June month notes — 3 month net zero milestone
Where is 2023 going! As we come to the end of June we’re half-way through the year already!
This is my third instalment of my month-notes. This means I’ve done my first 3 months at Swiscot. It’s been a steep learning curve coming into the industry. I’m loving the challenge and opportunity to help grow the business, while ensuring we reduce our impact on the planet. So this month’s general reflection is an observation on the green skills gap.
The sustainability skills gap
After 3 months of getting my head around how we best approach developing our sustainability strategy I finally feel like I’ve landed on an approach. However, as I’ve made the transition to a sustainability role I’ve realised there’s a lack of support for people who want to get into green jobs. I have been fortunate enough to attend a fully funded net zero course through the growth company ( more on this further on). But this is only open to staff already working at a company.
For me there is an obvious training gap to help equip people with the skills and knowledge to be able to apply for green jobs. Just like I’ve seen in the technology sector we risk alienating people and putting up barriers to entry by requiring applicants to have an ‘environmental sciences degree’ or xx many years experience. The sustainability sector needs to focus on the transferable skills and values that candidates can bring to the space. Along with shorter and more affordable qualifications. I’m aware of how fortunate I am in this position and want to use my experience to advocate for my inclusive career transitions as we need more people working in this space.
Here’s a great piece which further highlights the green skills gap.
https://www.edie.net/in-numbers-how-the-global-green-skills-gap-is-growing/
Digital
A short comment from me on digital this month. After running some customer feedback surveys I’ve gathered some additional insights on areas for improvement. So there is plenty to be optimised across the site. Learning a different CMS again is also a quirk of the job working out how to make so many of these little changes.
It’s also been great to ask a few digital friends to do an independent web audit. Getting a completely fresh pair of eyes on our online user experience has been really helpful as well. I’m looking at the site pretty much every day so I have already become a bit biassed to areas that could be improved.
Lastly, is anyone else dreading the move to GA4 analytics ? I have spotted a fab resource from Smart Insights Dave Chaffey so will be working my way through this as I swot back-up on the latest Google Analytics trends. Either way a move to event driven data insights is the way forward so I’m looking forward to seeing how the new data informs our e-commerce site.
Sustainability
Journey to Net Zero (JNZ) course
As I’ve mentioned before I had the chance to attend a 3 day journey to net zero course with the Growth Company. It was a jam packed course that covered all the essentials you need to develop a sustainability strategy for SMEs. In particular the carbon footprinting activities and employee engagement modules were really insightful for me.
I was thrilled to be asked by the team to join the JNZ panel at the Sustainability Summit on Monday 12 June. This was my first panel event talking about our journey. It was great to be able to encourage other businesses to sign-up and get started — which I believe the places have filled up after the event!
Having gone on the course I now have a long list of actions to get started with. I’ll share progress and updates on our decarbonisation journey via this blog. Bonus news I also passed the course which is accredited by the Institute of environmental management and assessment (IEMA).
Dunelm scheme
I’ve also been looking into waste reduction within the industry. There’s still a huge amount of textiles that end up in landfill. So I’m always looking at examples of schemes that help to recycle and reuse home textiles.
I came across Dunhems take back scheme where you can donate any old home textiles at a number of participating stores. They also mix some of the items with other post-consumer recycling and turn them into new items as part of their Conscious Choice Remade collection. These products are made from at least 40% pre-loved materials. It’s great to see large retailers like Dunhelm stepping up with solutions to textile waste.
https://www.dunelm.com/info/about/take-back-scheme
Achievements and recommendations
Reading this month
Belong book club
- After mentioning this book last month I’ve started a mini book group with some friends. Interestingly a key activity in the book is finding new community groups that relate to topics and interests. So i’ve been branching out and finding new art, walking and gardening groups which has been refreshing. If anyone in my network has any good suggestions for outdoor community meet-ups let me know.
Success Myth Emma Gannon
- This has been a timely reminder of the societal myths told about what success typically looks like.
- I could really resonate with the impact of toxic productivity and struggling to value myself and my time away from the pressure to be constantly achieving at work
- If anyone is questioning what success means to them in their life and career I’d recommend its a good read to help redefine what your version of success looks like.
Podcast this month
How to Fail Elizabeth Day
I always love this podcast, but this last month I’ve enjoyed these two great episodes on adventure and reporting in war-zones. Fascinating insights on how two very accomplished people still have had to overcome some difficult challenges and lessons along the way.
- Sir Ranuplh Fiennes — An infamous adventurer taking on massive challenges for charity
- Alex Crawford — Sky news war correspondent
Running distance
- I ran 20km in June and hit a 5km pb. July I need to push onto running 6km to get in some extra km’s before September
- I also did my first cycle to work as I got my new bike and this was perfectly times to be during the net zero course
- Going along via sale waterpark and the canals means its 95% off road and a nice 11k cycle into work.
