Climate Change – Katee Hui

One Year and 8 Months Doing The Green Thing

When I first came across Do The Green Thing, my first thought was was ‘Wow. They’re brilliant’. My second was ‘I want to work there’.

I *patiently* waited for about 2 and a half years, always keeping tabs on their content and website, hoping one day I’d be able to join their team. That day came in April 2010. Since then I’ve have been super lucky to have worked with such talented and wonderful people on a really good cause.

But all good things must come to an end and I’ll soon be moving on.

Working at Do the Green Thing can be unpredictable: my 5th day on the job I was asked to interview Ben Fogle, in the summer I appeared on a Mexican TV channel, and I was once sent to Scotland to help showcase the world’s first biodegradable tent.

Also my sitting room from time to time turns into a sewing room.

Do The Green Thing is an exciting and creative place to work and if you like the sounds of that then definitely apply.

I’d like to say a MASSIVE thank you to Naresh and Andy for everything they’ve taught me and the opportunities they’ve given me. I feel so lucky to have worked with both of them and their world class talent. SO lucky.

And of course there is Kim. Everyone needs a Kim. I haven’t met a harder working person. And it pains me to say I know someone who is more organised that me.

One of the best things about Do The Green Thing is the people. The masses of volunteers, interns, producers, designers, writers, thinkers, etc .. that lend their time and skills is incredible. James, Jo, AWO, Hayden, Liz, Liv, Vicki, Zoe and Jay: thank you for making life at green thing fun, easy and brilliant.

So what’s next for me?

Properly launching Laces Community Club into the world and very likely more work in sustainability.

Stay tuned.

This week saw the launch of the UK’s first conservation credit scheme. Conservation credits work very similar to carbon offsetting. If an area of land or water is to be developed, the developers can offset their impact by buying credits in biodiversity. Areas of biodiversity will then get developed in designated locations. Biobanking is becoming a really big emerging market.

While the idea of need to compensate for environmental damage seems like a good idea, you can’t manufacture biodiversity. Letting builders or developers essentially pay for environmental degradation, is not doing anything for conservation, if anything it’s just showing that everything has a price tag.

By issuing conservation credits, it inherently implies that a price can be put on biodiversity- but how can you measure and value this? And can it work retroactively? What about damage that’s already been done?

Like carbon offsetting, you are paying to alleviate guilt, pressure, bi-laws. But you cant really put a price on biodiversity. You can’t pay £500,000 to create a panda reserve because something that you want to build just might happen to obliterate a wild turkey population.