The Otesha Project
The Otesha Project UK is a youth-led organisation that's mobilising our generation to create social and environmental change through our everyday lives. I guess you could call us ambitious, or maybe just foolish. In either case, we decided that cycling across the world's second largest country just wasn't enough. You see, we were really inspired by the amazing, creative things the Otesha Project has been doing in Canada for the past five years. We wanted to do something here, too. Starting in the beginning of 2007, we gathered together a group of people from around the UK and took the project trans-Atlantic.
Our goals? To tackle big issues like climate change, injustice and poverty in creative ways, starting with our own lives and actions. To build a community of people who are all doing the same thing, to inspire others to take practical environmental actions, and to have a bit of fun at the same time. We want to challenge 'norms' we don't like, speak out against the things we don't agree with, and do it in an exciting, creative way. We want to create something big. A movement, even. Did I mention that we have big aspirations?
How green are we?
At Otesha, we try to walk (erm, cycle) the talk whenever we can. Because of this ethos, we think about every consumer decision very carefully. We want to keep getting better at this sustainability business, which means learning more every day, getting creative with our actions, and thinking outside the compost bin.
The sustainability policy you see here is the first step along that route. We hope that it'll always be evolving to reflect new ideas, so if you have any ideas for how we can become cleaner, greener and fairer, please let us know!
We've also signed up to the 10:10 campaign, along with the other organisations in our shared office space. So far, we're planning to buy LED lamps for our desks (and get rid of the nasty strip flourescsent lighting), put plastic sheeting over the drafty windows to keep things warmer in the winter, join up to the cycle to work scheme, and make sure to turn off all equipment overnight.
