The Soap Box Podcast
The politics and marketing podcast for business owners with a social conscience.
Talk about sticky issues, learn how to weave your values into your marketing, and hear from real-life business owners working it all out in real time.
The Soap Box Podcast
How your website could save the planet, with Teresa Ferreira
Sustainability is on all of our minds right now. Whether it’s arguments about bin collections, fast fashion waste, or what the hell AI is doing to the planet, it’s everywhere. And let’s be honest, sustainability has also become big business. If people care about it in their daily lives, they’re definitely thinking about it when they make decisions about who to buy from and work with.
Which is all well and good if you’re a product-based business with compostable packaging and tree-planting perks, but what if you don’t make anything tangible? How do you show that sustainability matters to you when your business is mostly digital? That’s exactly why I wanted to chat to today’s guest, Teresa Ferreira.
Teresa is a Creative and Brand Consultant and the founder of Farrgood Studio. She helps businesses build timeless brands™ and impactful designs – ones that don’t just look great, but also align with the things you care about. With 16 years of experience across media, health, luxury, and fashion (and a stint as Head of Design at the Financial Times, no less), she blends strategy and creativity in a way that’s seriously impressive. Her studio partners with businesses that are all about positive change, whether through social impact, sustainability, or purpose-led missions—and she’s worked with the likes of Adobe, Somerset House, BBC, and Allbright.
In this episode, we dive into what digital sustainability actually means, how your website might be leaving a bigger carbon footprint than you think, and how small design choices, like your images or hosting, can make a difference. We talk about using your brand and storytelling to carry sustainability through everything you do, not just your marketing blurb.
There’s a load in here that might surprise you, and plenty of ideas you can actually apply – whether you’re deep in the eco-space already, or just starting to think about how your business fits into the bigger picture.
So grab a coffee, get comfy, and listen to Teresa get on her soapbox.
Teresa's Links:
Book a call – Ferrgood Studio
Follow Teresa on Instagram
Subscribe to Ferrgood Studio on Substack
Tech Hub Enterprise Nation X Google + Sage webinar: Branding, storytelling, and tools for growth
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Sustainability is on all of our minds right now. My Facebook feed is full of discussions about bins and whether we go down to three weekly collections. We have. The dumping of random things all over the place because people can't afford to take them to our recycling center. There's all these arguments online about reusing um, clothing about fast fashion waste, about fossil fuels. Which pension funds are invested in fossil fuels, which aren't all that kind of thing. And then there is the inevitable conversation that I cannot go anywhere without seeing um, that about the environmental impact of ai because sustainability is also really big business. It's a really good selling point. Like if this is something that people are thinking about in their daily lives then they're gonna be thinking about it when they make purchasing decisions too. So if you can demonstrate that you are a sustainable business whether you are an e-commerce brand that uses sustainable production practices, whether you are a services brand that donates a tree every time you sell a website project all those kind of things are really helpful to the people deciding whether they want to buy from you or not. It means that you can give yourself a point of difference. It means you can pull in more aligned customers, all that jazz. But what about if you are a business that doesn't really make anything? How do you make your business sustainable? How do you tell people that this is something that you care about? And if this is something that you care about, how do you make sure that all aspects of your business are as sustainable as they can be? Yeah, this is why I wanted to talk to Therea. Theresa Ferrera is a creative and brand consultant, and she's the founder of Fair Good Studio, so she helps businesses build time as brands and impactful designs. I've seen her work and it's gorgeous. She's got 16 years of experience across media, health, luxury, and fashion, and she's all about blending strategy with creativity. She was head of design at the Financial Times, which, you know, is pretty dumb. Impressive. And now her studio partners with businesses that are committed to positive change, whether that's through social impact, sustainability or purpose-driven initiatives. She's worked with brands like Adobe Summerset, house, BBC, and Albright, so she knows what she's talking about. And she told me a bunch of things that I did not know about because. When you are thinking about website design and when you are thinking about your brand, you could be being more sustainable. Teresa helps her clients think about their digital carbon footprint their sustainable design and how their branding and storytelling can carry with it. That seed of sustainability. We discuss a whole bunch of things that are really interesting and lots of practical applications that you can take to your business to make sure. That your digital carbon footprint, that your branding, that your website design, all those things are aligned with the things that you care about in the world. I'm really looking forward to you hearing, everything that we talk about. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back and listen to Theresa get on her soapbox. There. It's really, really nice to have you on the podcast. I'm so happy that we could make this happen.
