Green.org sat down with Rebecca Tucker, founder of Whitecalm, The Wellbeing Company, to learn how she is combining fitness, health, and sustainability to help employees live a well balanced lifestyle in the workplace.
Tell us a little bit about you and your background:
I have always been passionate about health, wellbeing and the environment as I see them all inextricably linked. From the age of 4, I watched every programme Sir David Attenborough has produced and so my enthusiasm and passion for this started very young. I studied Biology at York University and then went onto Oxford to study for my Post Graduate in Education.
My driver is to create a business that helps people on a personal level as well as making them aware of the environmental consequences of their actions. I set up my health and wellbeing business in 2018 but was unfortunately diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in 2019 and then the pandemic hit in 2020 so we decided to pivot everything online so we could reach more people and faster.
What is a fun fact about you?
I love dangerous sports like whitewater rafting and parachuting.
Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today?
Both are important because the planet is at crisis point. If we don’t consider both these at the same time then everything else we worry about is meaningless. Scientists have shown through their studies of the climate that sea levels are rising and this has dangerous consequences.
What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?
I believe that people fundamentally want to do the right thing but it takes time to shift people’s habits and perceptions. Once sustainability is embedded in people’s thought processes they won’t think twice about it. For example eating vegetarian meals two to three times a week could really help our planet but restaurants and cafes need to offer more variety of this type of food for people to choose it.
Recycling is second nature to most of us so it is possible to change these things one step at a time. Ten years from now I believe that this industry will be one of the most important if not the most important and everyone will have it on their agenda as we all will work together to better the planet – this is my hope for our children and grandchildren’s future.
What can the average person do to make a difference?
Eat less meat and fish so farming practices become more sustainable. Use public transport where possible as an alternate to cars – hopefully the future of electric cars is bright. Recycle everything you can including clothes. But second hand when you can instead of new. Buy goods that use recycled materials as packaging. Every small step we all take will make a big difference as a whole.
