What is this page about?
I wanted to create a page on my website to share the steps I’ve taken to minimise my impact on the planet. I’ve made several changes over the years, but I realise I have a long way to go. I don’t think I’ll ever ‘complete’ this, but I’m actively trying to reduce my impact and help others make changes too. I hope this information is useful.
Reduce Your Impact
Everyday changes you can make
I’ve added three videos from my favourite YouTube channel, Exploring Alternatives. These videos explain simple changes you can make to reduce your environmental impact, how adopting a minimalist mindset can transform your life. They also cover how to grow food in a small garden.
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My Carbon Footprint
7.68 tonnes annually
I have done quite a few different quizzes online to calculate my carbon footprint and get an idea of how much I need to do to offset this annually. The latest one I have completed is the WWF Carbon Footprint Calculator. I periodically re-take this test so I’m keeping myself in check and to calculate any lifestyle changes or updates to the way I travel for example.
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Technology
Apple ecosystem
I use different tech products to manage my website, work remotely and run my business. I have a full Apple ecosystem for this, using iPhone and Mac products, iCloud+ services and other accessories around the house. At the time of writing this (July 2021) Apple are a carbon neutral company running all of their stores, offices and data centres on 100% renewable energy. They have ambitious plans for the future of the company including adopting carbon neutrality to their entire supply chain and all of their products by 2030. I look forward to seeing what other changes Apple make in the coming years. You can find out more about Apple’s environmental stats here: Apple’s Environment webpage.
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eSIMs by Honest Mobile
Carbon Negative UK network
I have two phone numbers both issued via eSIMs on the Honest network. They are the UK’s first carbon negative phone network and have great prices as well! You can find out more about their impact here. Since joining Honest Mobile in July 2024, they have removed 88.9 kgCO2e from the atmosphere — double what my phone emits. Honest also donate 1% of all revenue to environmental organisations to help reforest our planet. So far, my phone bill has funded the planting of 42 trees (including an optional £1/mo payment to fund two additional trees). All of their plans come with unlimited calls and texts, they offer 5G and WiFi calling and if you stay with them they discount your bill up to 30% as time goes on. You can sign up with my discount code ‘steel-compare-379’ or by clicking here. They also have the best customer service (yes I’m talking about you, Luke!)
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Funding Trees via Treeapp
1996 trees funded
Something I do to offset my carbon footprint is funding the planting of trees globally with Treeapp. I am actually an ambassador for Treeapp as well and help to share this on my social media accounts. You can download the app for free and fund a tree a day by simply watching brief ads from eco-conscious companies. It’s also a great way to find products that are kind to our planet.
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Funding Trees via Ecosia
Web searches
There are many ways to fund tree planting globally, another that I use is for my web searches via Ecosia. You can simply download their app or change your settings on your phone or computer. To do this you just switch your default search engine to Ecosia with a few simple clicks, pop in your email address to track your progress and hey-presto, you’re funding trees! Ecosia uses revenue from web searches to fund the trees (approx. 45 searches = 1 tree) so there is no cost to you, plus they take your privacy really seriously and publish monthly reports for ultimate transparency of their expenses.
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Vegan Diet
May 2018 onwards
One of the biggest changes I have made to reduce my carbon footprint is switching to a vegan diet back in May 2018. I actually made this transition overnight after a trip to the USA I had taken. I had been thinking about it for a while but I hadn’t planned switching in advance, I just took the leap! I am glad I did it this way as I think a gradual transition would have been harder for me. I have never felt better since the switch and I actually lost two stone (28lbs) that first summer alone without restricting what I was eating as long as it was vegan (and trust me when I say I tried every comfort food available including chocolates, biscuits, cakes, sweets, meat and dairy alternatives amongst others). A lot of my recipes come from Pick Up Limes, you can get a 30 day free trial here.
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Finances & Investments
Green & Ethical funds
If you have read some of my blog posts and information on the purchase of my first house, you’ll see that I used a Stocks and Shares Lifetime ISA to save for my deposit. As I was so new to investing, I wasn’t as conscious of where my money was being used and which industries were being used. My pension and investments have a range of funds available to choose from and I have moved my money into one of their ethical/green funds. My personal current accounts are with Starling Bank and Monzo who do not fund any fossil fuel industries and are market leaders in responsible finance. You can check how green your bank is with Bank Green.
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Website Server
WordPress hosting
My website is another consideration I have to factor in with my environmental impact. I currently use WordPress (their parent company is Automattic) to host my website, using servers dotted around the world for you to access this content. I have reached out to them to find out more about their sustainability statistics and they provided a couple of links. I have added these here for you to have a read: Sustainability and Toward zero: Reducing and offsetting our data centre power emissions.
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Energy Usage / Supplier
Ecotricity account
My energy at home is provided by Ecotricity. I am continually looking to improve my energy supply to my home and with the energy crisis in the UK right now this is making things a little more difficult. However, my account with Ecotricity provides me with a 100% renewable gas and electricity supply. Find out more about Ecotricity’s green energy and get a quote/sign-up with my referral code D3A3F4 for money off your bill (enter this in the ‘where did you here about us’ tab).
Figures Updated: Sunday 21st December 2025.
