🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #24
Tips to green your tech, can football spark climate action and everything else optimistic this Monday morning!
Happy Monday folks! 👋 🌱
Hope you've all had a great weekend. Today we're bringing you some more optimistic news to kick start the week. The good news? You might still be able to fly away on holiday even with climate change looming. Read on for some more news stories, a podcast to check out, and week two of our 10 top tips to make greener choices. It's a good one this week, and there are plenty of actions you can take to green your tech 👩💻
As ever, please subscribe, share and spread the optimism.
The Grumpy Optimists 💚
Articles to read 👀
🛫 Will we still fly in a net-zero world? According to the Tony Blair Institute, we will be able to. Their latest report suggests that we only need to reduce air travel by 6% by 2030 and tackling climate change shouldn't result in massively lifestyle changes. You can make your own mind up on that one.
🏢 Climate-proofing buildings is the first step for building sustainable cities. Ithaca in New York is spending millions to decarbonise its properties, installing solar panels and electric heating systems to cut emissions.
💭 Why is this so important? Buildings make up 40% of carbon emissions in the US, it’s crucial we retrofit buildings if we’re to meet our climate targets. The problem? All too often green energy initiatives fall hardest on those with the lowest incomes. The Ithica model provides low or no interest loans to make projects such as solar panels more affordable. The takeaway? Green finance is a great tool to reduce carbon emissions and we need to use it more.
⚽ Football and climate change? Sampdoria midfielder and environmentalist Morten Thorsby certainly thinks so. Thorsby has changed his shirt number to 2, to raise awareness of the Paris climate targets. He also launched the 'We Play Green' campaign to engage football fans in how they can do their bit to help the planet. With over 3.5 billion worldwide involved in the game, engaging footballers in positive climate action is surely an open goal.
❌ Alaska oil project permits voided. A federal judge voided permits for the Willow oil project administered under Trump. It’s good news for the planet and it gives further precedent to ban future oil projects.
Podcast 🎙️
The YIKES Podcast is hosted by Mikaela Loach (activist and student) and Jo Becker (activist and scholar) and it tackles all sorts of issues, from race to migration, injustice, climate change and the intersectionalities of all of these and more! We’d recommend checking this out for a great breakdown of these issues and some optimism as well.
What can you do about climate change?
After the recent IPCC report a lot of us have eco-anxiety, so we're giving you 10 tips to become a climate optimist too. Let’s get on to week 2. 💚
👩💻 Green your tech
Tech - we all need it, use it every day and probably couldn't go without it. But sadly it's not very environmentally friendly. First off, there are constant oh-so-tempting upgrades. Then there's the moral dilemma - a lot of the precious metals in our devices are mined and this is often bound up with conflict and inhumane conditions. So, what can you do?
📱 Fairphone. They're different because 1) they really care about where their materials come from, and the treatment and rights of the workers along the production line. 2) Their smartphones are modular, meaning you can replace individual parts of your phone when they slow down rather than getting a whole new device. Cool, right? Plus, they're super transparent - you can map the smartphone's journey here.
💙 Relove Technology. If you can't part with your iPhone, the next best thing is to buy a pre-loved device. Lots of companies offer this service because thousands of devices don't quite work the way customers expect when they're new. These are then returned and can't be sold again at full price so you can grab a discount on a nearly new device that works perfectly.
❗Honest Mobile. As well as a more sustainable device, why not change your mobile plan to a better network? Honest Mobile is a certified B-Corp, they offset all their emissions (George and Zevero confirmed) and they're all-around great people. It's easy to swap to Honest - do so here.
♻️ Donate your old smartphone! Got an old smartphone sat in your draw? Donate it to charity with Hubbub's campaign 'Community Calling' who give your phone to one of the 7 million people in the UK who don't have access to the internet. You donate your old smartphone, they wipe it and redistribute it with free data provided by O2 and access to free digital skills training. So far they've helped 4,000 people out of a targeted 10,000. Can you help them?
That's all for now folks, have a great week.
George, Ella and Will 💚