After a funny old year, nearly two, Lisa and Tash are working on And The Future in the same room and it's a long time since this has happened. A cheeky trip to the pub resulted in a walk home and we challenged each other to walk home in the dark, no phone torch. Our eyes adapted quickly and we were able to walk the 10 minutes home. It slowed us down, which felt like a good thing, and as the owls hooted we connected more with nature.
Anyway, what does energy have to do with solutions for climate change? The energy we use every day, produced by electricity and gas we take for granted can be made in so many different ways. When electricity was invented, it relied on fossil fuels and while it was magic then, it seems old school now, but still relevant, as we rely more and more on flicking a switch for light, turning a dial for heat and pressing the pedal for speed. There are green alternatives to how we create energy and that's why we chose the topic.
The fact that Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, published a book in 2020 may just have something to do with it. In the book, he documents his journey, from hippy rebel to owning the first wind-powered energy company in the UK, how he set up the UK's electricity highway, how he came to own a vegan football club, and his ideas for the future, which include Sky Diamonds (making diamonds from carbon in the atmosphere). The name of the book, Manifesto, however, is the main reason for reading this tome. In narrowing down to three areas where we can all make changes: food, travel and energy. The book is a manifesto for a different world.
How is this relevant to us?
we can turn off the lights and heating when we're not in a room;
we can research having solar panels installed on our homes (even if it may not be possible right now);
we can change our energy company and;
we can watch this great film to take us back to basics and to get us inspired: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind
What else can we do? Help us populate our community Notion document on Energy, where we collect resources around the topic including articles, books, podcasts, accounts to follow etc. Everyone welcome to contribute đȘđŒ
What is everywhere and nowhere all at once?
When I (Lisa) converted my van I wanted the electrics to be powered by solar panels. After hours of research and conversations with my dad, who studied electrical engineering and tried to help me work out what my energy consumption would be, I installed three solar panels on my roof. Up to this point, I never had to think about the amount of energy that I use on a daily basis, where it comes from or how much I use. Itâs something that just comes out of the plug sockets and is always there. Not in a campervan. The amount of power is limited and depending on the weather you have more or less available. If you have three cloudy days in a row you need to make sure you drive the van for at least 30 minutes to charge up the batteries via the light machine. I knew that this way of living would change my point of view but never expected it to change my way of understanding and consuming energy as well.
Bookclub take aways: Manifesto by Dale Vince
The three key areas we personally have control over in our lives are energy, food and transport and they also have the biggest impact on climate change.
Whenever you want to create a sustainable alternative you have to do it really well in order to avoid the âyes, but âŠâ trap. The bar is set way higher for alternative solutions.
Change has to come from individuals as well as governments. It works both ways. Consumer changing their behaviours, makes companies rethink their products and services, which in turn can influence government decisions.
The more challenging a problem, the more it is worth solving.
Donât do it for the money. If you donât pursue it, it will come.
As with all parts of the Green Industrial Revolution, we need a transition. Farmers can diversify, not just into plants - green gas and wildlife habitats are a cross sector and big opportunity.
Be bold, be fearless and ready to adapt.
We need more education around topics like food so people can make better decisions for themselves and the planet.
Businesses have a lot of power and influence, which we should use to change things for the better (if we are in any position to do so)
It was an interesting and polarising read. The book brought up a lot of interesting and valid solutions to the climate crisis and the authorâs life story reads like a novel. Itâs an easy read and great book to pick up if youâre just starting out with the topic of sustainability.
Join our next book club: Weâre reading Loved Clothes Last by Orsola De Castro
Fair Fashion is our chosen topic for the letter F in our Alphabet of Climate Solutions series.
âThe Fashion Revolution Co-Founder brings her beautiful energy and big ideas to book form. Orsola de Castro, who with Carry Somers co-founded Fashion Revolution, has penned a love letter to the power of upcycling, mending, treasuring, repairing, rescuing, respecting and sharing fashion in Loved Clothes Last.
This book is both a practical guide to how to get more wear out of your wardrobe, and an impassioned plea against mindless consumption. She writes, âthe fate of cheap clothing is marked as soon as it leaves the factory, and itâs worthy of an unedited Grimm Brothers fairytale: made in misery, bought in haste, worn for one night (if that) and then chucked in the bin.â The Wardrobe Crisis
Join the online discussion on the 27 of September at 7PM â tickets via Eventbrite below.
We miss you and are restarting Future Hour on the 8th of October â save the date!
The time, 1pm (GMT), is the same but weâre changing the format slightly. Weâll kick off with a conversation around the current book club topic - in October it'll be F for Fair Fashion and in November G for Gathering. We envisage the conversation lasting 30 minutes and will be followed by 30 minutes individual work with a strong suggestion to work on your own sustainable journey/project/goal.
No more Zoom calls: we've switched to Whereby - no need to log in, just click this link at 1pm every Friday. This link will always be the same so it might worth saving it to your bookmarks đđœ
Thank you for reading this far and being part of this community! Thank you for sticking with us even when weâre posting a little less frequently. Make sure you follow us along on our social media channels: Instagram and Linkedin as we usually announce upcoming events there first. If you have any questions please add a comment to this post, DM or send us an email to hello@andthefuture.com
Lisa & Tash âš