1. DIGITAL

“If the Internet was a country, it would be the 4th largest polluter”.   

We acknowledge the need to account for our online carbon footprint and the negative impacts of third-party service providers.   Furthermore, we acknowledge that whilst the Covid-19 lockdown has reduced our travel footprint, the carbon impact of homeworking has increased due to a greater reliance on web-based software.   

We aim to choose technology that aligns with our ethics, though, as a small organisation we are reliant on the use of free software, which limits our freedom in this respect. Our website and our cloud is hosted on large multinational providers. 

We acknowledge that companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon use renewable energy credits to claim their data centres are powered by renewable energy rather than having direct solar or wind installations. Many of these companies now have pledges to directly source renewable energy.     

SPHERE OF CONTROL

Presently, being able to track and account for our digital carbon footprint is a challenge as the metrics are not readily available.  However, as an organisation, we can reduce our digital footprint through 6 monthly digital data purges. As a team, we will coordinate this process across the organisation and support the wider team.

Tasks include:  

• Team members deleting and archiving  emails. 

• Deleting older files from newsletter servers.  

• Improving the website and app performance which also decreases energy consumption.   

• Reviewing and deleting files that are no longer needed from our Drive system. 

Additionally, we can:  

• Sign the Sustainable Web Manifesto (see below).  

• Evaluate new open–source software options and switch to these when they are economically and functionally viable e.g., alternative video conferencing and data storage.   

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE

Whilst we cannot control how data servers are powered, we can lobby our providers and ask them to join the Sustainable Web Manifesto. 

When we are working with other organisations, we will share the Culture Declares Emergency and ask them to make a pledge.  

SPHERE OF CONCERN

We acknowledge that not only do companies like Amazon and Facebook have energy impacts, they are also tech monopolies that hold disproportionate power, sell users data and have been linked with spreading dangerous misinformation.    

At times we may receive pro-bono support from digital agencies or services. In these instances, we may have less ability to select based on and influence their sustainable and ethical values. This will always be considered and the benefits versus drawbacks weighed up. 

2. SUPPLY CHAIN, STAKEHOLDERS AND PARTNERS

Whilst we do not produce goods, we acknowledge the impact of the products and services we purchase and are associated with. As such we have a sustainable procurement policy, found below, that informs our purchasing choices and is shared with all team members that have purchasing responsibilities.  

We also work closely with our approved product partners to support them in understanding their own environmental impacts.

3. TRAVEL & TRANSPORT

We will actively encourage any team members to travel by public transport to events, workshops and meetings.   

4. WASTE

Adhering to the European Waste Hierarchy, we follow the principles  of  reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery before disposal.  We commit to auditing the materials in our general waste and recycling streams and taking measures to tackle these.   Where we are tenants, we hold landlords to account on the waste hierarchy.  

5. MONITORING & MEASURING

In order to continually improve and deliver on our sustainability and climate emergency targets, we will monitor and measure our activities to understand our environmental, social and economic impact. 

We are annually benchmarking our company practices against the Sustainable Development Goals B-Corp tool.   

As part of our commitment to declare a climate, ecological and planetary emergency we are adopting the latest guidance and data to account for the harder to quantify carbon impacts created by COVID19, such as homeworking use of online communication systems.  

6. COMPANY CARBON ACCOUNTING

We acknowledge that carbon offsetting/accounting is not a solution to climate emergency and should not be used in place of carbon reduction.

7. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

We are committed to continual improvement through regular assessment and review of our business processes, event planning and implementation. Furthermore, we are committed to adhering to appropriate legal requirements and other requirements, which are applicable to our operations.    

Our project activities could have a negative impact on our environment, and we will seek to minimise any harms by reducing carbon emissions from travel, minimising waste, and working alongside partners, suppliers, and venues that have a shared focus on sustainability. We will continue our track-record of experimenting with alternative, low-impact art materials and practices. We will enable participants to make informed choices and explore environmental stewardship.

We are passionate about achieving these commitments and will continually seek out, learn and be inspired by those around us.  

We also hold a sustainable procurement policy, and a climate and ecological emergency declaration.