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Loading...By Louise Palmer Masterton, Stem & Glory
‘A Life on our Planet’ is the new documentary by David Attenborough.
He described it as his ‘witness statement’ and it contains compelling statistics that define the devastating problems we face if we do not stop destroying our planet. The film shows the numbers for the rapid increase in the global population, the increase in carbon in the atmosphere, and the accompanying sharp decrease in unfarmed natural land.
It’s a stark message. By losing the biodiversity of our land, we’re accelerating towards extinction as our planet struggles with the excessive demands placed upon it. The earth has finite commodities, but we’re acting like they are limitless.
However, the documentary ends with a ray of hope: Attenborough lays out the steps we need to take to quickly redress the balance and allow the planet to recover:
- Population control – end poverty and increase access to education for all people, which will naturally lead to population control. This, of course, requires global commitment.
- Rewild the rainforests to restore biodiversity. Rewild more farmland.
- Stop eating meat. For every one carnivore in nature there are at least 100 prey animals, so for 11 billion humans to be carnivores is completely unsustainable. It’s an absolute no brainer.
- Abandon fossil fuel in favor of renewable energy. Everyone knows this, but with pension funds and big business still investing in fossil fuels there is a substantial way to go.
- Land use. Using less land in more intelligent ways to produce more food, such as vertical and urban farming.
- Stop Waste. Period.
So how can businesses play their part?
You may be thinking that most of this list is beyond the sphere of influence of an individual or an individual business, with international action and financial incentives needed for this to happen on a global scale.
It’s correct that international action is needed, but we can all instigate actions that make a difference. Some of these involve supporting non-profits in a financial sense, but many of the actions we can take are changes within our own supply chains which are not disruptive or costly. They simply involve making more ethical choices in our purchasing decisions.
And a recent Futerra survey showed that 88% of consumers want brands to help them be more sustainable and many people utilize their purchasing power as a way to make their mark, so it’s also a sound business decision to make positive changes within our own businesses.
Education
Consider donating a small part of your income. Attenborough states that to achieve the eradication of poverty, education, particularly of women, plays a huge part. Camfed, a charity directly impacting the education of women is one such example of an organization working towards this aim.
Rewilding
Work with the many new ethical suppliers who are themselves making a difference. For example, we work with a tea supplier called Reforest Tea. For one 500g bag of breakfast tea, costing £12, they are able to plant 6-8 trees. Perform your own sustainability audit (there are also individuals and organizations that can conduct this for you, or you could simply do it yourself).
More vegan meals
Obviously, as a plant-based brand, we are hoping that the whole world will eventually refrain from eating meat. But even if you are not vegan, the fact that 65% of all the mammals on this planet are farm animals, their devastating carbon impact, and land use cannot be overstated. But what does this mean for a business or for one that serves meat? Fortunately/unfortunately it means you need to pivot your business model. Although it might feel like your offering is well supported now, it will become increasingly regarded as unethical in the future.
If you have a staff canteen, look to increase the plant-based offerings. Educate your staff about eating less meat (whether that’s avoiding it for a few days a week, or putting less on the plate). If you host events that involve food (whether canapes or a full sit-down), ask your caterers to provide a good choice of plant-based options, or even choose to make your events 100% vegan.
I am not lecturing here, but don’t count on people wanting to continue eating meat in the future as they do now. So now is the time to explore plant-based options that suit your brand, and develop new products that have a lesser carbon impact.
Using Renewable Energy
In pursuit of renewable energy, businesses can make a huge impact by simply moving to renewable only energy sources. There are a number of these now, including the most established Ecotricity and Green Energy. But we can go one step further. Who are your investors? What are their green credentials? Do they invest in fossil fuels? Who are your partners? Who are your landlords? Scrutinize everything. Take every opportunity you can to bring attention to this.
Vertical Farming
I visited Amsterdam in February. There are some super exciting projects there with vertical and urban farms. They are a big exporter of vegetables because of this. They get greater output from a much smaller footprint in this way. It’s now also breaking into the hospitality sector. I visited a restaurant called Juniper & Kin which is on the top floor of a tall hotel building. They have a green-house on their roof and grow a high percentage of their produce there.
Probably the biggest issue of all – waste
Packaging Waste
There is a huge amount of misinformation out there on this subject, especially with regards to single-use. I watched a short film recently, called Our Planet, Our Business, and one of the experts said, ‘there is no such thing as waste, it’s just a commodity in the wrong place at the wrong time’. That really struck me. Packaging is a complicated subject that we’ve been immersed in researching for some time, and here is what we have learned:
- The only truly sustainable, circular solution for packaging is to use products that are made from 100% recycled post-consumer waste, which are then endlessly recycled. So, we are no longer using single-use anything.
- Compostable is not the answer to the issue of single-use, as compostable containers are widely made from virgin materials, which increase the carbon footprint of the product, and do nothing to solve the issue of mass disposability.
- When the world is truly plastic-free, then it may be that recycled packaging which is also compostable could play a part. But, whilst we have such huge amounts of post-consumer plastic waste, the most responsible thing we can do is recycle it. If demand for 100% recycled plastic were greater, demand would also increase for manufacturers to buy post-consumer waste plastic. And so it goes on.
- Of course, responsible use of recycled plastic products requires education, and we need to invest energy into just that. It’s a big step for us all to make in our heads because plastic has been vilified for so long, but research shows it’s moving away from single-use anything that has the greatest carbon impact. The leap we all need to make is to start viewing plastic (and everything else on this planet) as a valuable commodity.
Other Waste
At Stem & Glory, we are currently fitting out a new site in Cambridge. The driver behind our decor is to reuse and recycle as far as possible. It’s been great to see that there are so many new products on the market that are composed of recycled post-consumer waste. We predict that this will explode massively in the coming months and years. From table-tops to worktops, paint, flooring, concrete, lights, innovation is everywhere. And it looks completely fab! As part of this process, we have also been able to get our entire team on board – from designers to contractors, all are now also committed to the reuse and recycle way of living.
And this is probably the best way we can win hearts and minds to tackling climate change. Never underestimate the contribution that an individual or individual business can play. By changing ourselves we generate spirals of positive influence – the R number of sustainability! The more you make changes and tell others, the more people you will influence for good.
Louise Palmer-Masterton is founder of multiple award-winning restaurant Stem + Glory; a hip and trendy but accessible plant-based restaurant, serving delicious gourmet vegan food from locally sourced ingredients that are 100 per cent made on site. Stem & Glory also offers click-and-collect and local delivery in London and Cambridge.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.
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