Did you know that my background is actually in Science? In fact, I used be quite involved in studying climate change and sea level variations, I’ve even had articles published in scientific journals about it! It shouldn’t really surprise you then that climate and ecological issues are very important to me.

Yet it can sometimes be tricky to get that across from a business point of view. I therefore decided that I wanted to document some of the things that are important when it comes to making decisions for my business and explain why I might do things a little differently here at Copper & Blossom.

Working locally

Over the last few years I have made a conscious effort to try and work more locally in order to keep my travel-induced carbon footprint to a minimum. As a freelance photographer, travelling is simply part of the job. When I first started my business I found that I was travelling a lot more than I would have liked. Unfortunately it was an unavoidable byproduct of getting my business on it's feet - I needed an income and therefore just said yes to every opportunity that came my way! I would often find myself travelling 3 or 4 hours to cover a celebration but it never really felt quite right. Thankfully my efforts to build my profile in the local area seem to be working. I have managed to reduce the distance travelled (to cover weddings at least) from and average of 54 miles per event in 2017 to just 18.5 miles in 2022. And it gets better - the 2023 average is currently sitting at 16.9 miles!

Zoom consultations

I’ve never really been one for FaceTime calls - I like to be behind the camera, not in front of it! - but when Covid forced us all to adapt, using Zoom really gave me a bit of a wake-up call. A few years ago a request from a client to have a Skype call would bring me out in a cold sweat but I’m happy to say that the past few years has made me realise that it isn’t something to be scared of. I now offer Zoom consultations to all of my potential clients to reduce the need to travel if not completely necessary.

Mailing Bags

A few years ago I felt obliged to order mailing bags. My main consideration at the time was to keep items dry as they made their way through the postal system. I purchased the bags in bulk to save a few pennies for my growing business but, of course, most mailing bags include plastic which is terrible for the environment. I very quickly felt terrible every time I reached for one of the mailing bags to send a client order but, rather than just throw them away (even worse from an ecological point of view), I promised myself that I would use up my stock and then, when it came time to reorder, I would source a much more eco-friendly option. Excitingly I recently came across Simple Life which offered the perfect solution. I am now happy to say that, with my original stock of mailing bags finally running low, I have ordered some snazzy eco-friendly, compostable mailing bags to use for future deliveries.

Contributing towards positive climate change

This is the big one and the reason why I decided to write this blog post in the first place. There’s only so much I can physically do myself and I have been feeling that it isn’t quite enough I have made the decision to subscribe to Ecologi.

I’ve been looking for a positive cause to donate to for, if I’m being honest, the last 5 or 6 years, but my indecision stopped me from actually committing to any one cause. My mind was set on donating to the planting of blossom trees in the UK because it would have a positive impact in the local area and also fit in nicely with my brand name. But I kept going round and round in circles. There are lots of tree-dedication sites out there - The Woodland Trust, The National Trust, The National Forest to name a few - but nothing seemed to be quite what I wanted. Of course, that’s such a silly thing to say! Supporting any one of those causes would have been a positive action and I’m annoyed at myself for not making a decision years ago!

But then I stumbled across Ecologi and everything just seemed to click into place. It’s a collective that supports a multitude of climate projects, helps to compensate for your carbon footprint, provides in-depth information on what projects you are personally helping and also gives you the option to donate additional money which will go towards specific projects. I’ve only just started but apparently I have already helped to plant trees in Uganda, Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya and here in the UK.

What’s Next?

I know in the grand scheme of things it is just a small drop in the ocean and there are still lots of other things I can explore to make my business even more eco-friendly. I’m eager to explore and put some additional steps in place but at least I can feel a little happier about the direction in which my business is headed.

Do you have any tips or guidance regarding things I can look into? How are you personally (or professionally) doing your bit to help the planet?