If I could have a 'Frequently Asked Questions' list from having been in this job for 15 months, it would include the following: - What does 'being sustainable' really mean?
- Why do Councils in the UK all collect different materials for recycling and why are the bins different colours?
- Is it more sustainable to use a hand-dryer or paper towels when drying your hands?
- If I got rid of my car and just used taxis and public transport would that a) be cheaper? b) be kinder to the environment?
- How do you get people to change their behaviour and switch off lights/equipment?
- Why am I being held back from making our company more sustainable by the grey-haired people in our boardroom who won't be around to worry about it in 20 years?
- Diesel or petrol engines?
- When does a waste stop being a waste?
- If something has a value is it still deemed to be waste if I'm throwing it away?
- Is Climate Change really happening?
And have I answered those questions? Well, in some cases the answers are a little more black and white, and in others the truth is I simply don't know. All I do know, is that we are still making our minds up about which activities in our lives ARE sustainable and those which are not.
I think being sustainable is 1/3 common sense, 1/3 having accurate baseline information from which we can clearly assess the issue and take informed decisions, and 1/3 hindsight. Which means 66.6% of it is something we can act upon now, and the remaining 33.3% we will learn with time. I guess the aim is to reduce the element of hindsight over time and hope that we act quickly enough to prevent long term damage to our planet.
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