Environmental education requires REAL data

What statement is more impactful to you?

1. If you turn off your tap while brushing your teeth you will save water.

1. By turning off the tap while brushing your teeth, you and your family could save 14,600 litres of water every year! Imagine if every other home did the same?

Behavioural change is one of the most difficult things to achieve, particularly when we are trying to change a lifetime habit. More often than not, the mistake that most of us are making - is to expect a change in behaviour just because we know it is the right thing to do, without explaining it to others.

When we teach young people about water conservation or energy management, we don’t just tell them what they should do, we demonstrate to them the environmental impact of this change in behaviour.

If I was a teenager, I know without a doubt, that the second statement would make me think twice the next time I am brushing my teeth.

Time and time again I see businesses or communities relaying a green message without real data being clarified and while I applaud ALL environmental efforts, without said data, I have no idea how effective their actions are.

There is a chef I follow on Instagram @spacey_chef, he is a member of @FoodSpaceIreland as well as @ChefsManifesto , a network of worldwide chefs who are tirelessly championing healthy and sustainable diets with the @UNFoodSystems

We often speak about different environmental measures, particularly when it comes to food and kitchen waste and the concept of “Environmental Data” came up in conversation;

...“Worked so well for us, we were able to compare TWO things that people could relate to. When we removed Clingfilm 3 years ago it was the same as wrapping Croke park stadium 4 times every year, or when we only used compostable for takeout 5 years ago it was the same as cancelling 10 international flights from Dublin to new York return” Conor Spacey

Environmental data could be one of the most important pieces of this puzzle that is climate recovery. It is powerful information to have and it resonates not only with your staff, but your customers also.

If you have embarked on your green journey for your business, don’t push your sustainable efforts to the back or hide them from your team and your patrons. Incorporating sustainability into your daily operation also means sharing these efforts and their results.

If we want to drive behavioural change in society then we need to be transparent on how actions affect the environment with real data, in their language and in a way that it makes sense to them.  

Raquel