Environmental Policy

Our species cannot survive if we continue exploiting the planet. If global food systems do not evolve, future pandemics are not only probable, but inevitable. At Sentient Media, we specialize in reporting, training programs for emerging writers, and strategic digital marketing to shift conversations into actions around these issues. 

As part of our mission to build a better future for all life on earth, we believe it is our responsibility to do what we can towards minimizing our own environmental impact and ensuring our team has access to the tools to make environmentally friendly choices. 

Our Policies:

In General

• Mitigating the climate crisis is a complex and evolving issue. We strive to educate ourselves about the latest developments and refer to peer-reviewed, scientific studies to inform our choices. 
• Our environmental policies are a working process and in some cases our solutions are imperfect. We are committed to doing better and building sustainable solutions. Please get in touch if you have advice or suggestions. 
• Our priority is to reduce our carbon footprint via the below policies and via further regular discussion and research.

Food

• The role of industrial animal agriculture in accelerating the climate crisis is dangerously underreported. The FAO estimates that animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of GHG emissions, an estimate that does not include feed emissions and aquaculture, among other factors. 
• Whilst we do not require our team to follow a certain diet, we report on, explore, and discuss the impact of animal agriculture on the climate crisis and provide resources and advice for those who wish to follow a plant-based or vegan diet. 
• All catering provided or reimbursed by Sentient Media is vegan and palm oil-free.

Travel

• Occasionally, (maximum once a year) Sentient Media will have an in-person away day. If travel is necessary to achieve this, staff are required to travel sustainably (with exceptions around staff safety and accessibility). ‘Sustainably’ is defined as using public transport such as trains and buses, blending in walking or cycling, etc, where practicable.
• Sentient Media is a fully remote organization and we encourage working from home where possible. Those who prefer a coworking space are encouraged to travel to and from it sustainably.
• All our meetings and events are digital.

Digital Footprint 

• As a remote working, web-based organization, our use of others’ third-party services is a major carbon cost. We’re constantly striving to work with service providers who focus on sustainability, for example, our web hosting is from Greengeeks and 300% carbon neutral. 
• We’re also looking into the environmental policies of the third-party suppliers we use for services, from hosting to video conferencing. As contracts come up for renewal, we’ll be assessing suppliers on their environmental commitment, giving this equal weight as we do to considerations of cost—if not more.

Hardware

• Laptops, smartphones, and other bits of hardware are essential to our work. We encourage the acquisition of better quality, longer-lasting products.
• We encourage repair over replacement where practical.
• If possible, staff are encouraged to give retired hardware an extended life by donating it to an approved scheme for reuse or recycling.

Events

• To date, Sentient Media has never hosted an in-person event. Whilst we see the benefits of in-person conferences, we also wish to only conduct such events provided that they can be managed sustainably.
• If we were to host an in-person event, we would encourage attendees to travel sustainably or offset their carbon; where we are arranging transport on behalf of others, we will always offer sustainable travel where practical and offset flights too.
• Any in-person event would also be paper-free, vegan, palm oil-free, no physical swag bag, and fairtrade. Every aspect of an in-person event would be handled in as environmentally friendly a way as possible.
• Importantly, we’ll commit to choosing locations that will enable the greatest number of people to convene in the most sustainable way possible, given that our community is a global one.
• For our digital events, we will be reviewing and assessing hosting platforms for their environmental policies as licenses come up for renewal.

Working Environments

• We encourage our team to run paper-free workspaces. Reusable cups and tap water (where possible) are encouraged, and single-use plastics for work purposes are discouraged.
• We are committed to doing better for our team in their homes, and this area is a work in progress. 

We want to do better

We’re keen to learn more, to implement better policies, to keep cutting back on our environmental impact. If you can help, by example or through ideas, please let us know.

This policy was inspired by mySociety.