Sideways News

The environment is just as important to the Women's Institute as their cakes

The Women’s Institute, traditionally associated with village fêtes and home cookery, recently announced that it is one of a string of organisations to join The Guardian 10:10 campaign.

And far from the common preconception, the WI is a force to be reckoned with - providing an inspirational example of how the campaign starts with the individual.

“Our point of difference is that we are an organisation made up a lot of individuals,” Marianne Sladowsky, Head of Public Affairs at the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), told Sideways News.

“The WI joining 10:10 is a statement as an organisation but, in practice, it is about a lot of women going out and making a difference on a personal level.”

The organisation encourages members to be "agents of change", reducing their carbon footprint in their household and local community. Whether this is through using public transport, turning down the heating, recycling or adding insulation, the WI’s theory is that small changes have a significant impact.

With over 200,000 members in the UK, these changes add up. Proving this was the WI’s involvement in a challenge to cut carbon emissions during 2008. Through making small lifestyle modifications over the year, 10,000 WI participants saved enough carbon dioxide to fill London’s Albert Hall 18 times over.

In many ways, the WI’s involvement embodies the purpose of 10:10. Change is about personal and corporate action.

“All great causes involve a tension between collective belief and individual action,” wrote The Guardian in their editorial accompanying the launch of the 10:10 campaign.

“This is especially true of the fight against climate change, which must involve all of humanity over many decades, working together to achieve something.”

The WI hopes joining the 10:10 campaign will also serve to change public opinion of the organisation:

"It’s not an incorrect perception to say the WI like baking and sewing, but this is an incredibly limited view," says Sladowsky."In bringing women together, we are also campaigning for a cause and bringing lasting change."

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