Green spaces

Access to green space is beneficial to our well being. However not everyone has their own green space. Here Karen explores some ways in which we can experience the benefits of green spaces that are accessible to all.

Leisure time

Our leisure time is important and we need to make the most of it. In this video, Karen explores some options for using leisure time that do not have a negative impact on the planet but are also inexpensive and accessible.

See also

Guardian: Sustainable lifestyles, meaningful leisure

Natural cleaning

Manufactured cleaning chemicals are not always good for the environment. In this video Karen suggests a few of the natural alternative cleaning chemicals that can be used. These options may take a bit more time and elbow grease to work but they are kinder to the environment; cheap and can be just as effective as the branded options.

Net Zero by 2027 – part 9

We’ve committed our micro-business to being Net Zero by 2027. This series of videos follows our progress as we work out how to achieve this. The first stage is to work out the quantity of greenhouse gases we contribute to the world total and this is the end of that process. Here, we reveal the revised total that takes into account the adjustments we made after our sense check of the data revealed a couple of issues.

Net Zero by 2027 – part 8

In this video, we reveal the result of our initial calculation and the total mass of greenhouse gases we emit. Spoiler alert! It is not a big total, which is both a relief and a challenge. But sense checking the result reveals a couple of minor issues we need to resolve before we reach an outcome that we’re happy with.

See also

SME Climate Hub

Net Zero by 2027 – part 7

We’re getting close now! Here we are looking at the indirect costs to the business. That is, the things we buy, our use of transport, professional services and software. These comprised more than 90% of our expenditure in the financial year 2021-22. For our micro-business, much of the information we needed to calculate our greenhouse gas emissions was relatively easy to find. For other, more complex businesses it will take more time and more resources!

See also

SME Climate Hub

Holidays

Holidays are beneficial to our health and wellbeing. Apart from the impact of the way we travel to our destinations, there are decisions we can make about the activities we take part in while on holiday. In this video, Karen looks at how we can all help to reduce the emissions associated with the tourist industry.

Net Zero by 2027 – part 6

More data entry! Now we need to enter details about our gas and electricity use for the business to the online form. As the business operates from part of our home, we need to make some assumptions and do some maths to work out the proportions of energy costs to allocate.

See also

SME Climate Hub

Normative’s Business Carbon Calculator

Net Zero by 2027 – part 5

Now that we are ready to start the calculation of our greenhouse gas emissions, we need to decide which of the calculators we will use. There are many available but, having decided, we explain the information required to set up an account, such as number of employees, turnover and energy use. We also discuss other decisions we need to make so that we arrive at as accurate a calculation as possible.

See also

SME Climate Hub

Normative’s Business Carbon Calculator

Net Zero by 2027 – part 4

This is the final video outlining our preparation for calculating our emissions of greenhouse gases. Here, we look at our use of technology. As a provider of online training materials we expect that our use of computers and other electronic devices will contribute a significant proportion of our emissions. It is easy to think that data storage in the cloud has no impact on the greenhouse gases we emit, but all those data centres need a lot of electricity!

See also

SME Climate Hub

Net Zero by 2027 – part 3

In this video, we continue to assess our business to prepare for calculating our emissions of greenhouse gases. We look at our use of energy for business travel. We are calculating our emissions for our financial year 2021-22 and identify that Brexit and Covid-19 had a significant effect. Other aspects to take into account are what we spend on goods and consumables for the business.

See also

SME Climate Hub

Net Zero by 2027 – part 2

This video gives an overview of our operations as a starting point for calculating our emissions of greenhouse gases. Now that we’ve signed up to the SME Climate Hub and made our public commitment to Net Zero, the next stage is to gather information about our business. This includes our key activities, working arrangements, type and size of building that we work in, equipment used and our energy use.

Net Zero by 2027 – an introduction

We’ve signed up to the SME Climate Hub and committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2027. We are doing this alongside thousands of other small businesses who are making similar commitments but with other target dates. In this series of videos, we are sharing our progress. We’re doing this to help others see what is involved and how we overcome any issues that we come across during the process.

Water use, part 4

Karen returns to the example of Angie and her family for the last time in this series of Suggestion Box videos. It is now later in the day and the ways that Angie saves water during her evening routine are demonstrated as well as how she makes use of the water she has saved throughout the day.

Cling film

Cling film or cling wrap is widely used as a cover for food. However, as it is not always easy to recycle, it contributes to land fill where it takes a long time to break down. In doing so, toxic chemicals are released. Some of the ways to reduce its use in the home are suggested here.

See also

How to make your own beeswax wraps

Food: dairy

The dairy industry is a big contributor to the world’s carbon emissions, with dairy products being widely available and included in diets all over the world. In this video we look at some ways in which farmers are working to reduce the emissons of their herds and suggest some choices for those who do not wish to exclude these products from their diets completely.

Planting trees?

In this Suggestion Box Karen looks at the option of offsetting carbon emissions. She mentions the various projects available. One of these is the popular option of tree-planting schemes. However this should be a last resort, after steps have been taken to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible. Viewers are encouraged to look at other videos in the Suggestion Box series for ideas on how to achieve lower emissions.

Net zero walking?

I was lucky to be invited to spend a day walking in the Lake District recently. This was a day in the Langdales with a scramble up Wetherlam from Fell Foot and Greenburn and then a more leisurely walk and another scramble to the top of Swirl How. From Swirl How, we walked along West Side Edge before dropping down again to Greenburn Beck to complete the circular walk. We were a party of four. The weather was fine but with a bit of low cloud and occasional sunny spells. There had been some rain in the week leading up to the walk.

Why am I giving this background information?

