This year CAT tried something a little different for Earth Day. Instead of a CAT-hosted event, we asked CATs from across the globe to tell us about how they were going to celebrate our planet. Below is a sampling of what people shared.
For Earth Day this year, I went a little creative and made a simple handmade craft of the Earth, with small reminders to save trees, water, and energy. It’s nothing fancy, but it was a fun way to pause and think about how small actions add up.
Working around sustainability and traceability in my day-to-day has already been shaping how I think about impact, and this felt like a small, hands-on way to connect that mindset to something personal (and slightly crafty!).
I also shared a post on LinkedIn to spread a bit of awareness, and maybe prove that sustainability can involve glue and paper too.
This year, I’m trying to be more mindful about my everyday choices, especially around energy use and consumption. Small steps, but hopefully consistent ones. – C
This year I prepared a board for my design org at Microsoft. This includes resources, quotes, reflection questions, and action ideas. I made a publicly accessible version for CATs as well. It’s far from perfect but encourages zooming out and looking at the entire system (shameless plug for @Sid‘s #cat-systems-series channel & events as well).
A lot of the resources I found via CATs – B interviewed Hannah Ritchie and I read her new book because of that. T was on a panel discussion on rare earth minerals I found. @melissa did a her GWF Fellowship Project on this topic too. J runs the Sustainable UX substack where I found the heat pump exit interview, and @MaggieHunt added articles around rare earth mining and recycling to the CAT newsletter. Thank you all! – S
From S: I created a one page cheatsheet of the Web Sustainability Guidelines we are creating at W3C using the existing text in the web sustainability guidelines. This can be used to inspire organizations into taking climate action
I’m also reflecting on how I can bring more empathy in my facilitation. Participants who attend workshops on sustainability have different views with respect to tech and AI. So there is high probability that conflict happens. How we can create a safe space for everyone’s view point becomes important.
I also reflected on the following questions:
- What fundamental questions are we trying to answer?
- How can we operationalize systems change to create responsible AI?
- What’s the best way to encourage organizations to adopt responsible technology and AI practices?
- How to facilitate safe spaces where people from different background and experiences co-create a sustainable tech future?
- How can we help tech teams think in systems to build truly sustainable technology?
- How do we effectively communicate the importance of climate action tech within corporations?
I have been listening to Juice, my first ‘cli-fi’ climate fiction read, and reading War of the Worlds… two apocalyptic views on how fragile civilisation is, and what we take for granted in our societies.
Beyond books, this week I have a call with managers to discuss the definition of Responsible AI, pushing for two complementary themes, ethics + footprint. – G
(Juice is a 2024 climate fiction (cli-fi) novel by Australian author Tim Winton, set in a future ravaged by climate change)
(The War of the Worlds, 1898 novel by H.G.Wells)
What did you get up to on Earth Day? Share your actions in the CAT Slack community
The handmade Earth craft with small reminders to save trees, water, and energy is such a tangible way to internalize those daily habits. It’s a good push to keep noticing the little choices that really do add up over time.