Teresa:Thank you so much, Peter. It's lovely to be here.
Peta:Cool. Um, for people who do not know you, um, can you give us a little bit of an introduction into kind of who you are, what you do, um, how you got here?
Teresa:Of course. Um, so I'm, I'm Theresa. I run a OOD studio where we do any kind of branding, design, uh, creative projects for businesses who want to create a positive impact. And in a nutshell, that's meant that we've been working with. Uh, brands within the social impact space, sustainability, um, and also some creative, uh, brands that, that support the creative industry. Um, prior to that, I, uh, spent a lot of time in the corporate world. I've got around 16, 17 years of, uh, branding and design experience. And I've worked in lots of places, um, such as startups, agencies, um, and then I spent a very long time at the Financial Times being head of design there in the brand team. Um, that was seven years and that was my last corporate, uh, job. I. Um, then after the pandemic, uh, I really felt like I needed to put my creativity to, um, to use with, with brands and clients that I felt aligned with and that I really, really, uh, shared the same values of. And that's how, uh, the studio started.
Peta:That's very cool. Um, and what made you, so what kind of values and, um, kind of purpose driven stuff gets you all fired up in terms of your clients?
Teresa:Um, so it's like a broad umbrella of, uh, positive impact with it in people and planet. Um, that has meant that, um, um, you know, I will focus on, on businesses that, um. Have those kind of values that want to, uh, create a better world, uh, that want to create a better society. Um, and, um, that support, you know, that have like, uh, DNI as as a, as a, as a, a big pillar, especially now in, in this context where a lot of big corporations and, and big brands that you know. You wouldn't even expect them to do it. But, you know, our backpedaling on these policies, um, or you know, I, I quite like working with female founders'cause I think that we are, obviously, I. Underfunded. Under, under, under research, under everything. Uh, so under Supported. So I, I, it, it is something I take pride in. Um, so yeah, it's, it's, it's, you know, we, we, we've got a variety of, of, of, of industries that we've been working in, and that's, that's, that's been brilliant.
Peta:That's very cool. Um, what was it like being working on branding for the Financial Times?
Teresa:Oh, it was, it was really, really good. Learned a lot. Um, uh, it's a massive, uh, company. Um, so it. It, it's not the most agile place, which for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, it, it, it was a bit grinding at times because, you know, a, a branding project would take around a year and a half to,
Peta:Oh my words.
Teresa:yeah. Like, uh, uh, it one, one brand that, you know, the, so, so that was the kind of, because you have like 150 stakeholders that have to sign off everything and, um. Yeah, so it was, it was really brilliant because it, it, it's, it's where I learned a lot of my methodologies and a lot of my strategic mindset and business acumen. That all comes from, you know, understanding. Um, um. How, how that impacts the bigger picture.
Peta:Yeah.
Teresa:And that comes from, from spending a lot of time there and, you know, where I'd have to like align the creative vision to business goals and to the wider company vision. And that was really, really, uh, amazing. Um, so yeah. But, but I, I think that seven years was like a good stint.
Peta:I can't imagine having the patience to stick with one branding project for like a year and a half, I think.
