The first Inverness Climate Cafe
There's a blue cafe tucked away in the corner of Inverness in the Scottish highlands. Its name is Velocity; it is cosy and always smells amazing, from delicious food to dark rich coffee. This is where I had the pleasure of being part of the climate cafe. "what is a climate cafe" let me tell you, its a gathering of people to share and chat about the climate crisis, a space for friendly and warm conversation around what can often be a scary and daunting topic and with some sweet treats and hot drinks.
At the cafe, as we settled into our hot drinks on a mild march evening, we got chatting away, and I soon realised how wide a range of people were sitting around the table, all from different generations and different backgrounds. Yet, altogether, because we want to talk about climate change. We started things off with a carbon footprint calculator, which was through WWF; this made me think about what I was consuming and how I was travelling; I was pleased to find out my carbon footprint is below the UK average; however, there are still so many things I can do and work towards in the future.
The first question we brought forwards was, " In your opinion, why is climate change happening." This feels like such a massive question, I look to the past and see overconsumption, and I look at the present and see we are continuing this even today. I have a flashback to high school being taught about the industrial revolution. And yet sitting in the cafe talking with a group of people, this question didn't feel as big; it felt manageable; the "why" slowly changed to "what are the solutions."
The next question was brought forward on a large sheet of paper, and we all sat eagerly with our post notes; it read, "have you noticed the effects of climate change locally." pens began to scribble frantically; flooding, storms, and drought were stuck on. The phrase four seasons in one day perfectly summed it up; however, we all noticed they were becoming a tad more extreme each year. Tropical summers in the Scottish highlands don't seem quite right.
As we all chatted and laughed, the conversation turned to food. I could talk about food for hours. From veg boxes to milk vending machines, we bounced about the topic of local seasonal produce being grown and produced right on our doorsteps. Black isle veg boxes were a highlight, with the images of leafy green veg and potatoes that all looked so tasty. We all started to reflect on changes to how we shop; The big supermarkets are so convenient, but where can we make affordable and realistic changes in buying food? I am lucky that a local cafe has just added a milk vending machine, meaning I can reuse a glass bottle and cut down on my plastic. We looked to the past and saw some traditions we lost were more sustainable, such as milk delivery in glass bottles.
We rounded off the evening by looking at future climate cafes; a buzz around guest speakers and themed weeks could be felt. So much positivity about coming together to make small changes to help fight against climate change. Overall the evening was enjoyable and filled me with hope and excitement for the future climate cafes.
If you’d like to host a climate cafe in your community, reach out to us today and if we can, we would love to help.
