Sustianability & Ethics

Guiding Principles

Here are some of the guiding principles I use to increase the likelihood that my work contributes to positive societal and environmental change, whilst limiting the potential for negative impacts incurred along the way:


  • Selecting work aligned with positive impacts, prioritising work that optimises the use of my skills and experience. 


  • Resisting against greenwashing, including pressures to focus on or excessively celebrate non-transformative actions such as incremental and individualised change (as opposed to transformative and systemic) or unproven or ineffective ‘technofixes’. 


  • Crediting sources and contributors to provide evidence for assertions I make and to ensure that the work of others is appropriately recognised. 


  • Prioritising reuse, repair and sharing of equipment and materials, and limiting overall consumption of finite resources. 


  • Travelling as sustainably as possible, prioritising the use of active or public transport when needed. I have made a commitment to avoiding air travel, being “flight-free” since 2019.


  • Maintaining a critical approach to generative AI which is extremely energy-intensive, water-intensive, routinely inaccurate or biased, and commonly trained on materials acquired without the (often-uncredited) creators’ consent. I personally avoid using generative AI and try to push back on its widespread use becoming normalised, whilst accepting that there are specific use cases where it may be justifiable. 


  • Remaining accountable and transparent about my relationships with different groups and organisations, especially where I am earning money from publicly or charitably-funded sources, or conversely if I am dealing with or working within highly polluting or otherwise-harmful sectors. 


  • Taking steps to avoid overcommitment and burnout, knowing that an unsustainable load will compromise my ability to participate in impactful action.


I anticipate adding to and refining these principles over time as I learn more and as my consideration of different aspects of ethics and sustainbility expands and evolves.