Teresa:Oh yeah. I mean, you're doing, you're doing other stuff on the side, but yeah. You're, you're really wanting that to just go through. Um, and, um, yeah. It, it, it, it. It's interesting, especially because you are, you are quite often, it's like one of the first versions of the logos and it's not necessarily that you are going through lots of revisions to the initial concept, but you are going through a lot of, um. Of working out how the branding will work on every single touch point. And this is like a brand that had, you know, everything from editorial magazine to, to, uh, product app, you know, so it, it's that kind of like 360, uh, project. Really, really involved like loads of stakeholders and loads of people to see how the brand was gonna behave. So basically when it came out, we had already worked out everything. Which, which I think you kind of need to in those, in those big places because, you know, it's, it was like a big heritage brand as well, so. but, um, yeah, I mean the smaller, smaller sort of like branding projects that, that, that didn't take too long, but I remember that that was one of my favorite projects, but also one of the ones that I was just like, why is this taking you so long? I just re I really just want to, you know, shout out about this and we're not going change the, we're there like, why, but yeah, it's just, it's just, uh, the, the, the, the grinds of being in a, in a big place where.
Peta:you. Okay, so speaking of things that you wanted to shout out about, um, on the podcast, uh, I like to ask my guests like, what is the thing that gets them all properly riled up? Like, what is their soapbox, the thing that they, to end up like late night at parties, talking people zero off in the kitchen about. Um, so what is your soapbox.
Teresa:So my soapbox is that I really, really believe, uh, that creativity has the power to change the world. Um, I think that a lot of societal changes come through businesses. I. Uh, and as such, corporate responsibility is not just like a thing that you sh you should, you know, it's not a nice to have. It's, it's, it's a must have. Um, and as. A creative, um, you have a lot of influence on in terms of, you know, the product or the service lifecycle. So if you're brought in from the offset of these, you know, the ideation, the concept stage, you are able to, to really, and you've, you've got. You've got your framework to make sure that you're making the right decisions for the environment and for people. Uh, then you're able to influence stakeholders and you're able to influence the process to be as environmentally friendly as possible or as societal, uh, uh, impact as possible. And yeah, that's, that's it in a nutshell.
Peta:I like it. Creativity can change the world. That's what we like. Cool. Can you give me, like, so talk to me about how that works in real life with like with some of your clients.
Teresa:Um, so it's with it, it depends on the project. Um, but, um, oh, can I just add to that soapbox that I, another thing that I believe is that everyone is creative. So when I say US creatives, obviously we are from that, uh, you know, you, you have people who do creative jobs. But everyone is creative, and I think that if you, you can do this on a smaller scale as well. So because everyone's problem solving, everyone's having ideas. So it's not just people with creative and the job title.
Peta:I love that.
Teresa:Um, and, in practice with my clients. in my projects, it means, um, understanding the strategy. So, so firstly, you know, you need to know what are the wider business goals, what kind of, um, uh, things you have to achieve. And then you have to see how you can, uh, implement those practices that will help the business, you know, claim that, that, that they're actually doing things that will have positive impact in people and planet.
Peta:Yeah. So, um, what kind, so give me, um, like can you gimme an example of a client, like, I dunno, if you're allowed to tell me about your.
Teresa:Yeah, I'm, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Um, so this will be on, you know, let's think of a sustainable brand that I've worked with. Um, so that was, um, I. From the offset of, so when I got brought in, the brand didn't have a name. Um, we were kind of like debating what name it had, so it was really. I was brought in from, from the stock. Um, you know, they were doing, um, the, so, they work only with dead stock, that they source from, companies that are reputable and that, uh, have ethical, um, uh, living wage, uh, certifications in India. And, um, then it was, you know, so, so from the offset, the business had a good, a good ethos. And then it was just carrying that through onto the branding, so onto the storytelling, onto, um, the platform we were going with. for the website onto what kind of, you know, picking a photographer that, had, uh, sustainable recyclable, um, set, what do you call it? The, the, uh, what do you
Peta:Oh, the props and
Teresa:the props? Yeah. Everything. So it is, it's just, it's just, um. In every single or, or like the cotton canvas bags that, that we did, it was sourcing them from, uh, a place that that uses organic or recycled cotton. Uh, the postcards that we were printing, sourcing it from. Printer that uses non-toxic vegetable base ink to print and recyclable paper. Um, so it's all these little decisions that don't seem to amount to much, but actually when you add them all up, um, they're reflecting the, the brand story. They're reflecting the brand ethos, and it's just like about being consistent and authentic really.
