In this series, we are profiling ClimateAction.tech (CAT) volunteers and members from around the world to learn more about their climate journeys and lives. Joining us today for a CAT Q&A is Elisa Escapa from London (UK), who started volunteering for CAT in August 2022 and is a moderator of the #climate-careers Slack channel.
Tell us a little about yourself
Hello! My name is Elisa (she/her), I am based in London and work as a Technical Writer for Carbon Re. My passion is to empower others to advance their climate journeys through conversation and written resources 📝
At Carbon Re, I’m in charge of documentation and internal knowledge management, and have published user guides, FAQ articles, summary reports, marketing content for technical/industrial audiences, and training materials. Prior to climate, I was a Technical Support & Operations Engineer for 7 years in Financial Tech.
Feel free to check out my portfolio here!
How has climate change impacted you?
I have been extremely privileged to have experienced the impacts of climate change only in minor ways. I experienced severe droughts in California, poor air quality during the Santa Rosa wildfires, record-breaking 40ºC heatwaves in the UK in 2022, and my family and I made a permanent decision to avoid returning to Spain during summer periods due to the extreme heat.
There’s no doubt these minor inconveniences will someday pale in comparison to more extreme weather patterns and flooding risks in the future (both where I live now in the UK and in Japan where I have extended family).
Right now, I strive to make sustainable choices in my day-to-day activities. I do this by:
- Refusing single-use plastics
- Minimising food and landfill waste
- Reducing meat consumption (personally I do this by cooking only vegetarian at home)
- Avoiding buying anything brand-new (I use Olio, Gumtree, and Vinterior for second-hand furniture, as well as visit my local community kitchen for free surplus food donated by local supermarkets 🥕)
- Choosing deliberate transportation/delivery methods (pick-up if possible!)
- Cutting back on electricity usage (unplugging electronics, charging my phone during the day instead of at night, restrict television time)
- Rent or borrow tools, vehicles, & clothing
- Be politically active by voting on green legislature and pushing my local MP (Member of UK Parliament) to do the same
- Invest in green finances and research
- Contribute or volunteer on conservation and biodiversity efforts, as well as on energy gardens and community farms
Tell us a bit about what’s going on in climate in your region?
In London, there has been increased frequency and intensity of rainfall during the winter season, but decreased rainfall during summers. This has increased the risk of flooding, which has already damaged properties and impacted inhabitants in low-lying areas.
Heatwaves have also increased in frequency and intensity, which has led to many heat-related deaths, particularly among the elderly and vulnerable populations. This has been exacerbated due to historical infrastructure unequipped to deal with extreme temperatures, as well as an understaffed & unprepared national health system.
My local government (Ealing Council) certainly has climate change among its top priorities. They have appointed dedicated cabinet members for climate action (source), and their newspaper Around Ealing has Climate Action as one of its top News categories.
There are citizen-led organisations that also concern climate action, such as Ealing Transition and Act For Ealing, who actively campaign and work on local projects to reduce air pollution, promote allotments and environment-friendly gardening, beautifying local parks, etc.
How are you currently implementing sustainable tech practices?
I actively work to reduce my digital footprint and perform digital cleanups from time to time. This involves disabling mobile notifications, unsubscribing from email campaigns, deleting old emails, and deleting duplicate or unneeded files. I have also moved particularly old files into an external hard drive so as to avoid taking up cloud storage in a server somewhere that likely runs on vast amounts of non-renewable energy.
I have also recently connected a green web developer from our very own CAT community with the marketing team at Carbon Re to reduce the carbon emissions from our website. These small actions feel tiny amidst the ever-growing demand for energy and server space, but I try to remember that every little action counts!
What sustainable tech practices or principles do you think everyone should be doing?
👉Practise digital cleanups
👉 Reduce carbon emissions from your websites
👉 Cut down the amount of e-mails and notifications you inadvertently generate by unsubscribing from email campaigns and turning off app notifications.
Each and every digital activity contributes to your digital carbon footprint!
If you could ask a climate genie for three wishes – one for the world, one for the digital tech industry, one for your local community – what would they be?
I would change the following mindsets:
- World: Be mindful and acutely aware of the impact of your actions on the world
- Digital Tech: Encourage your consumers to cut down on e-waste and digital noise
- Local Community: Similar to #1: Be kind to your neighbours, even in subtle ways 🙂
What keeps you motivated and sustains the work you do?
The climate community 💚 Seeing the work and discussions in the CAT Slack community (as well as many others) reminds me that there are enough people who care and are putting in the work to bring the world to a better place.
Why do you volunteer with CAT?
I have a great fondness for CAT as the first climate community I joined, and the primary one I go to for the latest news and discussions on climate tech. I saw an opportunity to support my favourite community by moderating the #climate-careers and revamping its Outline doc so CAT members have a good resource to refer to to transition into climate work 🌱
What is the best way to get in touch with you?
Feel free to connect with me on any of the platforms listed here 🙂
I am also signed up to the #OpenDoorClimate policy, so do reach out to set up a time to chat about our climate journeys 😊
Want to see a profile from another cool CAT? Nominate them by posting in the #cat-blog Slack channel.