What is this page about?

I wanted to create a page on my website to share things I am doing to minimise my impact on our planet. I have been making quite a few changes in recent years, step by step, to accomplish this. I have a long way to go and I don’t think it’s ever something I will ‘complete’ however I am actively wanting to reduce my impact and help others make changes themselves as well. I hope you find this information useful.

Ways To Reduce Your Impact…

Everyday changes you can make

I added this video from one of my favourite YouTube channels explaining simple changes you can make to reduce your impact on the environment. Your most influential power against climate change as an individual is where you choose to spend your money.

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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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845 trees funded

Funding Trees via Treeapp

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).

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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. Thankfully my Lifetime ISA provider AJ Bell / You Invest has a range of funds available and I have moved my money into one of their ethical/green funds. The Lifetime ISA is dual purpose, for a first-time home + for retirement. I plan on funding it as much as I can until I’m 50 (to withdraw when I’m 60). My workplace pension has also been invested into an ethical fund to ensure my money is being used for good, promoting development of green technologies and earth-friendly projects and companies worldwide. My personal and business current accounts are with Starling Bank who do not fund any fossil fuel industries and are one of the 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

Utility Warehouse 100% Renewable Electricity

My energy at home is provided by Utility Warehouse via E.ON UK. 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. My account with Utility Warehouse bundles my broadband, mobile, energy and home insurance together and provides me with gas and electricity 5% below the energy price cap in the UK. To find out more click the link I shared above or contact me.

Last Updated: Sunday 19th March 2023.