Country & Town House Sustainability Month: Go Green with Us
Join us in committing to being more eco-friendly and investing in sustainability...
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‘Sustainability’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘upcycled’, ‘zero-waste’, ‘single-use’, ‘climate change’, ‘environmental crisis’. These are the buzzwords of the moment, because our planet is going through a change. We don’t have the luxury of being ignorant to how our actions are affecting earth anymore. Just watch David Attenborough’s Planet Earth, read about schoolchildren protesting or go on your Instagram explore page – chances are, there will be some content relating to the environment, and how it is in crisis.
Photo by Dustan Woodhouse
In this world there is so much we cannot control, but one thing we as individuals can control is our actions. More specifically, our actions that will have a knock-on effect. That cup from Starbucks? The lid will most likely end up in the ocean, polluting it with micro-plastics that will end up back in the food chain and subsequently in our bodies, as well as harming animals. That single-use plastic packaging on most fruit and veg in supermarkets that you’ll take off as soon as you use it? Can’t be recycled, will again most likely end up in the sea. And it’s not as if this sea of plastic is out of reach, in a faraway land where it will never affect us. We’ll see it on holidays; we’ll step on cigarette butts on the beach (which have plastic inside), see ice cream wrappers floating on the surface of a once-clear blue sea, and if the mass production and consumption of single-use plastic continues as it is now, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050.
It’s time to stop trashing our oceans with unnecessary harmful plastics. It’s time to take control of our world, our environment, and make positive choices that will benefit everyone and everything on this earth. At this moment in time, being sustainable and eco-friendly is not as easy as it should be – that’s because companies and shops will continue to provide consumers with the products we continue to buy, such as pre-packaged fruit in throwaway containers, plastic bottles and bags that will be used for an average of 10 minutes and remain on this earth for hundreds and hundreds of years, doing nothing but damage.
So here’s the thing: we’re not buying them anymore. We at Country & Town House recognise that we live in a consumer-led society which means we have some control in the mass production of what is most toxic to our environment, and we are, as a company, pledging to do our bit to become as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible.
The May Issue: Sustainability
The May Issue: Sustainability. Out April 5th.
Our May issue is centred around sustainability and the environment. Features include our Editor Lucy Cleland in conversation with Livia Firth who’s been at the vanguard of the sustainable movement for years, to find out how she incorporates it into her own life, how we can incorporate it into ours, and why there are now no more excuses; Managing Editor Anastasia Bernhardt’s discussion with Tristram Stuart, who’s leading the charge when it comes to what we do about food waste; the big luxury brands to support who are taking responsibility of their environmental impact; Alex Eagle on how to shop sustainably; a swap-shop highlighting the simplest ways to ditch single-use products in favour of reusable ones, and so much more.
For the month of April, coinciding with the print version of the magazine, What’s On by Country & Town House will feature sustainability and eco-friendly features such as a guide to sustainable gardening, a look into lab-grown diamonds, ecotourism destinations, sustainable beauty and fashion brands, and zero-waste dining.
As a company, we are going to great lengths to make sure we’re being as ethical and sustainable as possible, and we’re constantly evaluating and improving every day. We’re not perfect, we’re not a magazine based solely on sustainability, but we are doing the best we can. We’re also taking accountability for everyone who works with us, from the commercial team to editorial, from the directors to the interns.
Going Single Use Plastic Free
For the month of April, we are banning single-use plastics from the office, to shed light on how much is produced, and how steering clear from it for just one month can vastly reduce the amount of unnecessary, excess waste we produce. The forfeit of this is that anyone who brings in a piece of single-use plastic will be asked to donate £1 to Greenpeace. You can keep up with us on our single-use plastic-free-month journey by following us on Instagram where we’ll be posting weekly updates on where we’ve slipped up and where we’ve thrived, in the hope of learning from our mistakes and being transparent and honest about the struggles and successes of being sustainable.
Ready to join in? Explore the below directory for information about environmental issues that we hope will open your eyes and encourage you to evaluate how your decisions will affect the environment around you and the world as a whole.
Directory of Information: Environmental Issues
- Facts about Climate Change: ecotricity.co.uk
- Climate Change evidence: climate.nasa.gov
- What sustainability is and why it’s important: environmentalscience.org
- Effects of global warming: nationalgeographic.com
- Heading for extinction and what to do about it talk by Gail Bradbrook of Extinction Rebellion: youtube.com
- What single-use plastic is and why it’s a problem: plasticfreechallenge.org
- Top 10 environmental issues: schooledbyscience.com
- Environmental footprint calculator: footprint.wwf
- How to reduce your carbon footprint: blogs.ei
- The effect of eating meat on the environment: peta.org
Don’t let the idea of making mistakes put you off. The world doesn’t need one person doing sustainability perfectly, it needs millions of us doing it imperfectly.
