Sustainable working statement

Sustainable working statement

We are living through a planetary crisis. In an attempt to limit the environmental impact of my professional work as a freelance writer and heritage interpretation consultant, I intend to take the following steps:

· As much as we are social animals, social distancing measures in the age of Covid-19 have shown us that we don’t need to work together all the time – not all of our meetings have to be face to face. I will encourage clients to make use of online meeting platforms and digital sharing tools, minimising the amount of time and energy we expend on travel.

· My first preference when travelling to meet clients is to use public transport. For most clients this will mean train, tram or bus.

· I do not own a car, but may hire one for a short period to get to more remote locations. I hire vehicles that use unleaded fuel/hybrids and only from companies that do not offer airline loyalty points as an incentive. I will also show prices for the hire of electric vehicles.

· If I travel by car or aircraft, it will be as an absolute last resort and I will personally pay a carbon offset fee, while acknowledging that this is not a perfect solution.

· Where refreshments or catering are provided for meetings, these will be vegetarian and, where possible, vegan options will also be available. They are often more delicious anyway.

· My work often makes use of paper. I will always think before printing, use recycled paper and will recycle what I have used, afterwards. I will encourage clients to do the same; all my reports include a reminder only to print relevant pages where they are necessary.

· I will set the devices I use for my work to the most economical settings, with the intention of conserving power.

· My work doesn’t make use of many consumables or sundries, but where it does, I will endeavour to shop locally and to support businesses that state their ethical and environmental intentions publicly.

· As a fellow of the Association for Heritage Interpretation (UK) I subscribe to the AHI Code of Ethics, particularly the value of stewardship, that interpreters “promote the conservation of, and access to, tangible and intangible heritage resources for sustainable public benefit – for learning, inspiration and enjoyment.”

· Whenever I am working on public-facing interpretive content that could conceivably carry a message about environmental responsibility, a zero-carbon world and/or sustainable ways of thinking and living, I will actively encourage clients to include these in the content that visitors will experience. If you’re not actively including a message about the planetary emergency in your interpretation, be sure that I will remind you of it and advocate for its inclusion.

I acknowledge that a ‘sustainable’ working statement is only words. It needs to be put into action and it requires the buy-in of my clients, collaborators and friends. I’m keen to develop an ever-more sustainable practice, so will actively look for more ways to improve what I do and will happily take advice from anyone who cares to offer it.

If you want to copy or adapt this statement, please feel free.

This statement was written in 2021 and last updated in January 2026.