Recently, my employer has been looking to analyse their impact on the environment and the aim is to become carbon-neutral. A group of people have taken ownership of this idea and call themselves “Green Champions”.
During the launch of our Sustainability Strategy, we announced our environmental goal: “Environmental sustainability is an integral part of our operations and value chain delivered through steady, measurable improvement”.
I find a few of their announcements a bit misleading, or fairly random with what they take issue with.
For example, someone requested a “sharable greeting card” idea. These would either be physical cards people can send, or something similar to email templates we can send to each other for events such as Christmas. This idea was declined.
“Due to the environmental impacts from sending mass communications through mail or email, this will not go ahead“
We keep hearing about how we need to cut down the number of emails we send because of how bad they are for the environment – but I don’t understand the logic.
Me:
Why are emails always said to be bad anyway? does sending a Slack message cause the ozone layer to deplete as well?
Can you architect me a Green Email system? think this is gonna be the next big idea
GreE-nm@il
The latest big tech company
Architect:
what a load of absolute bollocks!
just justifying not spending money
if emails are so expensive how much electricity is wasted by the "cameras-on policy"
So emails are bad. Instant messaging is fine. Video calls are encouraged.
Travel
Is that really what we should be focussing on anyway? Recently, the entire UK business travelled to one location for some presentations which we could have easily done remotely. Then a few months later, most of the directors and some senior leaders flew to India to do the same presentations. The amount of emissions caused by all the cars/coaches/planes etc, and all the money wasted on hotels and food expenses is surely a bigger problem than sending a few emails for special occasions.
Cars
We have also replaced all our company cars with electric ones. Discounts were available for people to personally purchase an electric car. We now have charging stations at the office, and it seemed a few people were quite eager to travel to work at the office just so they could charge their car for free. Isn’t that encouraging more unnecessary travel, and increasing the company electric bill?
Whose problem?
“our estate is now fully in the AWS cloud, a huge milestone on our road to net zero”
Green Champion
Isn’t that like dumping your rubbish in your neighbours garden?
This brings us to another point. If you have transferred a carbon footprint from one company/person to another, then the problem still exists. We claimed that moving our servers from on-premise to the cloud has reduced our carbon footprint. The servers are still there though, they just belong to a different company. There could be savings elsewhere though because our servers were on 24/7 but a big selling point of the cloud is that you can use auto-scaling (high demand uses more servers, low demand then uses fewer). Surely you can use this feature on your own servers though; it was just that we didn’t.
Are Electric Cars even environmentally friendly?
Let’s call upon AI to write part of the blog…
Electric vehicles (EVs) have been hailed as a cornerstone of the transition to a more sustainable future, promising a reduction in the carbon footprint associated with personal transportation. However, the environmental impact of EVs is a complex subject, with various factors that could potentially diminish their green credentials.
One of the primary concerns is the carbon emissions associated with the production of EVs, particularly the batteries. The manufacturing process for EV batteries is energy-intensive, often relying on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Studies suggest that the emissions from producing an electric car can be up to 70% higher than those from manufacturing a traditional petrol vehicle.
Another point of contention is the source of electricity used to charge EVs. In regions where renewable energy sources like wind or solar power are less prevalent, the advantages of EVs in reducing greenhouse gas emissions may not be as pronounced.
Furthermore, there is the issue of battery disposal and recycling. EV batteries contain hazardous materials, and improper disposal can lead to environmental contamination. While recycling programs are developing, the infrastructure is not yet widespread, and the process itself can be resource-intensive.
Earth Day Blog #1
A colleague posted an internal blog on what they did for Earth Day.
Here in my local town, they had an event at the Town Hall where lots of local groups gathered to raise awareness and share what they do in particular.
The Thirsk Wombles work tirelessly to clear rubbish from our town. I had no idea what a problem the disposable vape containers are. The Thirsk Wombles have collected a really big boxful in the first 20 days of April and the lady I talked to reckons they will be able to do that and more every month.
I then had a lovely long talk about "North Yorkshire Contented Bee Project" and bought some amazing local honey - very few food miles, masses of taste and it'll help with my hayfever.
Earth Day Blog #2
My personal passions are aligned with the department I work within.
I wanted to share today an aligned post for Stress Awareness Month and Earth Day next week about eco-anxiety.
Eco-anxiety (or climate anxiety) is a feeling of distress that comes from thinking about environmental breakdown, based on what we see happening around us.
It is impossible to ignore the information we receive via news, social media etc. that our planet earth is in trouble. We hear information that the planet is warming up, freak weather conditions, wildlife species declining and becoming extinct, overpopulation, deforestation and the list heartbreakingly continues.
The effect our modern lives are having on the planet is now catching up with us and it is hard to ignore the information we are seeing. So much is now being documented via TV programmes such as Planet Earth and the The Earthshot Prize initiative.
I, myself, hold my hand up and admit I have feelings of sadness and guilt about the impact modern life is having on the planet. Every day I make a conscious effort to review my recycling, plant more native biodiverse plants, use less aerosol products, review the products used in my home to reduce the amount of microplastics and chemicals down the drain, say no to fast fashion, reduce my heating by 1 degree and have No Meat Mondays.
Despite all this I know I can do more. But where do I start and do my small actions help?
To all of you reading today...every small action helps.
As the famous saying goes ….Knowledge is power. I have learnt so much through the Green Champions about what else can be done, alternative products and, more importantly, there is a group of people who have the same passions and feel the same. The Wellbeing Programme and Mental Health First Aiders invaluable content during Stress Awareness Month assists me in navigating through eco-anxiety.
If I may pass on any nuggets of inspiration to you today, it is that you are not alone in any types of stress or anxiety felt. I assure you many people feel the same and change is possible and 100% can be achieved.
Fear of Climate Change
- Climate change and the state of nature is having an impact on mental health
- Watching the world change sometimes combines with feelings of personal guilt.
- Witnessing climate indifference may evoke feelings of anger, powerlessness and hopelessness.
Leading to being uncomfortable and overwhelmed
- Aligns with Stress Awareness Month and Earth Day
- Speak up and seek support. Take action — even the smallest contributions make a difference.
- Your feelings are a healthy response to this topic. Our MHFAs are 100% available to
talk to.
- You are not alone
Closing Thoughts
Eco-anxiety sounds very problematic. How can you live life with that much worry? It’s really not a healthy mindset to have. There’s loads of other issues in the world too. Does she spend all her time crying when she sees food due to child poverty which she has no control over? How many things does she do that are actually bad for the environment but is unaware of? Does she drive an electric car, thinking it is 100% eco friendly?
Stranger Coding Tings 