You don’t aim to complete a marathon on your first ever run. You start with a lap around the block – or maybe even just a powerwalk.

That’s exactly the ethos behind AllBright member Sonia Lakshman’s new venture, Couch to Carbon Zero. After all, expecting time poor, stressed out, overworked people to add ‘save the world in my lunchbreak’ to the to-do list pushes the needle just a little too far into overwhelm territory. But we’re all guilty of a daily scroll, so for Sonia and her Every One Of Us co-founder Aimee Higgins, the solution was simple: a 10 day challenge delivered via a short video, sent straight to your inbox. “One 5 minute video a day with exactly what to do, exactly how to do it, no research needed”, is how Sonia describes the challenge. “And the videos arrive bright and early each day so they can be watched any time that suits.”

Like all good design, the genius is in its simplicity. Sonia says her path to environmental awareness “began with a bang. In April 2019 I had a massive wake up call to the climate emergency. It honestly turned my world completely upside down. I’d always known the planet was warming, of course, but it had felt like a distant threat on a distant horizon.  I had no idea, until then, that we were in a Code Red situation – losing Earth - with only a short amount of time to turn it around. This was 3 years ago before Greta Thunberg etc, and it wasn’t front and centre the way it is now. People either didn’t fully know how urgent it was (just like I hadn’t) or if they did, it felt overwhelming (just like I felt). And life’s busy enough without having to save the planet on top!”

“But I had this unshakeable feeling. This couldn’t be done without every one of us. And contrary to how we feel, we are tremendously powerful – we have wallets, choice, a voice. And speed. I wanted to do something that would make it easy for every one of us to use that, to have impact, to play our part.”

Having worked as an executive coach, Sonia knew that “two heads are so much better than one.” And so she reached out to her client, Aimee. “We worked together when she was at one of the Big 4,” Sonia explains, “and we became friends. She was one of the very first people I called when I had my ‘wake up call’ and she was as shocked as I was. When I asked her if she’d join me in creating something to help us all easily have impact she said yes! That was a moment!”

In true AllBright spirit, it was the power of sisterhood – and the magic of the network – that unleashed the true magic of Every One Of Us. For Sonia and Aimee, sharing the the load as co-founders made sense. “We wouldn’t be where are without it”, Sonia says. “It’s great to bounce and shape ideas, argue, challenge – the outcome is always so much better. And it’s fun, we have a good time! Aimee has the commercial head, I’m more at the creative end, so that naturally shakes down into what we each focus on (spreadsheets, comms, contracts, video creation, etc.), and there’s lots where we meet at the middle. Crucially, we have the same values and focus on the mission. So far that’s working well. At heart, we’re both communicators, we’re about relationships – that’s what we love doing. And we both have the same passion, drive, insistence on excellence. (And love of dark chocolate!) We’re a good team.”

And while entrepreneur is the word du jour, “ironically”, Sonia recalls, “we didn’t set out to create a business, we set out to galvanise people. It was a huge labour of love that we did alongside our other work. So, the major bump in the road was exhaustion! We’re only just getting to a point of it being fully self-sustaining. Couch to Carbon Zero has taken off…large corporates and smaller organisations are absolutely loving it and signing up for their people which is now providing an income stream, which means we can take the pressure off juggling so many things at once! Couch to Carbon Zero is always free to the public.”

And that ‘accidental’ business, well, “it’s exciting. Everything we’ve worked on over the past three years has seemingly come together and we now have a rock-solid offering for busy, concerned people that’s positive, fun and seriously impactful.”

And right now, every little impact counts. Initially, Sonia and Aimee had a different approach. The climate conversation is “big, it’s scary and we can feel totally insignificant. Plus, there’s the big issue of time. Life is crazy enough without having to try and save the planet on top. But nothing solves anxiety like action.

Our initial model was to do one thing a week – add your voice to an important issue, change one habit. We’d do the legwork, give you the low down, make it easy. And people liked that, but it felt a bit endless and unsatisfying.” “Enter Couch to Carbon Zero – the 10 day sprint.  It works because it’s impactful AND time bound. In just a few minutes a day you hit the biggies you’ve probably been meaning to getting around to for ages, you up the ante on the rest, and feel equipped and informed for the nitty gritty everyday decisions that make a big difference. All the content is delivered in sub 5 minute videos and comes with the cheat sheets and links you need to take immediate action – all the practical details done for you, like whether you should buy Atlantic or Pacific salmon, or which food labels you can trust. At the end of the 10 days, you’ll feel confident you’ve maxed your impact and can get on with your life feeling empowered, proud and actually a bit relieved! Done & Done.”

So, what can participants expect when they sign up for Couch to Carbon Zero? “We go beyond the obvious and get into the nitty gritty. Who are the three truly renewable energy suppliers, what is exactly is sustainable fish, is your bank funding fossil fuels and who should you be banking with instead? Stuff that shifts the needle but is actionable fast. And it looks at both how to reduce emissions and, crucially, how to restore biodiversity and our precious ecosystems. One-off changes, informed daily choices, bite-sized, memorable. And satisfying.”

Got five minutes? The good news is if you use them to sign up for the next sprint – kicking off on February 21 – you’ll have enough time in change to actually hit that couch. For at least two minutes.

Sign up for Couch to Carbon Zero here