Peta:And how important do you think that consistency and authenticity is to. Customers or clients, depending on which type of brand you're working with.
Teresa:I think it's really, really important, um, because we do live in a place where we kind of vote with our wallets. So, you know, people are, are, you know, we live in the markets are becoming markets of conscious consumers, so you are going to. By buying onto a brand, you are endorsing it and you are, um, you know, it's, it's, it's an act of voting almost, isn't it? Um, and because of that, people, Can clock on when you're greenwashing. Uh, people can, and, and you can lose a lot of, uh, brand credibility and brand loyalty there. Um, so it's super important to be authentic and even if you're on a journey to, becoming more sustainable or, or starting to worry and implement these processes, uh, then owning up to it and, and, and being transparent about where you are. On the journey that's really, really important. Like the example of Tony's choc lonely, um, they're very, very transparent about, um, obviously their objective is to, um, uh, eliminate child labor and cocoa farming. And they, um, they're ver but they're very transparent about. Uh, coming up with how many children were actually involved in, in the cocoa farming process of their chocolate, because obviously the, these are like local communities that have certain practices and unfortunately it is still something that's happening, but by flagging it, they're able to, they say remediate, remediate it. So,
Peta:Okay.
Teresa:know, so that's being transparent and that's like kind of, uh, what you'd expect from an impact driven business.
Peta:Yeah, so it's really interesting. So the two examples that we just talked about were brands kind of. Being sustainable or thinking about the good of people in the planet. It was very much at the core, like at the start of their brand. Like that was the reason that they started it. That was kind of from the very beginning. They thought about all the different elements, um, and for your client, when they brought you in to work on kind of branding, um, they wanted that to be part of the branding and, and kind of the, and the promotion too. What about brands for whom? They're not necessarily, they didn't start with a particular goal of eliminating child slavery in cocoa farms, or, um, they didn't start with that really clear purpose. But, um, for whatever reason, whether it's a personal rev revelation or, you know, society is changing and they come to it later. How is that, do you, do you approach them differently or should, let's start with, do you approach them differently and then we'll talk a little bit about whether they should approach the whole process differently?
Teresa:Um, I guess, yeah, you do approach'em differently because you almost need to do, I, I need to do an audit of understanding what processes and what things are in place, uh, to then understand to, to then be able to recommend or suggest, because these are, you know, ultimately the business owners will have to make their decisions and some of them, you know, you, Your production, sometimes your production costs, uh, don't allow you for those margins because obviously, you know, having those sustainable, uh, materials and, you know, compostable, uh, materials are more expensive than, um, quite often than, than your standard, uh, materials. So. Some, you know, you, but as a creative and, and my role there is to say, look, there are these alternatives. They become cost effective at this price point. Is this something you wanna apply? And if that's something that they can't do it, then it's also saying, okay, what else can we do here? What web, you know, let's look at the website design. Um, are, are, you know, could we review the color palette to make it, you know, be more energy efficient and use less light, you know? Could we, um, do we need to be running? Uh, could we optimize the images? Could we, there's all these things that you can do, um, to reduce your carbon footprint digitally as well. So there's, there's always ways and there's always, it's always a journey as well with those brands that, you know, have been around for a while. Um, but there. Have the intention of becoming more sustainable and more, more, um, environmentally friendly. So yeah, there's, there's, there's always a way. It is just about, um, auditing it and understanding, okay, what is the impact that you're having and what are the things that we can do with the budget and constraints and with the business objectives that you have for this year as well, obviously, because you do need to. Always be strategic and you know, these businesses to survive, have to sell and they have to have a profit margin and et cetera.
Peta:Yeah. Okay. So I have never heard anyone talk about energy consumption on websites as a way of reducing your digital carbon footprint. Um, tell me more about that. That's fascinating.
