Why sustainability is important to me
I’m going to start by holding my hands up straight away and admit that yes, I am that person at social gatherings that likes to bring up the elephant in the environmental room; sustainability and why it is important to everyone! Yes, it is seen as a bit of an annoying thing to be passionate about and yes, I am still fun at a party.
Is it wrong to think that it’s naive to expect to keep burning through all of our planet’s natural, renewable resources with our heads in the sand and still expect to have a realistic hope of continuing to reap the benefits long term?
My fascination began as soon as I had my kids. I remember listing all of the things that I wanted for them. The usual fatherly things like to be happy, healthy and to be a success at something they love but this is where it hit me; what state will the world be in when they reach adulthood? What state will it be in when they have their children?
We should all want healthier communities, clean air and to protect our home. Our planet is an exhaustible resource and by reducing waste, recycling, reducing carbon emissions and choosing to champion renewable energy sources we improve the quality of our environment which in turn positively affects public health.
Why sustainability is important in the workplace
Finding out that Laura, the boss at Dolphin Outsourcing was very “Pro-sustainability” was a very significant factor when accepting my position. She spoke enthusiastically about her eagerness for tackling climate change and reducing emissions which made my decision a whole lot easier.
Promoting sustainability in the office can deliver huge effects to the team, productivity and to the success of a business. From a personal experience in a previous role, I heavily advocated sustainable travel. I would leave the car at home and cycle in as much as possible. Not only did I physically feel and see the benefits but I also felt a lot more engaged, awake and productive during my working day. Several others followed suit with cycling or walking and all agreed they felt healthier and less lethargic.
With myself and colleagues feeling pretty good about our changes our employers recognised the positivity around the place just from doing our own little bit and added recycling bins to the site which was closely followed by a conscious effort to switch off any unnecessary electrical equipment when not in use. What started off as something so small really made our team tighter, more dynamic and greener.
Why is sustainability important now? What we could do better?
It is vitally important to invest in our and our children’s future now from an environmental, economic and social standpoint. With it being such a broad subject matter and being incredibly hard to define a single strategy to establish and protect our future with any kind of precision, it’s essential we all start making changes now. What we do know is that if everyone was to wise up and accept a little responsibility, make smart changes, our chances of providing our future generations with a healthier planet increase immensely.
Action needs to be taken before our over-consumption leads to more pollution and less breathable air which in turn leads to respiratory illnesses and cancers as well as a whole host of scary health issues. Our quality of life, our very survival as a race is at risk as global warming becomes even more apparent with all of the climatic dangers that have grown synonymous with the terrifyingly named term.
The challenges?
The biggest challenge is getting enough people to recognise how much we need a global push for more sustainable living. To get the people at the top of the power pyramid to fight our corner. To create worldwide initiatives to tackle the problem. How do we incentivise those that still dispute the reality of global warming?
If we are to stand a chance of limiting rising temperatures, the occurrence of drought and wildfires, glaciers melting and raising the sea levels we need a change in the narrative from the top. It’s happening but it’s happening very slowly.
Until this happens, here at Dolphin Outsourcing we will continue to do our bit and to promote a cleaner and more energy proficient way of working. Not just for our mental and physical health but for all of our futures.