OPINION
JUST A THOUGHT
When it comes to protecting the planet, the younger generation can teach us a thing or two, says Frugi CEO Sarah Clark.
WHO’S LEARNING FROM WHO? I recently joined Frugi as CEO, running a wonderful collection of brands with sustainability at their heart, including Frugi organic childrenswear, Totsbots reusable nappies and Bloom & Nora reusable sanitary products. On joining, I had always considered myself reasonably eco-conscious. I’m a cyclist, which is mostly planet-positive and makes me keen to protect the environment that I enjoy. I’m on a proactive journey to have ‘more-meat-free-days’, I do the easy stuff like recycling and turning off lights and appliances, and Covid has at least trained me that I don’t need to constantly travel to get things done. Is it enough, in this the ‘decisive decade’? The EU has dramatically increased its targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030. By delivering an 8% emissions reduction every year between 2020 and 2030, we can limit global warming to ‘only’ 1.5 degrees Celsius. Any temperature above two degrees would lead to the disappearance of almost all reefs and increased intensity of extreme weather events. 70% of Earth’s coastlines would experience rising sea-levels, which would result in flooding, beach erosion and salinization of water supplies. At three degrees of warming hundreds of millions of people would be displaced from their homes.
only 50% turned the tap off during toothbrushing and only 58% took reusable bags in for grocery shopping, to name but a few of the surprising statistics. We have an internal mission statement within our group to ‘inspire the next generation of eco-heroes’; we want to provide sustainable clothes and reusable products which enable families and communities to enjoy quality time together, in a way that respects our planet. We also put our money where our mouth is and donate 1% of turnover to brilliant charities and initiatives such as Eco-Schools, which puts sustainability and the outdoors at the very heart of the curriculum.
Inspire the next generation of eco-heroes
With such consequences at stake, it would seem the answer is therefore, no – I’m not doing enough. And I’m not alone. In a survey we conducted of five hundred 35 to 44-year-old females, only 18% regularly used reusable coffee cups, 54 | BUSINESS CORNWALL
However, in the last few months of onboarding onto the business and the brands, I have started to ask myself – who’s learning from who?
Certainly, in my case, I would say it’s the younger generation of my nieces, nephews and godchildren that has inspired me to up my eco-game… Having grown up in the era of ‘the tampon lady’ coming into schools, I had never entertained reusable sanitary until now. My 14-year-old niece, on the other hand, had been the one to proactively request reusables, and she and her friends are open and confident in discussing and using period pants and the like. Thank goodness for their foresight, given that women use on average 11,000 disposable menstrual products in their lifetime, generating 200,000 tonnes of waste
per annum in UK alone. 2 billion menstrual items are flushed down Britain’s toilets each year, with sewage-related debris making up 9% of beach litter. Our younger generation can also teach us a thing or two in pursuing a vegetarian lifestyle. The UK is certainly a leading light in this area, with 21% of the population vegetarian, compared to 2% in Spain, 5% in the US and France, 12% in Germany. However, within that <25-year-olds are three times more likely to be vegetarian, with females 18-25 years-old the most likely to be vegan. With my generation lagging so woefully behind, you’ll be relieved to hear that we still have a role to play, however. I was traumatised the other week to understand that our children spend less time outside than maximum security prisoners. Whilst our youngsters clearly have a lot of heart for protecting our planet, it seems they should certainly be out there enjoying it more. Whilst Covid has been an incredibly tough period for all of us, we all know how instrumental engaging with nature is for our mental and physical well-being, and a survey by Natural England showed that 46% of working adults were spending more time outside during the pandemic than before. And so perhaps the different generations can learn from each other – we must respect and protect the planet, in this the ‘decisive decade’… but let’s also carve out the quality time to get out there and enjoy it!
