Main photo: The Travelling Companions, 1862, Oil on Canvas, Augustus Leopold Egg (1816 – 1863).
For all of us, I think, there is a moment when the penny drops. For me it was when I learnt that the world wide storage of data has a carbon footprint similar to that of air travel. I had always hoped that AHA would be a harmless, uplifting way to earn a living but we leave a stain that I would rather not be there.
So, we have some cunning schemes.
Train travel as opposed to air travel. From now on we will offer train travel alternatives to air travel routes for those who wish. We will also suggest hotels where overnight stays might be necessary.
Meanwhile, inspired by our colleagues in the gap year sector, Oyster Worldwide, we are going to plant a tree for every flight through the agency of Tree Aid who will also work out the offset cost of our UK travel.
Data storage. We are going to delete all unnecessary files, photos and videos and archive those we wish to keep on storage devices rather than using the cloud.
Meat. In future, when ordering menus for clients, we will choose meat less often. In Italy, this presents little problem and is a delicious option. It might be more challenging in Prague, but that might be being mean.
Printing. No matter how hard we have tried in the past, our printing has grown. In future, we will only print and post things on an ad hoc basis when clients wish to have hard copies of documents. We feel in general, most people will be happy to print at home if they feel the need.
Nick Ross
Director, AHA
