One Victorian’s passion is to bring awareness to responsible recycling, compost and waste practices and is doing so through an intersectional environmentalism lens.
Sadie Fox, creator of the Sustainable Fox, wants to share with all of Greater Victoria how to be more ethical and responsible for the waste we create, not by shame but from a place of education.
Many Victorians who consider themselves environmentally friendly may already be taking an intersectional approach to their practice and not even know it, considering the concept is still relatively new.
“It’s entirely reasonable people haven’t heard that combination of words yet because a book entitled Intersectional Environmentalism was only published in March 2022,” Fox told Victoria Buzz.
“Intersectional environmentalism is an approach that honours people as part of the web of life.”
“It takes our individual and collective humanity into account when making a decision about whether or not something is actually sustainable.”
The Sustainable Fox works with businesses and individuals to take a look at their waste systems and they try to work with them to develop systems that are more efficient and create less of a footprint, ecologically speaking.
Fox is growing her business but their passion for sustainability has been leading her to finding avenues to guide many Victorians to a place where they can be comfortable in their role as an environmental ally.
“What I am seeing in the environment and in Victoria is people who really want to be at the next level with their own environmental engagement,” Fox told Victoria Buzz.
“Climate anxiety is really real and most of our work is to provide solutions so that people can actually feel like they’re doing something about the problem and doing it in a way that feels respectful and kind.”
“We have a growing awareness and we haven’t always been moving forward in that direction.”
The Sustainable Fox has a foothold in the theatre community because of her background, and she was brought on to be responsible for all the waste management at the SKAMpede festival that takes place in Victoria. She’s been doing so since 2019.
The one-act short-form theatre festival happens in July and last year over 800 people attended SKAMpede.
Due to Fox’s efforts and environmental work, the festival’s waste was reduced to a single garbage bag.
“We have a team on site that sorts all the waste for people and teaches them how to use it, and we consistently produce less than one kitchen garbage bag of landfill destined waste, everything else is diverted.”
Many people don’t know how to recycle everyday products, what happens to the things they do recycle, what can be considered compost or what must be thrown away in a garbage bin, bound for the landfill.
The Sustainable Fox can show Victorians all of the answers to these questions, or at least give them the tools to find out for themselves.
As Fox continues to grow their business, they look forward to taking on more large events and working with the vendors at events to aid them in reducing their waste. Fox believes this starts with engaging their customers on how to throw away their food scraps and their single use packaging/plating.
“It’s okay to try and it’s okay to not be perfect, but it’s no longer okay to ignore the situation,” said Fox as a message to Victorians who are contemplating being more sustainable and environmentally friendly in 2023.