Teresa:Um, so obviously websites are run. Um, I'm sure you've heard of like the data centers. Uh, you know, the cloud, all these things. Um, so some of them are more eco-friendly in the sense that they use renewable energy, to operate. And that is, you know, that in itself is, is brilliant. Uh, Google's one of them. Squarespace is one of them. Um, then there are, there are levels, uh, uh, you can also just go to a green hosting platform, and those are ones that are actually not just only run on renewables, but they will have other worries. I. Depending on the platform that will make them even more sustainable and even more, uh, environmentally friendly than those renewable energies. Um,'cause some, some renewable energies are not that eco-friendly as well. So this is the thing, isn't it? It's, it's, uh, there are levels, um, to this. Uh, but in terms of the design, there's lots of things that you can, and, and in terms of like your website maintenance, there's lots of things that you can do if you have a very heavy website. And when I mean heavy is, uh, using a lot of data, using a lot, you know, needing a lot of power to load up. Uh, so loads of videos we're talking like images that haven't been, you know, compressed and optimized to, to the bare minimum. It's number one, it's not efficient for your user. Because some users will have different wifi connection speeds and, and they, they won't be hanging around waiting for everything to load. So this is like, also like friendly ux. But um, whilst those things are loading, the, you know, the energy is coming from somewhere. And this is, this is why, there are decisions and that you can do on your, when you're designing your website. When you're putting it together and when you're picking the platform, when you're picking your hosting, um, that can, can really make your website be more, more carbon neutral or more, I wouldn't say carbon neutral, but more carbon, reduce the carbon footprint of it, of the website basically.
Peta:Okay. See, yeah, no, I've never had anyone talk about that before. And, um, it's possibly because, um, website and design generally scares me because I am not a very design-oriented person. Um, but yeah, no, the fact that you can, that you can make that kind of impact, um, just by yeah, the type of images that you choose. All the talk that I hear about, um, compressing images and loading times and, and things. It's all been focused around UX and getting people to stick around and, and not, and lower bounce rates and, and all that kind of stuff. But no, that's really interesting that also there are, yeah. Massive sustainability considerations.
Teresa:Yeah. So it's not only more efficient, but it's also more environmentally friendly. So there's, there's all the reasons to try and optimize your website, uh, for, for as much as you can. You can also, um, so big platforms like, um, Stripe, uh, I think they're like carbon neutral. They, they, they, they're, they're now, um. Carbon neutral, carbon positive. I can't remember. Like it's, it's either or. But they, uh, what they do is obviously they, they, so they're completely digital. Um. They run on renew, you know, get everything from, from renewable sources. But then what they do is they invest, um, into an carbon offsetting, um, uh, company. I can't remember their name, but essentially that's another way of, uh, of. Reducing your carbon footprint is like actually either investing in these offsetting companies or, you know, uh, uh, buying these offsetting credits that you can do.
Peta:Yeah. Okay. No, that is very cool. Excellent. Okay. So in terms of, um, in terms of you and your, your kind of business, obviously you pitch clients, you work with different people, they might come to you, um, asking for her support with design. Um. And you might give them a whole range of options. Have you faced any pushback when you've gone, these are the sustainable ways that you can weave into your brand with your design? And they've gone, nah, no.
Teresa:Yeah, yeah, of course I have. Yeah. Yeah. Um, it's interesting. So, so firstly, I think, um, um, because I need to, I can't not do this because it's my, it's part, it's part of my practice and it's why people would work with me. But then obviously the, Having that expertise and everything comes at a level as well. And quite often people will, won't value that, that side of things so much, um, because they're bootstrapping or because, you know, the, it's, it's quite often the case. Um. Or, you know, or sometimes you'll start working with people and they've already got their packaging, uh, uh, suppliers all, you know, ironed out. And it's, it's quite difficult sometimes when, when, when you're working with businesses that are launching, um, um, to be able to, to have that holistic view of, of, of, of everything and to be able to try and, um, uh. Make the processes as, uh, as, as sustainable as possible, um, and. As I mentioned before, it, it's all, it's, it's all about negotiating. So if they can't afford the packaging, then we can try and see on the website if we can, if we can accommodate some of those things. And I think it's also about, um, what I encourage people that I work with. To do, and I encourage all my clients is to actually own it. So own the own your journey. Say, listen, we would love to be doing compostable packaging, but currently, you know, the, the, the cost that we're running, it's, it is, it is just really difficult for us to do it. But, um, you know, all, and this is one of the reasons why we're putting our prices up, dah, dah, to be able to acco, to be able to do, to do this. So it's all about. Being authentic, I think, and, um, not claiming that you're a super green business and then using a load of plastic for your packaging, et cetera. You know, there, there's, there's a, it's just about being consistent with what you say.
