Crowdsourcing some digital sustainability joy

Written by Andy Davies - November 6, 2024

Other than working on all things Curiously Green one of the other things I do for Wholegrain is provide a weekly round up of sustainability news to the team.  This involves connecting digital sustainability with topics like privacy, general sustainability, community building and the offline world.

The round up is occasionally (ok, always) a bit spicier than the newsletter. You’ll have to get a job with Wholegrain if you want to see it. In recent weeks though the average scoville level has risen due to a noticeable lack of positive news and solutions hitting the feed.  

It could be that the movers and shakers of the sustainability world are all bouncing around the busy summit season and don’t have time to share things. Maybe it’s the anxiety caused by US politics bleeding into other facets of life? Either way the autumn feels to have started on a downer. 

The RSS feeds I’ve curated for myself, tech communities I’m part of, podcasts I listen to and the people I follow all seem pretty glum at the moment. There are petty squabbles in the Wordpress community, rising emissions from big tech, AI is in everything, net zero commitments are rolling back.  

It’s making this Curiously Green manager somewhat blue and I wonder if other digital sustainability folks might feel the same.

A problem shared is a problem solved…

In these circumstances, I find that community mindedness is often the answer. So, as 2024 draws to a close, I thought it would be useful to crowdsource a little joy, optimism and solidarity. 

We are asking our Curiously Green community:

  • What was the most impactful sustainability action you took this year?
  • What digital sustainability action did you take this year?
  • What is your biggest sustainability challenge for 2025?
  • What would you like to read more about in CG in 2025?

To kick things off I’ll share mine – 

  1. My most impactful action was changing our petrol car for an EV. We live in the French Alps with minimal public transport options. When we analysed our family footprint an EV was the next step that we could take. So far, our e-Kona is working very well but we’re waiting to see what winter brings! 
  2. On the digital sustainability (DS) side I educated myself! I connected my work life with wider sustainability issues by taking a Carbon Literacy course. The course connected a lot of dots for me and changed the way I see the world. A Digital and Technology specific course will be released this autumn. If you want a DS resolution for the new year I highly recommend attending a course.
  3. I think my biggest DS challenge will be the same as the wider industry – AI. Grappling with its proliferation and how to work within the tech space without using it is a challenge, let alone influencing others. Of course the bubble might burst and deal with things for me!
  4. The biggest thing I’d like to see (and write about) on Curiously Green is positive DS stories from the Curiously Green community. Solutions, ideas, innovation and inspiration are what the world needs right now.

You can share your responses via the button below. If you are happy to share with the wider community I will showcase some of the best responses in a future post and newsletter. 

Thank you! 

Andy