Practice Day: Sustainability at home

Sustainability means so much to so many people, yet most of us have our own unique ways of trying to be more sustainable. On Friday the 7^th of July, we at WWA Studios held our annual practice day with the day’s theme all about sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint.

It was a bright and early start for us as we travelled in our electric cars to the Milton Hill House in Abingdon for a 9 am start. After a deliciously freshly baked pastry – of which we all had seconds and some had thirds – and a welcoming speech from our MD Philip Waddy, we welcomed our guest speaker Jen Gale, founder of sustainable(ish).

Jen Gale started out her first blog by documenting her journey for a year of buying nothing new: My Make Do and Mend Year, after which she realized that as one person and one family, you can make a change one baby step at a time and in a way that is suited to you and your family. She now has a successful Carbon Literacy Training course, ‘Talking Climate’. The course is designed to give you the knowledge and, importantly, the confidence to talk to others about the Climate Crisis, as well as how to take effective action as an individual or as a group, irrespective of your social setting.

Jen discussed with us how we can make small changes in our daily lives and how every small change irrespective of your choice and what is right for you and your family can make a difference.

She suggested some of the following which I thought were some really manageable ones to start with; using a greener banking service provider, using more sustainable mobiles, swop Christmas jumpers with your colleagues, family or friends instead of buying a new one, eating one less meaty meal a week, and reduce your dairy intake and try plant-based alternatives. Don’t get me wrong this would be a very tough one for me to follow, the dairy not so much but definitely the meat part of it.

Other small changes we can make are to reduce the Airmiles we so love to accumulate and instead travel by train or bus – road trip anyone! Short trips to the shop can be done using your bicycle or just by walking there and back with your shopper. Not cool, I know but take a stroll and smell the roses while you are at it or take the dog for a walk. If like me you don’t have a dog, take the children for a walk or a bike ride. In every aspect of your day-to-day, you can make a change, yes even at work.

I found Jen’s talk inspiring and informative because it reassured me that no matter what the small changes are that I make daily, those changes are making a difference. Sure, they might not make a global impact, but they might just make enough of a difference to my community, my life and that of my family. What resonated with me the most was that it can be an imperfect action, that choosing one thing to change at a time – will matter and that it doesn’t have to be perfect.

The one change I have been trying to make is to eat less meat, but unfortunately, that has not been going so well. Some plant-based options just don’t seem that appealing to me, I have tried vegan sausages – they are surprisingly tasty and you wouldn’t know the difference. Vegan cheese, uhm maybe I haven’t found the right kind just yet. Eating more vegetables is something I could easily do yet struggle with the most.

But instead of focusing on what I am not doing, I am going to think about the good I am doing on a smaller scale. I walk or scooter to work, we don’t have a car and are planning on buying bicycles for trips to the shops. We try our best to recycle what we can and do our best to cut down on food waste. Shockingly UK households cause 70% of the UK’s food waste.

So now I ask you, if you were to make one change in your daily life what would it be?

Share with us the changes you make whether in the office or at home, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Written by Kim Vermaak – Marketing & Client Relations Manager