2019 saw an acknowledgement that our climate is changing rapidly, and we as humans are now feeling the symptoms. Anyone who has been moved by news of the retracting polar ice caps and footage of distressed polar bears should consider what we can all do to reduce our adverse impact on the environment. Last week, my colleague Chris (who is currently studying at Oxford Brookes alongside working at Rosara… bright boy!) shared a business philosophy with me: Defensive strategies and Offensive strategies.

A defensive approach sees us adjusting our existing behaviours to make them as environmentally friendly as possible. Defensive actions may see us driving less, up-cycling items, showering rather than bathing, eating veggie food and enjoying “staycations” rather than flying around the world ...even before we were told we couldn’t! All of this is wholesome and puts us in the right mindset for positive action and change.

Offensive approaches involve proactively doing something beyond the actions of norm to make an impact. I admit to being too lawful to join the Extinction Rebellion but a large part of me admired the conviction and commitment of those who took part. I also faltered at travelling to London to save the environment, so I stayed at the office in rural Oxfordshire and planted a few more trees!

So, what can we do that is more “offensive” and doesn’t involve protesting in the capital? As humans in the UK, we each produce approximately 11 tonnes of carbon per year. I figure that if we all follow the next easy steps, we can each halve our personal emissions:

Skip the gym and work in the garden - 1.95 tonnes are emitted per person through recreation and leisure activities.

Eat fruit and veg from your allotment, and keep chickens if you can - 1.39 tonnes per person per year are from the refrigerating, freezing and packaging of food. If you can produce the base of all meals in your back garden, this reduces dramatically!

Make your home so relaxing that you don’t need to travel for holidays - 0.68 tonnes per person comes from annual air travel.

Swim wild in rivers not in chlorinated pools - I love wild swimming but would advise investing in a wet suit if adopting this hobby in the UK!

Eat outside by candlelight, switching all power off in the house - 1.37 tonnes go towards lighting and cleaning each house per year. Opt for homemade or natural cleaning products (visit our Rosara shop for a local refill station of environmentally friendly cleaning products), and spend less time hoovering… For the planet, of course!

Snuggle into a Rosara throw rather than put the heating on - 1.49 tonnes go into heating the home each year.

Plant trees... a lot of trees! 1000 trees will sequester 135T of carbon in 40 years, so we each need to plant 3000 trees to cover the emissions made throughout our lives. To try to mitigate our emissions at Rosara, we have committed to plant a tree in our African project (‘Trees in the Wild’ in the Mara region of Kenya) for every piece of furniture or light fitting sold. We also know that mitigation is not the solution, and this is why we are also evaluating our products across the range to ensure our defensive approach is in line with our sustainable ethos. We sell only low-energy, long-lasting LED lights, and build our furniture to last.