What's your job about?
I am a sustainability intern at the Warehouse Group, the largest retailer in New Zealand. I am a part of the sustainability chapter and working in the sustainable living squad. Our mission is to decide and plan what circular solutions should be available to our customers. Therefore, every day is very different. One day I could be interviewing staff and customers to get a better idea of what options would have the most impact, whereas other days I am contacting suppliers and working on getting a prototype of a recycling bin in one of our stores. When you are working in sustainability, you are working a lot with many different parts of the organisation which is great for networking and getting a feel for the business.
What's your background?
I am born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. Growing up, I played Olympic handball and after an injury, I decided to travel the world for 4 months. Those 4 months turned into 5 years and over 60 countries later. Travelling made me realise how businesses can both help local communities and the environment, but also be the biggest enemy. I remember when I was at a remote, paradise beach in El Nido, the Philippines. I was camping on a deserted island for 2 nights and when we woke up one morning, the tide had brought in thousands of pieces of plastic. When we were snorkelling later that day, we also found turtles stuck in an old fishing net. This made me want to study business, and especially sustainability. However, I also realise that businesses operate to generate a profit so to convince shareholders that they need to incorporate sustainability into their operations, I must understand the financing of it. When the you-know-what virus started spreading, I thought it was a great opportunity to get my degree. During my degree, I worked for large corporations such as Tower insurance and Westpac. Now, I am working for TWG for the last 2 months.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes. Many argue that 50% of working in sustainability is based on knowledge, while 50% is pure passion. If you care about the planet and our environment and want to make a difference, you could really have any background. However, two crucial skills that you need to have working in sustainability are problem-solving and communication. Often, you need to find solutions to wicked problems and manage to effectively communicate the story around why to people, so they get on board on the journey. This is why it is so important that you are creative and can think outside the box and create stories to engage the audience.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
That you are actually making a positive impact on this planet, and the positive response you receive. When you implement a circular solution or cut down emissions by xx tonnes, you feel like you are on top of the world. Because sustainability now is a hot topic, the response from others is also extremely rewarding!
What are the limitations of your job?
The biggest limitation of my job is the lack of time. When you start working on these cool sustainability initiatives that you know will help to save the planet, you want to do everything at once. However, working for large corporations, things take time. And time is limited.
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