16 November 2021 | Annabel Hudson
As I am sure everyone knows, especially those living in Scotland, COP26 has taken over the streets of Glasgow the past few weeks. Some of us have been lucky enough to rub shoulders with world leaders, famous activists or even the odd actor here and there. Alongside all of this excitement, we have also felt the powerful message the conference aimed to portray; that our climate needs help… quickly. Here at Pogo Studio we are very passionate about doing our bit to help protect our climate in any way possible. Let’s take a look at a few things we already do as a company, and a few simple things we can all do as individuals to play our part in saving the beautiful world we live on.
What we already do
We try our best to be a paperless office. Every year UK offices waste 7,500 tonnes of paper. Some ways we have reduced our paper use is by using online planners to keep track of everything we need to get done. A few great options of online planners you could use if you don’t already do so include; Microsoft Outlook, Friday and Todoist. A good perk of keeping your planner virtual is that you can set notifications for when you need to get something done – meaning you’ll never be late to a client meeting again!
Working from home is still an option for all our employees. During the COIVD 19 pandemic when most people were forced to work from home, emissions caused by commuter traffic in the UK decreased by 40 – 78%. Therefore, when we were told, we could return to work in the office, we decided to give our employees the option of when they want to come in; suggesting they only commute in on days when they have important face-to-face meetings or for specific occasions. Like many companies, we very quickly adapted to working via Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and so we are still benefiting from doing so today.
Replacing outdated products with digital platforms. As previously mentioned, there is an enormous amount of paper wastage in the UK every year, and this also includes medical leaflets found in hospitals or doctors’ surgeries. Therefore, we created a digital healthcare platform called Tailored Talks which allows clinicians to share personalised information with their patients, in the format of accessible, easy-to-digest slide presentations, replacing the need for physical paper leaflets. Tailored Talks also allows all information to be personalised to each patient’s needs, something physical leaflets could never sustainably achieve.
More we can all do
A vegan day once a week. The production of meat is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and pollution, by cutting out animal products for only one day a week, we can all make a drastic change to the world around us. Meat-free doesn’t have to be boring, take a look at some fantastic recipes from meat-free brand, Quorn to get inspired.
Get your body moving, and leave the car at home. We are all aware that driving isn’t exactly great for our planet, so where and when you can, we should get walking or cycling. Doing so does not only reduce your own personal emissions, but it is also excellent for both your physical and mental health. Get yourself a comfy pair of shoes and go get your steps in!
Reduce your water usage where possible. We are all guilty of putting the washing machine on because we need to clean that one jumper we want to wear, which is evidently a great waste of water. Therefore, only wash your clothes when you have a full load to do, this will save around 3,400 gallons of water a year per household. Additionally, have a look into planting climate-appropriate plants in your garden which will grow and survive in your own climate without needing a huge amount of extra water.
We are always looking for more ways to reduce our climate footprint here at Pogo Studio. Therefore, if you have any suggestions or recommendations on how we do that in our office and in our personal lives, please do pop us an email at info@pogo-studio.com, and let us know!