#MySustainabilityStory: Dom Bemrose

Here at isla we think it’s important to practice what we preach, so in this series we take a deeper dive into what sustainability really looks like on the ground for members of the isla team. This week we hear from our Business Development Director, Dom Bemrose.

Sustainability loves

Food: I am gradually moving to a more meat-free diet, so I am enjoying finding new and interesting recipes. I love East by Meera Sodha, it is vegan/vegetarian and all the recipes are Asian; which I love.

Drink: My favourite local wine is Chapel Down wine from East Sussex, the Bacchus grape is a lovely white similar to a Sauvignon Blanc.

Fashion: Depop. Preloved fashion that is loved even more by me.

Product/Service: I’m definitely not someone to be asking about fashion! I have recently bought a few shirts from Thrift.

Location: Although I love walking in the North Downs, or anywhere with a fantastic view I have Bushy Park just 20 mins walk away, it has everything you would want, wild deer, rabbits, loads of different bird life and enclosed area which has rhododendrons and azaleas which is stunning in spring. I try and get there early in the morning and you feel like you are walking in the countryside.

Resource: I think Ecosia is a fantastic idea. It is a search engine that plants trees www.ecosia.org. The more you use it the more trees are planted, if it were as big as Google it could absorb 15% of all global CO2 emissions!

Quote:“People want what they are comfortable with, what they know. But businesses can shift the paradigm and introduce the things that nobody wants yet. The new things,”– Dale Vince, Founder, Ecotricity. I think Dale Vince is proof that you can make business and even energy providers into a force for good. The other quote I love is “Inequality is not an economic necessity: it is a design failure” from Kate Raworth, her book Doughnut Economics is a revelation in how we should be thinking about our economy and it benefitting all of us including our environment.

How do you ‘do’ sustainability in your own life?

Lots of little things, I think the key thing is trying to change my mindset into being less of a consumer. Some of the recent changes I have made, mainly from advice of others:

Changing my pension scheme to focusing on ethical and environmental funds
Walking a lot more, reducing my reliance on cars and move to EV
Changing my energy provider to renewable
Cut back on meat, buy local and if possible organic

Are they any local sustainability initiatives that you’re excited about/have engaged with?

I really like Henry’s Kitchen by Hampton Court. It has strong commitments with sourcing, environment and society plus their food is yummy!

How do you connect to the natural environment?

I love hiking in the countryside. During COVID I trained for the 3 Peaks Challenge and spent most weekends in the North Downs and found it the best tonic for my soul. I still try to keep it up when I can.

What was your biggest aha moment when it came to climate change/the environment?

I didn’t really have a Saul on the road-to-Damascus moment it was more of a realisation of the seriousness of this issue. I initially got involved in sustainability in a previous agency as I knew it was something that our clients wanted and I saw it as a commercial opportunity to get ahead of the curve. However, the more I learned about it, and combining that with us joining isla, the more I realised that it wasn’t about business opportunities but it was a moral and ethical obligation as an event producer we had to change our working practices and our mindset.

Tell us something unusual about your sustainability journey…

I am a comparative newbie on the sustainable journey. In fact, my first ever protest was this year about a week after joining isla at the Extinction Rebellion’s The Big One. I loved seeing people from all walks of life wanting to have their voices heard about the planet.