From climate change zero to climate change hero
Premila Sattianayagam, one of our Associates in the April 2017 Associate Programme in London, writes about her cohort’s project ‘Ready, Steady, Zero Waste Cook’ and her personal experience of living a more environmentally friendly life.
Proud. Informed. Ready.
These would be the words I would use to describe my feelings subsequent to the ‘Ready, Steady, Zero Waste Cook’ event hosted by my cohort.
Proud
My cohort is awesome…..as demonstrated by the low-key, activity-packed, environmental event which the April 2017 Associates organised with both coolness and a sense of fun (no need for modesty in this instance). Our guests spent their Friday evening opting-in to a variety of absorbing interactions: collaborative cooking of their own food waste, sitting-in on a presentation from Olio, learning top tips on low carbon travel and casually chatting climate change over delicious food with new friends.
A pleasure to have been the smallest of cogs in the On Purpose climate change machine.
Informed
Yes, well admittedly I once represented the ‘less informed’ end of the enlightened spectrum. “I am purposeful but climate change is not my thing,” the Prem-of-old/absurd would have once said (not so long ago).
I used to consume a meat-centric diet because I am Sri Lankan (of course there is no sense in that statement but if you let it hang long enough people assume it means something); I defaulted to energy providers that are household names out of sheer laziness; I over-bought and then chucked out spoiled food…..all the time…….demonstrating an unhealthy, unconscious bias towards surplus everything; I generally felt a little uncomfortable talking about the climate, as I knew I was not doing my bit.
How times have changed?…..largely due to osmosis. Being around people who get it has been key, as well as realising that behaviour change is not that hard.
Ready
The #climatechangeheroes campaign around the ‘Ready, Steady, Zero Waste Cook’ event has been encouraging, condensing information into digestible bites. After Veganuary (a month of uncharacteristic self-control), eating less meat and dairy during the week feels very feasible; I switched to Bulb (that one was super easy!); I recently went to collect my first Olio pick-up (free bagels from a friendly neighbour wearing a head-net proved both delicious and compliant with general food hygiene); my flatmates and I also now routinely rummage through our fridge/cupboards to search out dinner……paprika, curry powder, coriander and tahini make everything yum.
Small changes but I am getting there. I have also found myself talking about it with friends, letting people in on how easy and sustainable it all is. Family members are proving themselves to be a little trickier to influence…..because they are Sri Lankan.
Anyways to the point, going forward, kindly consider me fully pledged to #climatechangeheroes…..I will be the one in the green cape.
Want to be the change? The #climatechangeheroes campaign has five simple actions that we can all take right now to reduce our carbon footprints and save money. Take a look at the “5 things we can do” graphic and get involved!
