Ethics & Sustainability.
It is my belief that good design is good for people and for the planet.
I’m passionate about my role in ensuring the creative industry protects and empowers people and the planet.
It’s no secret that the digital world is growing exponentially everyday; the advent of the internet has transformed our world irreversibly. With each passing day, millions of photos are taken and stored in the cloud, thousands of websites are launched, copious amounts of marketing collateral are published through social platforms and brands of all shapes and sizes are born.
Digital cuts both ways.
In the midst of all of the hype and fanfare surrounding digital, there is a growing awareness that technology has accelerated the negative human impact on our society and on our world. The speed with which we can create, iterate, share, store and send has unlocked tremendous potential for good, but our increasing usage has led to carelessness, exploitation and devastation for crucial areas of our society and our planet.
The simple fact of the matter is that the digital world, for all of its intangibility in the form of websites, blogs, videos, posts, likes, comments and cloud storage, does have a footprint. That footprint is expanding at a maddening rate as data centres consume astronomical amounts of energy, while the devices we use to interact with this content are lasting less and less time. If the internet were a country, it would be the seventh largest power consumer in the world; that’s more than the UK. The number of required trees that need to be planted to offset the carbon emitted by our global internet usage is in the BILLIONS PER YEAR.
We’re not keeping up.
Online, things are getting out of hand. While the internet places the world at our fingertips, we are collectively drowning in an ocean of noise that is ever-rising. Websites are built top heavy, meaningless files are stored indefinitely, and the flood of ‘fresh’ content, published for the sake of content itself, only gets more intense. Our mental health is suffering the effects of endless exposure to the opportunity for comparison, the conflict and divisive nature of social platforms and the loss of genuine human connection. The very thing that was meant to help us protect our environment is making humanity and the earth sick. I believe that the diagnosis is grave, but not terminal.
We can all do something to make a difference.
All is not lost, if we can all take responsibility for how we steward our world and empower humanity to be all it can be.
My Impact; My Approach
Here’s how I’m hoping to tackle the issues that I see online and in our world.
Each project that I work on contributes to these initiatives and helps make a difference.
Rigorous Testing and Optimisation
I’m consistently learning and implementing practices that keep the web projects I build as efficient, light and effective as possible.
Cautious Cloud Storage
I send time-sensitive links for all client downloads, ensuring that files are not continuously burning data for years to come.
Tailored Solutions
I carefully craft creative products and strategies that are designed specifically for their intended use to limit waste and excess.
Energy Conscious
My home office is entirely carbon offset, which means that my energy comes from renewable sources through the grid.
Offset Programs
I aim to offset the remaining impact of my work through initiatives that conserve or rehabilitate our natural environment.
Social Projects
I aim to support organisations that are empowering those who are struggling and who are being exploited.
Fathom Analytics
I use an ethical analytics platform called Fathom that collects de-identified data only, without the need for browser cookies. Fathom collects the vital metrics that every business needs, without the excessive and unhelpful personal data that other top-heavy trackers collect. As of the launch of this website, I am making Fathom available to every one of my web clients, past, present and future. Together, I believe that we can create an equitable web community that protects the privacy of our visitors and customers.
Vera
Vera allows my business to offset it’s plastic footprint (and a bit extra) through a monthly subscription. Vera partners with organisations that employ people in the developing world to remove rubbish plastic out of the ocean and along beaches, compensating them fairly using cryptocurrency for every piece of plastic they collect. The funds are accounted for using block-chain to show exact impact figures. My initial goal is to fund the removal of 25,000 pieces of plastic per year.