There’s a new B Corp collaboration helping families tackle climate change.
When James Meldrum took part in last September’s School Strike 4 Climate rally in Melbourne, there was something about it that really stood out.
‘There were so many more parents marching compared with the first rally earlier in the year,’ said James, the Co-Founder of B Corp Whole Kids and father of two young children. ‘It got me thinking there was a real opportunity to create something to help parents get more involved, and to support their kids in taking on climate change.’
James connected with another B Corp, Disruptive Media, to explore his idea – and the Parents2020 website was born. Launched in July as a team effort between the two B Corps, Parents2020 is a practical, everyday guide that supports families to take simple steps now in 2020 to help Australia reach climate change targets for 2030.
The initiative recognises that the actions we take over this decade are critical in achieving climate change goals and also draws on the leadership already shown by the B Corp community in this space, James said.
‘In 2019, over 500 global B Corps publicly committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to reach net zero targets by 2030 – 20 years ahead of the 2050 targets set in the Paris Agreement,’ he said. ‘This commitment driven by B Corps and reflected by much of the wider business community was part of the reason we established Parents2020. With businesses making this pledge, we saw a need to help people take that commitment through to a household level.’
Managing Director of Disruptive Media, Lyn Jenkin, agreed that Parents2020 was about helping bring about grassroots change.
‘We could see there was a real gap in resources and information specifically to help parents and their families everywhere take on climate change at a simple and readily implementable level,’ she said. ‘Parents2020 helps address climate change from both a practical, everyday lifestyle perspective and a health and wellbeing perspective.’
‘It’s designed for families to start adapting now in 2020 to make a bigger difference over the next decade by the small changes we make every day. It puts the tools and information we need to make those simple changes at our fingertips.’
Now, James and Lyn are calling on the B Corp community to help take the initiative further and wider. ‘We’ve just scratched the surface,’ Lyn said. ‘The website currently features practical advice and resources across a range of everyday topics like money, food, energy and wellbeing – and we’re really keen to grow this content through the collective expertise of B Corps.
‘We’d love other B Corps to get on board and contribute knowledge from their specialist areas, so we can add more topics with high quality, credible information to help parents make good decisions.’
And with this year’s just-wrapped B Corp month focusing on collaboration, the timing for other B Corps to get involved couldn’t be more perfect.
‘The theme for B Corp month this year was all about “Better Together for a Better World”, and this initiative really shows what we can achieve in partnership,’ said Lyn. ‘It’s been a really nice opportunity so far for two B Corps to come together, and we hope that with the backing of other B Corps, Parents2020 will grow to become a really significant site for Australia and beyond.’
‘It’s all about creating the momentum now for a decade of change, and taking the action that’s needed for a healthy, sustainable planet for our children and generations to come.’
Keen to get involved?
If you’re interested in contributing content, the team behind Parents2020 would love to hear from you. Get in touch at hello@parents2020.com.au.
