At Four Drunk Parrots we believe the pathway to a better world is in everyone’s hands, and that includes Governments, NGOs, NFPs, Schools, Fortune 500 multinational companies and localised small to medium businesses. The future of this planet is on everyone’s KPIs. Measurement and impact reporting is imperative. No business or human is exempt. There is no get out of jail free card. The deadline is imminent. This project is off track. And we can no longer ask for an extension.
Why we do what we do
With this in mind, while looking deep into our reflection, Four Drunk Parrots was formed. Shaped with a focus on ethical marketing practices and the drive for all of our actions to be accountable, sustainable and leaving a positive impact on the people and environment around us.
This drive has grown into something exponentially bigger. It has become our core mission. A full scale movement. Our heart and soul. The life blood that runs through every action and movement. In every breath. Talking about it is no longer enough. Feeling mournful or guilty is pointless. This is the time for action. Impactful, conclusive, and restorative action. All businesses. Every home. The entire human-race. We have to act now and be generous with our time, with our money, and our actions. Together, we can make a difference.
We have now built our business offering on the back of enabling other organisations to do social good. We are not on the frontline and our work doesn’t have a direct, visible effect on the environment. But this doesn’t make us any more or less accountable as is a corporation like Amazon or a multi-national network like the European Union. The Steiner School daycare teacher that I paid $100 today to sing songs with my 4 year old is just as implicit as I am. And her choices can be compared to Gina Reinharts. As difficult as that is to palate, it is just about scale. And yes, 1 million Steiner teachers probably equates to a single Gina (ie: 1MMxST=1G), but we are all accountable. And it starts with accounting, well counting. Counting the cost and impact of the way we live and work, and changing our ways. It sounds simple. Maybe it is.
Measuring the footprint
To truly understand your own impact and to evaluate the ways to change begins with self-reflection and in this case self-measurement. We have been measuring our footprint and impact for several years, and now we are pretty good at it.
Throughout this process of self-assessment we were able to identify areas that we could improve. Seek out ways to ensure the carbon we produce could be sequestered in an ethical and appropriate way. Not as an offset or credit, but real long lasting ways to equally remove the carbon through sequestration methods and ensure that our work is not another tax on the earth.
Assessing the impact
During this process of accountability and self assessment we discovered organisations like BCorp, 1% for the planet, 1% pledge, Great Places to Work and Climate Neutral Certification. We are proud to now be members and advocates of each of these movements. And our measurements are audited and assessed independently through these entitles to ensure we practise what we preach.
We evaluate these calculations and assess the impact our work has on our community, our staff, our clients and our planet. We then create a report that evaluates and articulates our overall impact. This enables us to reflect on the year past, and aim to increase our positive impact on society and the environment into the future.
Some things are worth celebrating
Our impact report this year celebrates our Pro-bono work on projects like Australian Seabird Rescue, First Nations led orgs like Yidabal Gali Maa, and the Shift project on International Women’s Day. We reflect on the 188 hours of volunteering time and the 64% decrease in our organic waste output. We are proud of the introduction of products and services like ‘Green Coding’ and ‘Eco Branding’ and we encourage all businesses to conduct a thorough review of supply chains. This is how we were able to shift and introduce more support for First Nation led businesses, Social Enterprises and ensure products and supplies comply with Fair Trade standards.
Holding yourself and your business accountable isn’t easy at first. There is a lot of time that needs to be devoted to the spreadsheet gods! But this is how you start that journey towards being a better business and a better human. Once you have started the journey it does get easier, and you will begin to attract like minded businesses towards you, and you will influence those around you to follow the same path. We believe these are the steps towards saving the world. It is infectious. Maybe not easy, but it is worth it.
We did good, check it out
You can view our Impact report here. If you would like to learn more about what you can do to become a sustainable & restorative business, or if you need support to start building your own impact report and assessment, we can help you with that. Drop into the nest for a fair trade cuppa sourced from sustainable local coffee beans, served in reusable cups, or better still lets connect in our virtual nest, over a local server and save the energy and fuel for when it is necessary. Collectively we can make a difference. Together. You, me, Gina, Amazon and Steiner teachers across the globe.