At Action Hampshire, sustainability has become a growing area of focus for our team, particularly since we launched our National Lottery-funded Sustainability Project in 2024.
Since then, we’ve been working to incorporate sustainability into our own internal practices. We’re now looking forward to the project’s next phase, which will involve sharing what we’ve learnt with the wider VCSE sector.
Back in June, our team came together for a Sustainability Away Day. This was a great opportunity to step away from our desks and learn about environmental sustainability as a team. Throughout the day, we shared ideas, challenged our thinking, and identified ways we can reduce our environmental impact both in our professional and personal lives. We also enjoyed a lovely plant-based lunch to align with our sustainability goals (did you know that a typical plant-based lunch can produce 50-90% lower carbon emissions than a meat-based meal?)
One of the day’s highlights was creating our own personal sustainability pledges and sharing them with one another. These pledges demonstrated the many ways in which we can all contribute to positive environmental change.
Here are some of the work-related sustainability pledges from our team members:
- I will reduce one-line “thank you” emails and use reactions instead
- I will be more mindful of emails at work and unsubscribe from newsletters, including personal email newsletters, that are no longer useful
- I will create and maintain a new digital filing system; delete downloads and consider cleaner digital practices
- I will turn the laptop off when it is not being used
- I will attempt to implement an environmental checklist when planning Action Hampshire events
We have also started using Microsoft Teams more for internal communication, reducing the number of emails sent. In July alone, we avoided sending over 600 emails by using Teams channels and messaging instead.
Although there is no official measure of the carbon footprint of a Teams message, estimates suggest it produces around 0.3g of CO₂, compared to 4g for a standard email. This means that, instead of generating around 2.5kg of CO₂ through emails in July, we generated just 0.18kg through Teams, saving an estimated 2.32kg of CO₂.
If maintained throughout the year, this saving would be equivalent to the emissions from a flight to Paris. This is a great example of how a few small changes can have a significant impact.
During the Sustainability Away Day, our team also created plenty of personal sustainability pledges, such as taking part in re-wilding volunteering work, reducing consumption of imported fruit and vegetables, and switching to more environmentally friendly cleaning products at home.
We’d love to hear from you!
Has your organisation made any commitments towards sustainability? Or perhaps you’ve been inspired to make a personal pledge? Please contact our sustainability team and let us know what matters to you, we’d love to hear your thoughts: emilia.pettersenjanes@actionhampshire.org
Or perhaps you know of someone doing amazing sustainability work within the community? Nominate them for our Hampshire Changemakers 2027 Environmental Sustainability Award to help celebrate their dedication and achievements!
Looking ahead, we’re excited to share more of our learnings with you soon. In the meantime, here are some environmental awareness days taking place in October that you may like to celebrate
- 1 October: World Vegetarian Day – A global celebration encouraging people to explore and adopt plant‑based diets
- 14 October: International E-Waste Day – A day dedicated to raising awareness about the proper disposal and recycling of electronic waste
- 24 October: International Day of Climate Action – A day raising awareness and inspiring global action against climate change
Follow this link for more information about our Sustainability and Climate projects
