It’s good to talk (climate)

Pffft, personal carbon footprints? Oil companies came up with those decades ago. We don’t need to change, it’s the big polluters who should be taking action.

This is one of those arguments that comes up all the time in the climate space. It’s one I have sympathy with to a certain extent. We live in a society with a decades old structural reliance on fossil fuels and consumption. Structural and behavioural change tends to be glacially slow, especially when influenced by self interested global powers. Carbon Brief’s essential COP29 text tracker is testament to this (side note – bracket status updates have never been more exciting).

I don’t believe this lets individuals off the hook though. Personal choices still have a cumulative effect. Every choice or action we take has a carbon and resource cost. These choices have real world actions. Nobody is forcing drivers to choose oversized diesel guzzling SUVs over more efficient vehicles, but the climate cost is clear.

While our individual footprints might seem inconsequential on a global scale, how we consume and spend our time is something we can all influence. We have agency even if it is constrained by circumstance. But the anxiety and pressure we can feel to “do the right thing” can sometimes feel suffocating.

A little support always helps.

At Wholegrain and other similar businesses it can feel like the burden to be better is multiplied. Most of the Wholegrain team have actively sought a role here because of the company ethos and mission. The realisation that digital platforms have an unseen environmental cost leads the most conscientious in the industry to work to reduce that cost. It becomes a daily undertaking to help impactful organisations spread the word in a low impact way (digitally speaking).

This can become all consuming. 

Bob Hoskins had it right all those years ago. All the think pieces, posts, guides, substacks, reels and articles in the world can’t beat an open conversation with supportive people. Even the most sustainably minded organisations should hold space for climate related discussions. That’s why I hosted the inaugural Climate Cafe at Wholegrain last week.

The themes that came up were universally held. Guilt over personal choices can eat away at you even as you’re helping huge organisations make more impactful and sustainable choices. How can we maintain alignment of personal and professional actions in busy times? Most importantly, how can we bridge the intention/action gap effectively and consistently?

Overcoming these fears and challenges only gets easier with collaboration and collective action. On a micro and macro level this is what will deliver us to a more sustainable and just world. The answers and actions will be messy and imperfect, two words rarely seen in Wholegrain’s pitch decks and case studies.

This is why the power and value of a safe space to discuss climate change, anxieties and solutions are vital within sustainability focussed organisations. They help us align our day to day with wider requirements. Within a supportive structure, we can help each other make better choices and feel engaged with the challenges ahead. This might be as simple as sharing your favourite flexitarian cookbook (Meat Free Mexican for me), assuaging the guilt associated with an unavoidable trans-atlantic flight to see family or practical support to help decarbonise your money.

Whatever your first step to a lower carbon lifestyle looks like, it doesn’t always come easy, even to the most ethical of BCorp employees. But exercising our individual agency and taking action with the support of like minded individuals only makes it easier.

You should! I used resources from the Climate Cafe website, and background from my Carbon Literacy training to set the initial framework. Giki is a great platform to help you quantify your personal footprint and identify actions to reduce it.

Most importantly though, if you want to discuss how to run a first session, let’s talk ([email protected]).

Andy