25th March 2019
You may have been hearing a lot about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) created by the United Nations, particularly with the recent youth strike for climate change. These 17 goals are segments of the breadth of sustainability, helping organisations and individuals alike to become aware of how they can be a part of creating a more sustainable planet.
As a sustainable creative agency, this widely publicised incentive has become fuel for topical conversation, allowing us and our clients to gain a more informed understanding of what it really means to be sustainable.
As an agency we pledged to Good Life Goals - the more digestible and animated version of the SDGs created by Futerra and the Stockholm Environment Institute. We encouraged each member of the team to carefully choose their own goal, identify the reason why and create action points to work towards it. As we offer two paid working days of volunteering per year, we also invited the team to research which organisation or field they would be interested in volunteering with this year.
Why As individuals we're stronger, have a louder voice and have greater impact when we work together. Businesses are no different and I believe the collective voice of small businesses like Studio Republic have the potential to create a huge impact on our society and our environment. As business leaders, it's our responsibility to act in the best interest of people and planet, so my pledge is to get other businesses on board with working in a way that benefits all, not just the bottom line.
Volunteering I will be volunteering as a speaker on sustainability to educate other individuals, businesses and charities.
Why This goal sounds like the appropriate start for me with the Good Life Goals. I enjoy learning about technological advances in the world, and the ones associated with making the world a better place interest me even more. My research into developing technologies with an ethical interest has guided me into making more informed decisions in my current day-to-day, in addition to bringing developed and thorough suggestions to the Studio Republic team about our technical direction to align with sustainable development.
Volunteering I shall be volunteering with One Community in Eastleigh. Will be running a Design Sprint with them during the summer to push innovation in their care and support.
Why This goal has been on my mind for a while, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to embrace it. Having this as a set goal keeps me accountable. I aim to find out what percentage of my current home energy usage comes from renewable sources, and then identify what steps I can take to make it more energy efficient.
Volunteering Last year I volunteered with Raising Futures Kenya during their rebranding from Vision Africa, as they had almost no budget for brand and marketing. I am considering volunteering with them again this year, as the experience was empowering for me and I enjoyed being part of their brand development journey.
Why Getting outside to exercise, eating a healthy plant based diet and engaging with your community to promote wellbeing are great ways to benefit your health and reduce your environmental impact. I plan to explore my local area more by going out on regular runs - running for me is a great way to clear my mind, keep fit and discover new places (it also keeps you out of your car, too).
Volunteering I will be donating my volunteer hours to The Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Why I’ve lived by the sea for most of my life and I go down to the beach at least once every week. I really hate seeing how people leave their rubbish on the sand or in the water when there are so many bins around, especially single use plastics that pollute the ocean. To work towards this goal, I have started to always check that I am buying sustainably sourced seafood in addition to making a conscious effort to buy less single use plastics and use reusable packaging for food and drink. When I am walking along the beach or am in the sea, I will pick up any litter I pass. I also plan to watch more documentaries to learn more about ocean life.
Volunteering I will be volunteering through Bournemouth Council in a variety of their local conservation projects.
Why I've just moved house and want to get to know the local area better. As a family we would like to support nature in terms of the local wildlife. Being so close to the common, we expect there to be more animal activity than our previous home. It is very important to create a friendly, safe social environment seeing as we have a young child. Therefore meeting the locals and understanding how we can be most helpful to the neighbourhood would be good.
Volunteering Volunteering with homeless and/or rehabilitation services local to home.
Why I think saving water is important, and just a few small changes we can all make would make a huge difference to the amount of water we waste and the quality of our ocean water. Reducing our water usage reduces the energy required to process and deliver it to homes, businesses and communities, which helps to reduce pollution and conserve fuel resources. I’ll start by being more mindful about the amount of water that I use, turn off the tap when brushing teeth/washing hands etc, have shorter showers and fixing leaking taps/pipes as quickly as possible.
Volunteering I will be volunteering with a mental health charity.
Why Food production is responsible for around 30% of total global greenhouse gases. I plan to work on eating better by cutting out meat and fish from my diet, buying locally grown foods and cutting down on food waste.
Volunteering I plan to volunteer with support for Naomi House.
Why I’m guilty of always being ‘too busy’ to reassess my day to day habits, and since joining Studio Republic realised how unsustainable my lifestyle has become. I am taking a ‘plastic free challenge’ in addition to swapping out many plastic items for recyclable/sustainable products, in addition to a 6 month clothes purchasing ban in awareness of the fast fashion crisis. If anybody knows me, they’ll know that’s pretty extreme- so if I can do it, I’m sure you can. I’ll also be introducing ‘experiences over things’ for my social life, focusing on experience and reusing existing materials rather than purchasing more.
Volunteering I am looking into volunteering within the criminal justice system to develop research in how art therapy may benefit offenders.
Why In respect to the HR side of the business, I set up best practises to continuously ensure our staff are treated fairly and listened to and feel 'looked after’ and positive about working here. I also want to not automatically find myself searching on Amazon to buy stuff as my go-to option, when there are local stores I could be supporting. I want to start thinking about who I'm buying from and make more responsible choices.
Volunteering I shall be supporting a local butterfly conservation group which is in jeopardy from a land ownership conflict.