Do you remember Ellen MacArthur the ’round the world’ yachtswoman? She retired from professional sailing in 2010 and launched the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This is a charity which works to accelerate our transition to a circular economy.
So what is a circular economy? It is what we need long term to survive. There are three principles:
- Design out waste and pollution
- Keep products and materials in use (rather than throw them away)
- Regenerate national systems
Sounds good you may say, but how does that affect me as a landlord?
How Landlords can help
Around 20% of carbon emissions come from domestic dwellings and landlords own a substantial proportion of these. Landlords have a huge part to play in changing our society to become more sustainable. How? Well here are some suggestions:
- Retrofit properties so that they are more efficient – maybe not to Passivhaus standard (which would be hard – although good if you can manage it!) but better than they are now
- Use sustainable products and appliances in your properties
- Sign up to a green energy supplier such as Ecotricity
- Educate your tenants by explaining the green credentials of your property
I will be exploring some of these ideas in this blog – and you will see already some products I have looked at which may or may not be suitable for you. But if they are not for you – that does not matter if it inspires you to think of something better! This blog is intended to be inspirational rather than prescriptive.
If you do find something better – please let me know either by adding a comment to the relevant post here or sending me a message via the contact page. Your idea may be something we can feature here.
In the meantime, take a look at the Circular Economy video below from Ellen’s website and see if it inspires you to change anything in your life or your properties: