Welcome to sustainability month on IMAGE.ie

Terms like ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ are thrown around a lot by brands and in the media lately. Where once caring about the environment meant a life of hemp dresses and questionable aromas; it now places you ahead of the curve.

We have known for years that the process of mass producing products is taking its toll on the environment and that for short-term financial gain vast quantities of non-recyclable, and often poisonous products, are being churned out to the planet’s detriment.

At IMAGE.ie we don’t like to follow the crowd. Our writers and content creators are thought leaders and change makers; writing and reading about topics that move and entertain them. As a team, we discussed whether dedicating a month to sustainability would be jumping on a bandwagon or whether we could actually make an impact with our content. We decided on the latter. Whatever the motivation, every little helps when it comes to reducing our impact on the environment. Welcome to sustainability month on IMAGE.ie.

 Related: IMAGE Publications says NO to disposable cups in the workplace

Everything we publish on IMAGE.ie must inform, entertain or educate. But this month we decided to put our money where our mouths are. As well as discussing sustainability and how it affects our planet in every section of the website, on our podcasts, in our video content, and across our social channels; each member of the IMAGE.ie team is taking up a sustainability challenge for the month.

Our Social Manager, Sophie Teyssier, will grow her own vegetables and herbs, and avoid packaged fruit and vegetables where possible. Our Digital Leader, Niamh O’Donoghue, is going to have an eco-friendly period. Grace McGettigan is going to pop on a hi-vis jacket and go litter-picking along the canal to help make Dublin a greener, cleaner place to live. Geraldine Carton will be wearing eco-deodorant. Our social media intern Edaein O’Connell is going to become a vegetarian for the month. And finally, Erin Lindsay won’t be buying any clothes or accessories for 31 days (fast fashion be gone!).

For the month, and hopefully beyond, I am going to ask anyone dropping samples and press gifts to IMAGE to please consider the excess packing that they may be using. A box doesn’t need to go into another box and have a balloon attached that is surrounded by glitter and plastic streamers when just the box will do. While we recycle everything that we can that comes into IMAGE, the quantity of packaging that comes in and out of the building on a daily basis is beyond excessive.

That’s it. Keep an eye on IMAGE.ie all month for tips and tricks and lots of pieces on everything environmental and sustainable. And if you would like to join us on our sustainability quest this month, and beyond, use #IMAGESustainabilityMonth. We look forward to hearing from you.

More on sustainability from IMAGE.ie

One tampon takes longer to degrade than the average woman’s lifespan
Sustainability, crop tops and the menopause – it’s The Spill
Plastic is gross. Here are five easy ways to reduce the amount you use
Why you should be eco-conscious on your holiday to Asia
Dublin hotspots are now serving compostable straws and we are delighted
We love the 11-year-old girl who installed Ireland’s first sea bin in Dun Laoghaire
Irish birds are using plastic to build their nests as pollution worsens