ecologi and see my offsetting stats.
- I try not to buy stuff/buy second-hand when I do need something. I avoid buying things as much as possible. That’s pretty easy for me, because my business is largely digital. When I do need something, I always try to buy second-hand. My laptop, keyboard, mouse, and even my desk fan are all second-hand. Buying refurbished tech or second-hand goods is a great way to cut the impact of the things you do need to buy.
- I advocate for people to delete content. I take every opportunity I get to let people know that content has a carbon footprint and to delete anything they don’t need. Find out more about how deleting content cuts your carbon footprint.
This is just the start. There’s lots more work for me to do. One of the biggest questions I have is about how my business can play a part in bringing about the political and systematic change we need so badly. If you have any ideas, get in touch.
