One of the driving forces behind Studio 91 Media is our desire to make the world better. To make a positive impact both on digital platforms and on our physical environment. As part of that, we’ve been taking proactive steps to become as sustainable as possible. That includes working with The Carbon Literacy Project to achieve silver Carbon Literate Organisation status.
I know what you’re thinking – “What on earth does that mean?!” It’s more straightforward than it sounds.
What is Carbon Literacy?
Carbon Literacy is defined as:
An awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis.
The Carbon Literacy Project
The Carbon Literacy Project aims to educate people on the need for change in this area, then to equip and empower them to do things differently. They award CLO status (Carbon Literate Organisation) to companies who have a demonstrable commitment to sustainability and a Carbon Literacy training programme in place for their team. Any organisation of any size can apply. We are a silver CLO, but there are also bronze, gold and platinum tiers.
I took a Carbon Literacy course while working for the BBC, and it opened my eyes to a lot of things. It made me realise where we’re headed as a planet. How fast we’re getting there. What we can do to try and turn things around. Studio 91 Media has been a CLO since 2019, almost since the very beginning of the company. As part of that, we’ve made a number of commitments as outlined below.
What are we doing differently?
Our main area of impact in terms of CO2 emissions is around transport, i.e. getting to video shoots with heavy kit. For most of our shoots we travel by public transport, on foot, on an electric cargo bike called Babs, or some combination of the three.
An important part of being a Carbon Literate Organisation is committing to training staff. All our current team are trained, and new starters are certified Carbon Literate within 6 months of joining. We’re part of the Better Business Network, so their CL training is included in our membership. When reviewing team members’ performance, we follow up on the actions pledged in their training and support them to fulfil these pledges in any way we can.
What’s next?
You can read what we’ve been up to lately in our most recent impact report. Our emissions from transport are significantly lower than they were just a few years ago, so purchased goods and services have overtaken transport (pun intended) as our highest-emitting category. We’re working on our sustainability in this area, for example by sourcing IT and phone equipment from refurbishers rather than buying new. My hope is that being officially Carbon Literate will not only help us achieve our goals of making a positive impact on the world around us, but it will also make us more attractive to potential clients who share our values.
If you have questions about The Carbon Literacy Project or anything else, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
