Today is an exciting day, one that has been in the making for a long time. It’s the day we launch a project that has engaged the hearts, minds and socially-conscious souls of every member of the Urban List team, and now it’s time to let you in on the action. So without further ado, let us introduce Urban List Sustainability, a commitment we are launching in partnership with Bank Australia to take our platform and our incredible community to the next level as we commit to having an even more positive impact on the planet and its people.
Together, we’re starting a journey to help ensure living our best lives means living more sustainably. It might seem like a wild time to launch something new, amidst all the craziness of Coronavirus, but if this health crisis has taught us anything, it’s that the small changes we make as individuals can profoundly change the world we live in for the better. It’s never been more clear that to thrive as a global community, we need to protect both our planet and our people, so launching a dedicated platform to ensure we don’t forget that fact when COVID-19 is a distant memory seems more appropriate than ever.
What Do We Mean By Sustainability?
It’s pretty simple. At Urban List, sustainability means having a positive impact—on people and on the planet—using our platform to drive positive change. For us, sustainability isn’t about sweeping, unsustainable changes or the notion of perfection; but rather working together to reduce the gap between intention and action. We will be dishing up info that sparks change, challenges assumptions and starts conversations. We know that millions of people making small changes is more powerful than a few achieving Greta status, so we want to equip you guys with the intel you need to have an impact.
What Can You Expect?
We’ll be hitting you with practical tips on protecting the planet while still living your best life, of course, but there’s more to it than that. Social and cultural sustainability (the people side of Urban List Sustainability) are just as important as environmental sustainability, so we’ll be featuring a broader range of faces in the stories you already know and love in an effort to maximise inclusivity and representation across all of our content.
We’ll be paying particular respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we operate throughout Australia and New Zealand, with everything from greater representation and acknowledgement in our travel stories to features on Indigenous Australian and New Zealand Māori creatives and changemakers from around the countries in which we operate.
We will also be championing the people who are coming up with creative solutions to make our planet a more positive place to live, from the low-key zero wasters to the full-blown activists (if anyone knows Greta’s people, hit us up) because we’re constantly blown away by these people and we have a funny feeling you might be too.
As of today, we’ll also be working to maximise the accessibility of our content across all channels so that it’s more inclusive. While a lot of you might not notice these changes at all, we’re hoping those who are blind or have low vision might find them pretty useful.
How Will This Impact The Urban List You Know And Love?
Let us assure you that it will only be for the better. We know that each person out there comes to Urban List for different reasons and we will continue to treat your needs as distinct and unique.
If you’re looking for sustainability intel, you’ll find it under the brand new tab on our navigation bar on site, but it’s important to recognise that not all of our content will be about sustainability.
We know a lot of you come to us for travel recommendations, and we’ll keep those coming on our Travel page so you can plan your post-Corona holidays. The best binge-worthy shows will still be coming in hot over on our Entertainment page, and of course, the top (takeaway) eats and (virtual) things to do in your city will still be rolling in thick and fast.
We’re not launching Urban List Sustainability to preach or to ask you to give up the things you love. We genuinely believe that if each of us makes small changes while continuing to live our best lives, we can have a huge impact on our future.
What About Urban List's Carbon Footprint?
While we have made our own commitment to become carbon neutral within one year, we’ll be the first to put our hands up and say that today, we are far from perfect. We’re on this journey with you—making sure that each day we deliver more positive impact than the last.
If you’re liking the sound of this, and we really hope you are, you might want to bookmark this page and sign up to our Urban List Sustainability eNewsletter to get the best stuff delivered direct to your inbox each month.
We've partnered with Bank Australia, Australia's clean money leaders, to launch Urban List Sustainability. Bank Australia is committed to using the business of banking to do good, not harm, for people and the planet. They don't lend to the fossil fuel industry, live animal exports or tobacco among other harmful industries. Instead, they focus on positive projects like renewable energy, community housing and funding not-for-profits. We think they're pretty great, and you just might too.
Design credit: Kate Mason