Saving seconds, or saving the planet? Thoughts for Christmas - Sustain Britain

Looking back at 2025, we reflect on what has been another momentous year for Sustain Britain.  

In addition to holding our second sell-out Sustain Britain Conference, we successfully launched the Greenprint for a Sustainable Independent Britain to attending delegates. 

Inspiring speakers 

Jonathon Porritt was once again truly inspiring, and Hannah Pathak, CEO of Forum for the Future, brought a breath of fresh air with her insights into future trends, sustainability strategy, and systems for driving change across the key areas food, energy, and business purpose. 

Attracting delegates from up and down the country, the conference brought together a community of like-minded individuals focused on building resilient, self-sufficient local communities across Britain.  

Prompting lively debate and discussion, and aided by a fascinating Q&A panel session, the conference reaffirmed the need for a movement that questions and probes how we can keep more money and jobs in our local economy by living and producing in a more sustainable way, free from an over-reliance on multinationals and imports. 

However, the conference revealed one particularly worrying fact: just one person in the audience was under the age of 30.  

Embracing the guardians of the future 

That’s why in 2026, we plan to extend the conference to two days, the first of which will be dedicated to sixth form students from across Wiltshire 

Already, letters have been sent out to Cirencester College, Malmesbury School, and Royal Wootton Bassett Academy.  

We view this as an opportunity to introduce tomorrow's guardians of the planet to the theory of Sustain Circles, to help students learn what it’s like to be a delegate, to  experience talks from high-profile sustainability speakers, to take part in practical sessions, get involved in discussions, and have to the opportunity to pose questions to a panel of eminent speakers on the sustainability agenda.  

It will allow us to share the many innovative and sustainable solutions that are being pioneered by Sustain Wiltshire, right on their doorstep. This includes the Super-Midden project, which will see groundbreaking positively pressured greenhouses - powered by heat, energy and CO2 from the conversion of landfill methane into electricity - produce affordable fruit and vegetables year-round for the communities in which they live. 

Our hope is that this will inspire and encourage students to think differently about the role of sustainability in the modern world, and in their community.  

What cost for convenience? 

For Sustain Britain, this is about playing a part in the sustainable education of tomorrow’s business leaders and uncloaking the dangers of placing convenience ahead of climate.  This is now more important than ever as the race to embrace AI takes over and pushes news on climate change from the headlines. 

Yes, we need to be competitive and keep up with tech, but we also have to recognise the rapacious energy appetite of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the many million Megwatts they need day-in and day-out to save businesses and individuals’ time. It’s convenience, but at what cost? 

Change to the planet is happening, and not necessarily in a good way. So, this Christmas, instead of using ChatGPT to create images for fun, why not take a moment to pause and reflect; to open your eyes and notice the changes that are becoming all too obvious around us, such as butterflies in December, and bats that are yet to go into hibernation! Instead of saving seconds, you could be saving the planet! 

Happy Christmas and here’s to a sustainable New Year. 

Until next time... 

Nick Ash