At Foggy Outline we are currently working hard on developing some learning around the topic of net zero. How can we, as a small business, move towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions and what are the impacts of each of the activities we undertake as a business? And, using this information about our own transformation, how can we help others to work towards their own net zero goals? It was from this perspective that I found myself spending some of the day thinking about the environmental impact of hill walking as an activity.

The first issue was the impact of even a small number of walkers on the landscape. As there had been some rain in days before our walk, the soil was damp. Because we began climbing quite steeply, many of our steps dragged at the grass cover and sometimes created divots. Some of the stones we stepped on, we inadvertently dislodged, again revealing bare soil beneath. Soil, without the stabilising effect of grass or the protective cover of stones and scree is potentially prone to erosion.

When you take a broader overview of this type of damage and look at some of the well-used paths in the hills, you realise the impact of multiple walkers. Even in a small group, we each took a slightly different route, despite following the broad direction of the path. When you look back at the paths down some of the slopes, they can be several metres wide and with erosion gullies caused by heavy rainfall.

I realise this is a significant issue for our National Parks and other protected landscapes. The authorities in the Lake District, and closer to home in the Yorkshire Dales, are working hard to balance the need for access with the damage caused by this access.

Repair work

We came across an example of this where about half a dozen people were working on repairing a piece of badly eroded path at Swirl Hawse, between Wetherlam and Swirl How. They were excavating by hand and placing stones to stabilise the path. The stones were being carried up the slope from a large pile that had been deposited for the purpose. This all raises several questions:

• How was this stockpile of stone carried to the location?  Helicopter?

• How did all the personnel travel to the site?  Hopefully they shared their road transport and walked from their parking space but they will have used fossil fuels in travelling from their base to the construction site

• They were using plastic trugs to carry the material around the site

• I am guessing they will have been provided with clothing and equipment by the National Park, all of which has an impact

This relatively simple activity of repairing an eroded path contributes to climate breakdown.

Clothing and equipment

Beyond the impact on the landscape, we were all well equipped for a day in the high hills with base layer, fleece or similar, a weatherproof outer layer, walking shorts or trousers, backpacks, walking socks and boots. Most of my equipment is several years old but most of it is made from “technical fabrics”. That is, they are manufactured fabrics made, for the most part, from fossil-fuel derivatives. My base layer is polyester and was manufactured in Cambodia and my wind stopper jacket was made in China. My boots have leather uppers but synthetic soles, also made from fossil-fuel derivatives.

Similar comments can be made about the other items of clothing, my backpack and water bottle.

Travel

I do not live in the Lake District and had to drive to our meeting point. My journey was the shortest of the four walkers but even I had a 100 mile round trip. My fellow walkers were having a longer stay in the area but their four day break accumulated something in excess of 1,200 miles (2 cars, each with a 600 mile round trip).

Walking in the countryside is an important activity and we should all do more of it and encourage others to do it too! But even this beneficial activity has significant environmental impacts and can lead to significant emissions of greenhouse gases.

What, then, could we do to reduce or, more importantly, eliminate these emissions?

Probably the best thing we could have done was to stay at home and walk from our respective front doors. But had we done that, the Lake District would have foregone the tourist income derived from our visit. My companions spent money at the local pub and in shops and cafes during their longer stay. The Lake District and other destinations rely heavily on tourism to sustain the local economy and without it, we could argue that there would be even less employment and opportunity in these areas. But that’s a discussion for another time.

Had we all stayed at home, we would also have missed out on the benefits of getting together and enjoying the experience collectively. Another significant change we could have made to reduce the impact of our visit to the Lake District would have been to find alternative modes of transport with lower impacts.

But, as anyone who has tried to reach a remote destination using public transport will know, this is not easy. Friends from London who stayed in Grasmere recently did manage to travel by train from Euston to Windermere via Oxenholme and then by bus from Windermere to Grasmere. While the main line is electrified, the branches are not. From last year, the train operator has been trialling hybrid trains with back-up batteries. The buses still run on diesel. So even the most committed users of public transport will still emit greenhouse gases in reaching their destination.

When thinking about replacing our clothing and other equipment, we need to consider its impact and to select items that are manufactured sustainably. Perhaps we should choose manufacturers who will take back our used clothing and equipment for dismantling and remanufacture?

Challenges of achieving net zero

But even when we have done all these things, there will still be emissions of greenhouse gases associated with this simple act of walking in the hills. When this experience is translated to the more complex activities that arise from running a business, you begin to realise how difficult it is going to be to reach zero emissions.

If you are interested in the concept of net zero and the challenges of achieving it as an individual or business, we have just launched a series of short videos on YouTube which will follow the path our micro-business takes as we work towards becoming net zero.

You may also have picked up that we are also working to develop and deliver a net zero course for decision-makers in small businesses. The aim of the course is to provide background on reducing our emissions of greenhouse gases but to go beyond this to provide practical support as more of us make a commitment to net zero. We will provide updates on this here as our ideas develop.

You can also be reassured that, despite this train of thought developing as I walked, we did have a good day! And its clear from the way these ideas developed that, as David Hieatt keeps reminding us, taking time away from the screen and being involved in the natural world is really beneficial. 

Other days out are planned!

Toiletries

In this video Karen acknowledges that the use of toiletries can have a positive effect on our well-being. They help us to smell and feel nice. However this comes at a cost to the environment. Karen suggests some ways to reduce this while still being able to feel the benefits of such products as shower gel, shampoo, aftershave and deodorants.

Water use, part 3

In parts 1 and 2 of our water use series, we discussed the ways in which we can save water during our early morning routines. We used the example of Angie, a single Mum with two school aged children. Angie works part time and in this Suggestion Box we look at steps she takes to reduce water use while at work.