In Cornwall we consider ourselves lucky to have a very active B Corp community and a growing group of like minded businesses, passionate about using business as a force for good.
One of the main drivers of this community is the awesome Matt Hocking of Leap, a design for change agency. Matt is somebody who describes himself as a creative activist rather than reactivist or inactivist, and he gave us buckets of support when we went through our initial B Corp certification back in 2018.
In October Matt took on a challenge to ride to Glasgow with over 100 cyclists, taking a message of climate action to the city for the start of COP26. And by cycling instead of flying Matt saved 570kg of Co2!
The thing that we love most about Matt's challenge, apart from the awesome leg work and the sights that he will see, is that he's asking for support, but not money. Raising actions not cash, Matt and the other cyclists are asking for supporters to make a personal climate pledge – committing to trying a simple action in every day life for the next two months. There are fifty actions to choose from, ranging from the priority actions like switching to a green energy supplier or making meat a treat, through to putting a lid on your saucepans or cutting back on sugar. You can pledge as many as you like.
As a team at Green&Blue we've been through the pledges and we've made 5 company commitments for Matt. We were happy to see how many of the pledge options we're already doing here at Green&Blue but we also recognise how much more we could achieve and by committing to these 5 pledges we hope to be part of the change, and by sharing them with you we also hope to inspire you to check out the pledges for yourself and be inspired to make your own small changes - we're back to our favourite topic - small changes can all add up to make a big difference, let's not rely on our government to turn this slow ship around!
So, without further ado, here are our Green&Blue climate pledges for Matt...
So, as a team at Green&Blue we pledge these 5 small changes that we know can add up to have a bigger impact, especially as we all take these changes into our home lives and our communities as well and we spread the word and share.
We pledge that as a team, at any team occasions over the next 2 months we will go completely meat free.
We pledge that as a team we will be more conscious of our energy use and we will turn lights off where possible and ensure equipment is not left on standby.
We pledge that as a team we will be more considerate of our water use. Our particular pledge for this was in terms of our kettle, we will be careful to fill it only with the water required and to only boil it when a round of drinks is being made.
We pledge that as a team we will create a Green&Blue compost heap for our coffee grounds and for any food waste from our lunches.
And finally, we pledge that we will voice up and continue to share our actions and our learnings. The more we share the more we learn and the more we can all be part of the change.
Inspired to make your own pledges? Head over to Matt's page on Do Nation and check out the 50 pledges you can choose from, and do let us know if you make your own pledge - and also, if you have any guidance on how to create a compost heap!!
Just some of the pledges we were happy to see we are already doing:
Energy via a green supplier - thanks ecotricity.
Drinking tap water not bottled
Avoiding excessive packaging
Encouraging others to 'Do'
Layering up to warm up
Printing double sided and reducing paper use where possible
Water hippo in the cistern
Repairing and reusing
No disposable cups
watching, listening and learning all the time
Thinking about where our money (bank acc and pensions) sits
Voluntary time as a team
Let it grow and encouraging biodiversity.