Everyday Changemakers - Ruth McLaren from Arran EcoSavvy

Our Everyday Changemaker today is Ruth McLaren, Arran EcoSavvy's project and communications development officer. Credits: Interview, recording and edit by Madeleine Scobie, Sound production by Kaska Hempel Resources: Arran Eco Savvy website: https://arranecosavvy.org.uk/ Green Islands Net Zero project: https://arranecosavvy.org.uk/green-islands-plans/ Project Videos Zero Waste Cafe: https://vimeo.com/796376962/ce499f02e2 Active Travel Hub: https://vimeo.com/799647519/663c6e3da1 Community Shop: https://vimeo.com/826523465/3f3863284a?share=copy Transcript [00:00:00] Madeleine: Hello, I'm Madeleine Scobie and I'm SCCAN's media intern. I interviewed Ruth McLaren, who is the Project and Communications Development Officer at Arran Eco Savvy. Since 2014, Arran Eco Savvy has been working towards making Arran a greener and more sustainable island. Some other recent projects include the Green Islands Net Zero, [00:00:24] Madeleine: the Active Travel Hub, Community Shop, and Zero Waste Cafe. I asked her to describe her favourite place to visit in Arran. [00:00:34] Ruth: Ooh, that's a bit of a tricky question actually, because there's so many amazing places. [00:00:39] Ruth: I'd have to say my favourite place is Glen Sannox in the north of the island. [00:00:43] Ruth: And it's just this absolutely beautiful, kind of dramatic glen. Not too far from where I stay. And it's kind of really peaceful. [00:00:51] Ruth: You often, you'll go from the beach, which will maybe have lots of people on it, and if you go up into the glen, it's kind of empty and don't see as many folk around, but you'll see, you know, deer. And I've seen a golden eagle in there once. [00:01:04] Ruth: and it's just really just absolutely beautiful. [00:01:07] Madeleine: So how did you get involved in Community Action? What's your climate journey? [00:01:12] Ruth: I've always been very kind of interested and aware of climate change ever since I was at school, really. And it's just always been something that I've been very passionate about, but also very worried about. [00:01:23] Ruth: And my career. I used to work, I've worked in the government, I've worked in the private sector, but I've also worked for several charities. [00:01:31] Ruth: But I really wanted to get involved in climate action. And when I moved to Arran, I found out about Arran Eco Savvy, which is a local organisation. At the time, they were looking for a Shop Manager for their charity shop pre loved goods shop. [00:01:45] Ruth: I applied for that job. I didn't get it, but then I subsequently applied for another job that they had advertised. And I've worked for Eco Savvy for almost five years now, [00:01:54] Ruth: working across several different projects. [00:01:56] Ruth: So yeah, I feel really lucky to have been involved to such a degree within the community and within such an impactful organisation within a community that is interested in climate change matters. [00:02:07] Madeleine: So what's the biggest challenge that your community group or you had to overcome in taking action, and what do you think you learned from it? [00:02:16] Ruth: I would say that the biggest challenge, just in general with both the community and the issue of climate change in general. [00:02:25] Ruth: It's just such an overwhelming topic. It's something that affects all parts of life. You know, it's not just about, you know, the environment and you can be an environmental activist. It also connects with people's lives in terms of [00:02:38] Ruth: the economy and their finances. You know, social issues and social justice. You know, lots of local issues, land use. You know, it really is, it really does connect with so many other issues that it's not just about, you know, climate change or the environment. [00:02:54] Ruth: And I think that that's really the crux of the issue with the kind of slowness of change. In that, on these higher levels is that it's just people become so overwh