Amy Munro Of 11th Hour Racing Team: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change & Become More Sustainable
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Be conscious of our decisions, especially with regards to the pervasive consumerism of our societies. At the end of the day we came into the world with nothing, and that is the way we will leave it.
As part of our series about how companies are becoming more sustainable, we had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Munro.
Amy Munro studied oceanography at the University of Southampton in the UK before embarking on a career in the sports industry, focusing on sustainability strategy creation and implementation. She has developed a specialism in working within performance sailing teams, developing her knowledge as the Sustainability Officer for the British Challenger for the 35th America’s Cup before working at 11th Hour Racing Team, which is competing in the world’s longest and toughest sporting event — The Ocean Race 2022–23. Amy sits on the World Sailing Sustainability Commission.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up on a small island surrounded by water on the south coast of the United Kingdom, and so perhaps it was inevitable that I would study Oceanography at the University of Southampton — just a stone’s throw away. After working on a project with Cape Farewell, an organization that collaborates with the arts to tell stories about ocean health and climate, I felt I understood and was excited about how powerful storytelling through art could make science more relatable and relevant to larger groups of people. In a similar way, sport has a huge following and the opportunity to connect with people on an emotional level, so I am passionate about the power that sport and the arts have to appeal to people’s emotions and the ability to create passion and inspire action for the future.
What is the mission of your company? What problems are you aiming to solve?
We are a professional offshore sailing team racing in the world’s longest and toughest sporting event — The Ocean Race 2022–23. As I write this, our team has just crossed the Equator and is racing from the Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic, down to Cape Town.
Our mission is to create a high-performance sports team with sustainability at the core of all operations, to give us a platform to share stories and innovations within the industry, and to inspire positive action for ocean health amongst global sports fans.
Our vision is of a vibrant, healthy ocean for all, and we have been working towards this through data-driven decision-making, sharing innovations in how we work as an organization and operate with the construction of our new race boat boat, as well as collaborating with our competitors for new policy aligned with the climate goals
We really want to inspire a love of the ocean in people, and our sailors are in a fortunate position of being able to experience the ocean in a way many can’t themselves — out at sea for weeks on end. Charlie Enright, our skipper, has likened his experiences of the ocean to The Overview Effect — what astronauts experience when they go into space and look down on Planet Earth. You can find out more about his experiences in The Oceanview Effect here.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
I would say there are three key highlights for me from this past year.
- Life Cycle Assessment — I managed the delivery of a new and very detailed LCA that has impacted the new Class rules [the rules on how to build one of our race boats] which is helping us to design a pathway to Net Zero for future builds. The LCA identified that composites were 80% of the footprint of a build, so helped us to focus on a carbon fiber recycling project. To date, over 3 tons have been collected for recycling and will be returned to ours, and other, sailing teams to be used again. The circular economy in action!
- Insetting — we work really closely with the other businesses and organizations in our supply chain to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint, which ultimately positively impacts us all.
- The Toolbox — we are really fortunate in that we have a three-person sustainability team within our organization, but are often asked by both competing teams, as well as suppliers, how they can put in place a sustainability program. We wrote The Sustainability Toolbox, an eight-step suite of assets that are free to download for any organization and from whatever sector, to help them put in place a sustainability program at their place of work.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
93% of people now look for authentic sustainability credentials in their products and expect as much from brands as they do from governing bodies and policymakers. Now is an opportunity to show leadership, drive authentic change and get ahead of your competitors. As one example, Unilever’s sustainable brands are growing at twice the rate of the rest of its portfolio. Where it’s all about high-performance, winning products, it’s also worth knowing that businesses that invest and lead in sustainability are 400% more likely to be leaders in innovation too, giving them a further competitive edge!
The youth-led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on behalf of climate change. This was great, and there is still plenty that needs to be done. In your opinion what are 5 things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
- Be kind to yourself, be kind to others, be kind to the planet.
- Get outside, this is where life is, be part of it.
- Value people not things, action over ideas, and health over wealth.
- Understand the systems we live in are far from perfect, and not fixed in stone, we can change them.
- Be conscious of our decisions, especially with regards to the pervasive consumerism of our societies. At the end of the day we came into the world with nothing, and that is the way we will leave it.
Tell me the five small things that you do (or anyone else can do) to live more sustainably.
Well, this is a big question even if you’re asking for small ideas because it does depend a bit on where you live.
First, I tell people to switch to a renewable energy provider, if that’s at all possible for your electricity. In some cases, there are a number of providers that will offer you the opportunity to pay a green tariff for energy coming from renewables, but they will just be taking that away from the rest of the grid and changing the mix elsewhere so double check to make sure they aren’t doing that!
Second, grow don’t mow. There’s an incredible amount of biodiversity in your yard so let your wildflowers grow. Think about having some little bee and insect gardens or bee-friendly plants for your backyard garden (or window sills even). They are so important to the ecosystem where you live.
The third is waste and making sure that you know exactly what can go into your bins. Look at local solutions for food composting if your provider doesn’t have compost pick-up. A really good tip is to visit your local recycling center. You’ll be amazed at what you can learn and what you can recycle compared to just throwing it away. We need to reduce waste as individuals and as a society.
Fourth, think about waste-free options in anything that you do. Water bottles are an obvious one, but there are so many other ways to cut down on waste.
Fifth, take in nature — any way that you can reconnect with nature and reconnect with the emotional benefits that the outdoors gives us will be such a positive.
What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- It’s easy to get overwhelmed. Don’t let perfection get in the way of doing good.
- Sustainability is about the journey, it is not a destination.
- Time is the most valuable thing we have. Take time: the speed of modern life is the anthesis of sustainable living, it consumes everything, and everyone and still asks for more.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There have been some pretty inspiring mentors that I have had the huge privilege of learning from and working with; Dr Susie Tomson, Director of Sustainability at Think Beyond, and Jill Savery, Olympic Gold Medallist and formerly the Sustainability Director for our sponsor, 11th Hour Racing.
Between the two of them, there is nothing they don’t know about sport and sustainability. Susie is a hugely innovative thinker, with incredible ideas and a no-bullshit approach. Jill is meticulous and always pushes you to be better and more ambitious, and always with huge positivity and excitement for our future.
You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I was to pick one single movement, it would be to make the switch to renewables.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
My dad used to say, “It’s better to be inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.” What I like to think he meant by it, was that you can only make change by getting stuck into the problems around you. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and shouting into the void, empower yourself by tackling the challenges head-on, with the key players, and make meaningful change from the inside.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
You can find us at @11thhourteam
Our plans and reports can be found at 11thhourracingteam.org/for-our-ocean
And our Toolbox is at sustainabilitytoolbox.com
This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Amy Munro Of 11th Hour Racing Team: Five Strategies Our Company Is Using To Tackle Climate Change &… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.