Peta:Have you seen, um, or, or have your clients seen some, like good reactions to them being open and honest about that kind of stuff?
Teresa:Yeah. Yeah, of course. Yeah, because other people on, on this journey as well, we're not, we're not perfect. This is the thing is there's not a perfect way of doing things. Um, and you know, as much as I, uh, uh. Agree and, and, um, sometimes completely panicked and, and, and anxious about, um, the climate emergency that, that we're at, we're in. Um, the, it's really, really, you can't all be doom and gloom and you can't be, um, um, you, you need to be flexible with people, I think. And you need, As a business to, to survive. It's hard. And, and, and you have to have other considerations. You know, it's not just, um, um, you know, when, when push comes to shove, is that, is that how you say it?
Peta:Yeah. Yeah.
Teresa:I never know. Uh, because I, Portuguese, so sometimes I will say something that doesn't exist and it's like a mix between a Portuguese idea and then, and then an
Peta:I love stuff like that. I think it's much more interesting.
Teresa:Sometimes it's quite weird. Um, um, if the business isn't turning a profit, it won't last. So, you know, how can it make an impact if it, if it doesn't exist? So you have to be flexible. Everyone's on their journey, and I it is just about owning, owning up. I think people actually. Can see themselves on, on, on, you know, audiences and, and, and, and my clients'. Clients see themselves in, in that as well. You know, I.
Peta:Yeah. I guess there is that freedom if, if the brands that are trying to make an impact and make a difference, um, if you can see that they are not getting everything a hundred percent right, but that doesn't mean that they're then giving up. That gives you permission to go, right, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna try this next thing. Um. And then I might try something else, or I might add something else to the, to, to make the rest of my life more sustainable. But yeah, I think sometimes, sometimes the overarching narrative to do with a lot of things, but to do with sustainability is, um, if I can't make myself completely self-sufficient in my little back garden, I never use any plastic and never buy anything that's. Made from more than like 50 miles away and, and all that kind of thing, then it's not worth doing anything at all.
Teresa:Yeah. Yeah. It's, I mean, then life becomes really small, isn't it? It's just like a really, really, um, tense, uh, I mean, I, I admire people who do that and, and, and maybe, you know, I. I'll be criticized that I'm not strict enough and that I should be, I should be more, more, more, more of that. But I can't do it. I, and I need to be authentic to myself as well. And I'm, you know, I eat meat. I, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm Portuguese. That's, that's, that's a cultural thing for me as well. It's like, it's my heritage. Uh, obviously I don't do it all the time, and I, I try and be, you know, careful with what I buy and everything, but, you know, we do. We need to be more flexible and more patient. There. There's too, too much, uh, polarization in the world
Peta:Yeah.
Teresa:that we need to be more welcoming to the people who are, you know, have good intentions and are actually doing what they can within their, their circumstances, you know? Not everyone can afford, uh, these green choices and these sustainable choices. So it's, it's also like, um, uh, something that you have to think in terms of society. Um, uh, am I able to make this choice because I'm privileged and because I am in a position where I, I can afford those things and I can, you know, pick the, the more expensive option or the refillable option, or the, you know, or the option that hasn't got any chemicals. So I think we just need to be a bit more. We need to be aware of it and, um, um, but not, not try and be perfect because you know, nobody is.
