My Sustainability Pledge for 2021
I originally thought that because I don’t really have any waste or immediate by-products from running my business — being a service-based business — that my carbon footprint was minimal.
But I do use a lot of electricity: charging my laptop and phone, using Google Drive to store all my client work, checking my emails three times a day, scrolling Instagram considerably more than I should/need to, the list goes on.
I know this is something I need to address. I may be a small company but if I can set an example, then I hope the people I engage with, clients or not, might also follow suit in taking a step in the right direction.
So I intend to make this a yearly thing now.
Every January, I’m going to sit down, look at myself (and my business) in the proverbial mirror and think:
Is there any way I can use a little less energy for that?
Can I help someone else need a little less data or power to load their website?
How can I get my message across in one less Instagram story?
Or is there an alternative for something I already use/do for my business that cuts my carbon footprint just a tiny bit more?”
What I’m changing + adapting in 2021:
Carbon footprint
I’ve been chatting to my very good mate Debbie from Under2Degrees (whose background includes working as Sustainability Manager for the Watergate Bay Group, Rick Steins and having an MSc in Carbon Footprinting) about assessing the impact that my online business has.
Our energy provider is a company called OCTOPUS which is a good start at least, as for every unit of energy I use, they purchase energy from a mix of renewable energy generators, as well as renewable energy from the wholesale market in the form of renewable energy certificates.
Debbie is looking into my energy and water usage, the number of hours I’m using my laptop per week and from there we’ll work out the net weight of the carbon I’m producing.
Then I can gauge what I need to do to first reduce my energy consumption (most important!) and then offset the rest of the carbon emissions I’ve produced, by supporting companies whose job it is to offset carbon, i.e. Gold Standard verified offsets, so I know I have legit carbon savings.
Reassessing my online presence
When it comes to marketing, the more succinct we can be, the less energy it takes to upload our message to the world wide web.
I’m absolutely guilty of rambling on Instagram stories, mindless scrolling, getting sucked into the rabbit hole that is Pinterest or ‘other suggested videos’ of Carissa Moore surfing in Hawaii.
The saying goes ‘out of sight, out of mind’ which is pretty paramount to increasing visibility and trust with your audience. But my marketing strategy of 2020 wasn’t incredibly intentional.
I learnt a lot last year, to the point of writing an entire article on my mistakes, lessons and adapted strategy for the next 12 months.
So looking at how to reduce the amount of energy needed to upload my content, stories, message and value is high up on the list this year. That also goes for where I store everything:
Do I really need to keep files from clients I worked with 18 months ago?
Is it really necessary for me to send courtesy emails or just a thumbs up to people as acknowledge?
Or can I live without doing that (and therefore eliminate that tiny excessive carbon emission)?
1% for the planet and its people
I aim to ensure that AWC always gives a portion of its profit to help someone or something in some little way, whether its charitable causes or environmental organisations.
In 2020 I donated a total of 4% of my profit between Mind --a charity helping people to improve their mental health-- and St Petroc’s Cornwall, which is a local charity that provides accommodation, support and advice for the homeless in my county.
But before that, I had originally contacted the ‘1% For The Planet’ organisation to sign up. I was super excited to be involved with their epic work, until I realised that set-up and membership fees were going to be $500 (which is substantially more than AWC’S 1%).
Obviously the people who are running this organisation need to get paid to set these accounts up for larger companies and corporations, and to help find new and needy ventures for our money to go towards. But I decided that my money was going to make more of an immediate difference if I gave it directly to the end user.
If anyone has a real connection with a particular environmental cause or organisation, or there is an environmental charity you think I should know about, I’d love to hear from you, so I might put 2021’s allocated fund towards something new but equally as significant.
Instate a low waste policy ‘at work’
(i.e. in my home office)
That means recycling post-it notes and old diaries, making sure lunch doesn’t come from something that can’t be recycled, reusing old boxes and newspapers to send you my little client gifts (and sending only things that can be recycled too).
Thankfully the guys I get my coffee from (Origin Coffee Roasters, based in Helston - only a few miles away from me) let you send back the little pouches once they’re empty and they’ll recycle them for you. But even the little things like a broken pen are things I need to stop and think about too.
Invest in sustainable research
Since going self-employed, I’ve taken the money from the old pension my past employers had set up for me and moved it to a company called Penfold, who specialise in helping small businesses and sole traders plan ahead for their future selves.
There are 3 different pension plans to choose from, so I chose the one that invests my money in sustainable companies.
Even if you save a few quid every week or month, HMRC will pay £25 for every £100 you put in. AND you can get an immediate boost with £25 if you use my affiliate link (which also means I get an extra £25 popped into my own pension fund too, thank you very much)!
You can set up your account using my affiliate link right here (and just enter the referral code ‘alicebrown’ on the final payments page).