People United’s Approach to Sustainability

At People United, caring for our communities and our planet has been part of our DNA since day one. Our work has always been guided by our vision of a “thriving, creative society where we are kind to ourselves, each other and the world around us.” 

Sustainability is at the heart of our Radical Care approach, a framework that encourages us to care deeply, act responsibly, and work creatively for positive change. As a small team, we know that every action counts, and we’re committed to minimising our organisational impact on the environment. 

 Reducing Our Carbon Footprint 

We’re on a continuous journey to understand, measure, and reduce the environmental impact of everything we do. Using data and reflection, we aim to make thoughtful, sustainable choices in every area of our work. 

Here are just a few ways we’re putting this into practice: 

• Sourcing office furniture second hand to give existing items a new life and reduce waste. 

• Engaging our participants, partners, and audiences in meaningful conversations and action around climate change and sustainability. 

• Foregrounding environmental justice through our creative programmes and projects. 

• Producing one creative project each year focused on the environment, using art to spark conversation and inspire change. 

• Monitoring our environmental performance using Julie’s Bicycle Creative Climate Tools — helping us track our progress and set annual goals for improvement. 

• Reducing waste to landfill by reusing and recycling across operations, projects, commissions, and events. 

• Following the 5 Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle. 

• We are changing our digital habits and aim not to send internal emails and attachments.  

• We try to think about the lifecycle of things we procure and produce– what will happen to it when we are finished with it? This is not always easy!  

• We have added a Green Contingency to all our budgets to support more sustainable choices to be made if there is a financial implication. 

• We try to shop local rather than online to support local businesses and reduce the miles items travel  

• Our environment strategy is included in our contracts so that everyone is aware of our aims and practices.  

 Sustainability and Community Wellbeing 

 Our sustainability work doesn’t stop at our own operations. We’re exploring how environmental sustainability can also nurture community wellbeing helping people feel more connected, empowered, and supported in caring for the places they live. 

By linking sustainability with wellbeing, we hope to show that caring for the planet and caring for people go hand in hand. 

 Looking Ahead 

We know we’re not perfect but we’re proud of the steps we’ve taken so far and are excited to keep learning, growing, and improving our sustainability goals to help build a kinder, greener and more creative world. We are always interested in sharing resources and ways of being more sustainable.