Sustainability

TLDR; I’m very passionate about sustainability. If you’re doing anything to address the SDGs, I’d be very happy to chat, brainstorm and/or support how I can.

My journey with sustainability

In 2009, living in Tokyo made me a recycling fiend. There were public trashcans, but not recycling bins, so it was the norm to bring recycling home. In the 4-5 storey apartment building that I lived in, we had 1 trashcan and a whole recycling room. A plastic bottle’s label, cap, and actual bottle would go into 3 separate bins.

In 2017, I was introduced to the Effective Altruism school of thought.

In March 2018, I stopped eating meat. Later that year, I started advising climate-action charity The Crowd.

Since moving to London in September 2018,

I became an OLIO champion, shop second-hand first, and patronise my local bulk store.

I learned to DIY toothpaste, and forage cherries, blackberries, elderflower, wild garlic, rosehips, dandelion, rocket, and more. I’m learning more about mushrooms, and briefly attended Schumacher College which specialises in ecology and social change.

I worked with up-and-coming tech for good startups such as Goodsted, a digital platform for social entrepreneurs to get support from their community.

I switched to a Fairphone, which I hope to use and repair for a long time.

I advised Awe, an app to help regain your sense of awe and wonder through awe-enhanced moments in nature. I’m an active member of their community as well as Sustainability Champions‘.

I started composting. Took me a while since my borough doesn’t collect food waste from my current and previous building/area. Cycling my compost to community gardens has been my weekend activity since COVID-19.

In 2021, I volunteered with Greenpeace, trained as a Climate Reality Leader and participated in COP26 in Glasgow with Friends of the Earth.

In 2022, I started volunteering with GET OUT, a charity that built and manages a permaculture demonstration garden and food forest project.

In 2023, I qualified as a Terra.do Fellow by completing a 100+ hour climate education and solutions bootcamp and deep dive into the full climate change landscape. I also became a Climate Fresk Facilitator, after participating in one the previous year.

I honed into my interest in regenerative agriculture by completing a Level One City & Guilds Practical Horticulture Award with Organiclea, a workers’ cooperative growing food on London’s edge in the Lea Valley. I’m putting these skills to work at home, and with GET OUT and other community gardens.

I’m proud to be supporting new businesses as a Mentor at The Greenhouse and Zinc to bring their climate innovation technologies to fruition.

I’ve an urgency to take action and am excited to gear up and skill up to create social change. I’m eager to work in the industry of sustainability and climate change so that I can add value to those around me, aiding those addressing the environmental challenges of today and tomorrow.