
Purchasing with purpose and over-sharing
I’m not much of a sharer, it’s never really been part of my British upbringing. But- as my friends and family will tell you- I now really like to share about sustainability. I really like to share about the dangers of pesticides. I really like to share about the overfishing of blue-fin tuna and impending sea-level rise. I really like to share about where I bought some divvvinneeee wooden toys for the children and how glitter is a micro-plastic. Wait, did I tell you how poisonous sun-cream is for you AND the coral reefs? You get the picture… and my poor friends are now wishing I shared a little less.
So when they asked us to blog about a personal sustainability challenge for my Masters in Sustainability Leadership at Cambridge, I suddenly realised someone actually wants to hear my shares! I have decided my personal leadership challenge (read over-share) is to reduce the environmental impact of my family where possible and I would especially like to “purchase with purpose”. I know that shop, shop, shopping by its very nature is unsustainable, however if I told my mother I was going to stop buying cleaning products, she would probably report me to social services and take my children away herself. Ditto I understand it’s unkind not to properly clothe your children, who knew. So whilst I am delighted to deprive them of plastic cobweb spray at Halloween, we are still going to live a life that consumes.
My husband is a musician and he goes on tour every few years, this is also a famously environmentally-taxing industry; think tour buses, light installations and disposable plastic cups. So I thought I would “share” with his tour-manager too and make lots of suggestions about how to improve the 2020 tour. He will be delighted.
I have mentally prepared blogs which I already lecture to anyone who will listen about farming, flowers, up-cycling, sun-cream and seaweed, to name a few. I know that many sustainable or ecologically responsible products are prohibitively expensive and therefore put many people off, however I hope that those of us who care and can afford to spend a little extra will consider putting our money where our hearts are (or in my case, where my mouth is). We all know that the more money that moves into sustainable products from un-sustainable products, the more prices will drop and they will become more accessible and prolific. Perfection is the enemy of progress apparently, so let’s at least start with progress.
This is the first time I can say, “I’ll keep you posted”, and actually mean it!
Sofia.
