In last week’s blog I spoke about personal accountability when it comes to Climate Change. 

Link to Blog; https://www.fiftyshadesgreener.ie/blog/climate-change-why-personal-responsibility-matters 

I also shared my own story of how I became empowered to start doing something about Climate Change myself, however small the action. I learned and still advocate for taking ownership of your own daily life and how you can lessen your impact on the environment, because small actions DO count.

Therefore this week I wanted to pick up from the conversation that started last week.

How do we influence people to feel the same empowerment? 

How do we make them see that there is something that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US can do? 

If you do not know what it is you can do, you will feel like it is an impossible task and so therefore you will not do anything about it. It becomes a problem for the “impossible box” and you feel demoralised, despair, powerless.

For me, empowerment comes from education, fr...

Last week I saw the amazing Clover Hogan, a young climate activist from Australia give a TEDTalk 

The link to her talk is on this week's written blog on our website, I encourage you to watch it - it's fantastic!

 “Climate change is not your responsibility, because it is outside your control, but what is your responsibility, is the things inside your control.”

So what does Personal Responsibility for Climate means?

For me, it all comes down to the things I have been speaking about on my weekly blogs for the past 2 years.

You can choose to;

1. Continue to live your life as you are..

OR

2. Continue to live your life with an added commitment to reducing your impact on the planet.

Two clear choices and no wrong answer.

YOU are in charge of your life and what do you with it is completely up to you.

I would not chastise anyone for choosing Option 1, however know that I am choosing Option 2 because I want to look back on my life in 10 years time and know that I did everything I poss...

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 relay...

Prenote: I am not saying Recycling is a bad thing, but our current main stream systems of recycling have failed us.

In July 2019 The Guardian shared an article titled “Humans have made 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic since 1950” If you missed it the link is at the end of this blog.

The Current Situation

The article stated that up until then we had no idea how much plastic we had created and now that we know, the picture is not pretty.  8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic has been created from 1950 to 2015, that is a terrifying statistic. It is the equivalent to the weight of 1 Billion elephants!

However the worst element of this, is that only 30% of the plastic created is still in use. The rest has been disposed of in three ways: 79% is in our landfills and environment, 12% has been incinerated and only 9% has been recycled. Amongst all this dismal data, what really got me thinking, is that half of the amount of plastic generated since 1950, was actually made in the last 15...

Sustainability has so many definitions that it can often drive people to distraction…

What does it actually mean? How do I make my own business more sustainable? How do I know if I am successful at greening my business?

The answers are much simpler than people may think and I'll tell you why.

Here at the Fifty Shades Greener office, a ‘green’ or sustainable business is simply one that reduces its impact to the environment. Businesses affect the environment in 3 ways; through their use of energy, production of waste and consumption of water.

In order to run an environmentally friendly business, you first need to reduce your business’s utilities, and the best part of this journey is that not only will you reduce your business’s Carbon Footprint and impact to the environment - you will also SAVE MONEY off your utility bills.

It is a win/win situation for any business owner.

Yet 99% of the Hotel owners I meet on a weekly basis, do not have a handle on these 3 pillars of sustainabilit...

We are beyond thrilled to spring into February on a very positive note! 

In collaboration with KWETB Training Services (Kildare/Wicklow Education & Training Board of Ireland) we are presenting an online Environmental Education programme to secondary schools.

This pilot project allows us to bring the “Build your future Fifty Shades Greener” programme to secondary schools from Kildare and Wicklow counties of Ireland and  is completely funded by KWETB, so at absolutely no cost to the school.

We are seeking teachers that want to involve their class on this 'first of its kind' project.

This programme is taught through video based tutorials, practical lessons and action based learning in a fun and interactive way. It teaches the student how they can achieve a lower carbon footprint lifestyle, as well as reducing their household’s energy, waste & water costs. This vital knowledge can then be applied to their schools and even at their future workplaces.

The Fifty Shades Greener team will ...

Reducing carbon emissions should not be left to the large corporations alone. There are small changes and steps we can ALL learn to reduce our own carbon footprint.

Yes, I agree that for real impact it is vital that large corporations and governments adopt different policies when it comes to protecting our environment. But it does not take away from the fact that there many ways in which WE can assist in promoting a more circular economy and a culture of sustainability.

If you are at that point where you want to make changes but you do not know how or where to start, we are here to help.

Let’s start with those simple daily, weekly or monthly activities that impact the environment.

I can come up with one easy list of things, amongst many others:

• The energy we use
• The water we use
• The waste we produce
• The way we travel to and from places
• The purchases we make 

If you have been following us for a while, you will know by now that we concentrate on the first 3; the reduction ...

“Fly if you like, I won't judge you” was a statement that Greta Thunberg gave to The Sunday Times Magazine as she turned 18.

This sentence really got me thinking about influence and divisive ideals and opinions. Something we are seeing more and more in modern society in the midst of this Trump era, is the rise of the far right all over the world and more worryingly - extremism. 

The definition of polarising is ‘to cause something, especially something that contains different people or opinions, to divide into two completely opposing groups: “The debate is becoming polarised and there seems to be no middle ground.”’

We have all seen first hand the damage that a destructive leader can do during Trump’s presidency, culminating in the assault on the Capitol Building on January 6th. 

Radicalism or fundamentalism of any “idea” is never a good path to follow. We need to allow that as humans, as a society, people are going to have different points of view and opinions. Opinions that are re...

The modern society we have collectively created has its pros and cons...

Many might feel that having supermarkets where you can buy EVERYTHING in one place, is a welcomed development in our society. It seems that convenience is prioritised above all else (even above reducing the food waste).

Has this also led to an enormous disconnect from our food chain? Have we lost the sense of where our food comes from? I am afraid the answer is yes.

The harsh reality is that many children in our larger cities may have never seen a live cow, a chicken or a pig. They learn about them in primary school and see pictures in books or cartoons, but the correlation that those animals end up on our dinner plates as pork chops or chicken wings, is lost in translation.

I remember when I was a child, we often spent some of our holidays in a small rural village in Spain with our nanny and her family. We had a full time nanny back then as both my parents worked long hours and travelled a lot for work.

For ...

First of all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

I hope 2021 is kinder to all of us than 2020 has been...

As we all delve into New Year’s resolutions, I wanted to start my year talking about a country I admire and have followed the progress of for a few years now - Costa Rica.

This blog, is a little longer than my regular blogs because I found the story of the development of Costa Rica so interesting and inspiring that I couldn't make it any shorter!

The moral of the story for me, is that a government that invests in protecting its natural resources and educating its people on the importance of the same, is on a winning trajectory.

In the era of the world wide web and fake news, it is difficult to determine which “facts” are real or not so to write this blog I partnered with Luis Murillo from Costa Rica and I found the story of their sustainable developments fascinating. 

Here is what Luis told me:

According to Luis, there were 4 elements of the history of Costa Rica that allowed ...