Peta:Yes, I was talking about this on threads the other day. Um, and I ended up getting a bit of a pounding, um, about the, um, I mean, AI is a whole other conversation that, um, I'm sure you have many thoughts on, but I was talking about, um, you know, the doll trend that's been going around where everybody turns themselves into kind of Barbie dolls, um, and about how my feed was full of, of people. Bashing anyone who, who did it as unthinking, unen, environmentally friendly, um, idiots basically. Um, and while I kind of, while I have my own thoughts about ai, um, and about the environment and about how helpful it actually is, I kind of feel like sometimes when we jump on everything and we say the only way to be kind to the environment is to. Never do anything like that, ever. Then all we do is make people feel bad, and then why would they want to join a movement that just makes them feel bad.
Teresa:Absolutely. No, I couldn't agree more. Um, it's funny that you say that because I did make my own, but the re the reason why I did is because, um. I use AI for a lot of things. I can't run my business without ai. So it's, it's actually, you know, if, if you're starting a business, good luck if you're, if you're trying not to use ai. Um, and I know, you know, we know that it's, it, it, it does take a lot of, of energy and it, it's not the most environmentally, uh, uh, sound decision. However, it's, it's a survival thing. If you, if you're not using it and other people are using it, um. You know, it's, it's very, very difficult and, and, you know, if you wanna have fun, then do, do that. It's not gonna, I'm, I I just, it's funny when you said that,'cause I, I had a lot of people on my feed that had posted the chat, GPT ones, and then I had a lot of people on my feed that were doing their own ones. And I, when I posted my own one, I felt. I felt a bit guilty and I was like, oh my God. Are the ones that I don't wanna sound like, you know, I don't wanna sound like I'm judging or anything. Uh, what I just said was like, you know, I can't run the sustainable studio and then, and then also do this when I use AI so, so much in my, in my work. So I actually need, what I said is like, I, I am, I'm trying to be more intentional about what I use it for and if there's something that, you know. I can knock in 15 minutes. That's what I said as well. Like, mine looks like absolute crap. But, um, uh, and that's what what's funny is that, you know, never in a million years would I have put something out like that under my name without, without having spent two hours on it, you know, refining anything. But I was like, no, I wanna jump on the trend. I've only got 10, 15 minutes to do this. It's gonna look crap. I don't care. I'm putting it out there. That's it, because it's a fun trend and every, you know, uh, yeah, I, I'm not very fundamentalist, as you can tell.
Peta:I, I don't think, I think, I think that's the, that's the big problem is that it's the fundamentalism, it's the policing, it's the purity tests that have kind of got us all into this really difficult position where nobody, like we are telling everybody that they're. Stupid idiots. And I'm like, okay, well then, then, then why would they want, why would they wanna join us? Because they know that we think that they're stupid idiots. Like, why would they not jump completely to the other people who are like, yeah, sure. Do what you want. It just, so from a practical kind of movement building space, it doesn't make any sense to me. But also from a, um, from a, from a logical, like real life space, it is not the. It's not the person who's just posted their AI doll on LinkedIn, who is causing the biggest environmental impact? Like why are we showing at them and not shouting at like Jeff Bezos and Martin Zuckerberg? Why are we showing at them? That they're just trying to do something fun because they're massively anxious because egg prices have gone through the roof and they don't know where their, like healthcare's coming from. And we are not shouting at, um, Trump who's just taken another private debt to Maa Largo. Like
Teresa:Yeah.
Peta:it's, it's, it reminds me a lot of, like the whole focus on over the last like 20 years or so on the individual, on individual recycling,
Teresa:Yeah.
Peta:like the, overall vibe was. Um, the way that we save the planet is by you putting your plastic bottle into the recycling bin. And if you do that, then you don't have to worry about advocating for all the other political stuff that's really making the difference.
Teresa:yeah, absolutely.
