Words by Smiley Team
When environmental scientist Angela Terry quit her job with an energy firm to set up One Home, a social enterprise dedicated to spreading the message about climate change, she had no idea what to expect.
But this month Angela will celebrate One Home’s third birthday - and the milestone of reaching more than a million people with essential advice, information and support on how to tackle the climate emergency.
Angela said: “It was a big decision to leave my job, I had three young children and bills to pay. But the silence around climate change was deafening and I knew I had to make some noise.
“After speaking with friends I quickly realised people wanted to make changes and do more to protect our environment, but people either didn’t know where to start, or felt overwhelmed.
“I set up One Home as a ‘one-stop-shop’ website giving practical, cost-effective solutions to help people go green and adapt to extreme weather events, such as floods and heatwaves.”
Angela, who has degrees in environmental science and technology, then used Twitter to share simple tips and actions everyone can take to tackle climate change, and soon became a regular expert on the topic in the media.
She said: “Many people warned me that no one would listen, and with only a small amount of funding we couldn’t afford a big campaign.
“We aimed to reach one million people, and our stats show we’ve hit 1.4 million. This month we’ll celebrate our third birthday, and I’ve worked with national and international TV, newspapers, radio and organisations to raise awareness about climate change and just how urgent this issue is.
“Crucially, once people start taking action they actually enjoy going green and see many other benefits, including saving money.”
Later this year the spotlight will be on the UK in terms of climate change as the UN COP26 climate change conference comes to Glasgow, and paves the way for nations across the world to drastically cut their emissions and reach carbon zero.
Angela said: “At One Home we have pioneered engaging the public on solutions to tackle climate change, and I’m proud that we’ve helped to break the silence on the climate crisis.
“One Home provides support for people to find the motivation and the know-how to act now so we can protect what we love, before it’s too late.”
Visit One Home for more information, or follow Angela on Twitter.