Peta:it reminds me of that. Anyway, that was a little round that I wasn't
Teresa:No, no. That, that was, I, I couldn't, I couldn't second that more Peter.'cause um, um, this like rage and, and division is just so misplaced. Um. Because one, on a small scale, on your individual scale, there's only so much impact you can have. Actually, the big impact is on these business decisions of these big, huge businesses that really, really dictate where society is going and where the planet is going. And then you've got the government policies, policies which are always like either validating or, you know, trying to like catch the train of, of what business. This is doing. That's, that's what happens. That's why, you know, the policies are very, are are, obviously, I, I would love policies to be easier to change and, um, but yeah, those should be the focuses and those should be the, the, the, what people should be moaning about is what, what are the policies around and what are these big businesses doing?
Peta:Yeah.
Teresa:What are they getting away with?
Peta:Yeah. And, and all the time that we are spending talking about, yeah, having a go at people for AI dolls, we are not spending. Looking into that and speaking up about that.
Teresa:a hundred percent. A hundred percent. Yeah. I would love, I would love to, to just do check a stat. I'll use AI for that as well. Check a stat of how, how much actual energy do you use with those AI dolls versus how, how much energy you use with like a, um, uh, in, um, you know, like, just like a creative software
Peta:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Teresa:'cause I'd be, I didn't look, I, I didn't look into it. So
Peta:Yeah, I saw, I saw something about a bottle of, like, it uses a bot, the equivalent of a bottle of water to cool the thing for every query or something. But I mean, you never know. Nobody ever says, well, they've got the stats because they're on threads and they've got a minimal character count. And then, yeah, they get in trouble for not having any nuance. Okay, so let's, let's think practically, right? So we're talking about, talking about nuance and talking about kind of being authentic in, um. Your practices and your business and like how far you're going. So what is, if someone's listening and they're like, like me, didn't think about, um, how much energy, um, consumption their website had or hadn't really thought about how they could weave sustainable practices into their business. What is your advice for getting started, um, instigating some of this stuff into your brand or your business?
Teresa:So firstly, I would ask everyone. To, um, really think about their mission, um, you know, go deep, you know, why are you doing what you're doing? Um, what moves them beyond money and beyond the profit. Uh, then when you nail that and when you know it by heart and when you, you know, when you know this is aligned with these core values of mine. Because you do have to be authentic and to, to be doing this, it has to be aligned. Um, it can't just be something that you do for your business and then at home you do something completely different. Um, and once you know what the purpose is, then try and see. Within the business and within the, the, the, the scope of what you're doing and the scope of your action. Where can you start implementing these tiny things? Because, you know, we've, we've touched on a few things that are so small that are not like big changes, but that might actually, uh, um. Um, you know, there are a start to a, to a journey and that, you know, adding all these tiny things will, will, will actually make your business more sustainable and more and, and, and, and less impactful on the environment. So I, I think, yeah, firstly, I. Figure out why you do what you do. Who is it that you wanna help? Who is it that you, what is it that you wanna contribute towards? And then take it from there. And then you'll know what are the key areas that you can, that you can look at in the business.
Peta:Cool. Okay. That's a great start. I love it.
Teresa:Mm-hmm.
Peta:Um, for people who, um, for people who want to find out about how you can help them with their sustainable design or just wanna come and follow you and, um, and listen to all the lovely things that you've been saying, where can they find you? Where should they go?
Teresa:Well, they can find me, um, uh, pretty, pretty much ever. No. Uh, so our website is for good studio.com. Um, you can email us atler@forgoodstudio.com, or you can, uh, follow me on Instagram or TikTok or LinkedIn. And that's like Theresa at for good. Theresa for Good Studio. It's all together. Um, and yeah, just come and say hi. I, I, I love meeting new people and I think that, um, yeah, if there's anything, any questions or like any things that you agree or disagree or, or whatever, I'm, I'm, I'm always happy to learn more and happy to, you know, connect with other, other people who are interested in these topics.
Peta:Cool. Okay. Well, I hope everybody goes and does that. Um, thank you so much, Theresa. This has been brilliant. Really, really interesting. Um, I've been, yeah, really excited to talk about design and how that impacts everything, but thank you for Yeah, for bringing us so many gem.
Teresa:Thank you so much, Peter. It's been a pleasure. Thank you.