SUB-Booster Petra van Kleef blogs about sustainable choices

23, May 2023

"With the Green Heroes Academy, I want to help other people live more sustainably with practical tips"

Together with our SUB-Boosters, we are unleashing a sustainability revolution within organisations in the Netherlands. Who are these boosters, accelerators and quartermasters? We speak to entrepreneur, communications consultant and climate mayor Petra van Kleef of Green Heroes Academy.

By: Dominique de Groot

Turning the knob

It started with climate documentaries and reading books. Inspired, she gradually made her life more sustainable: she consciously separated her waste, stopped eating meat and bought a lot of second-hand items. When Petra became a mother, she completely changed her mind. She decides - as she writes herself - that she no longer wants to stand idly by while we destroy our beautiful world. Her first project is to radically reduce waste. "Separating waste I had been doing for years, but recycling figures are not as rosy as everyone thinks," she says in our phone conversation. "I used to not think about having so much waste, but you can avoid a lot of waste. Buying stuff, that has a big impact. My boyfriend and I already bought quite a lot second-hand because it's cheaper, and we do that for almost everything now."

Green Heroes Academy

Other sustainable doers such as Elisah Pals and Babette Porcelijn with her book The hidden impact inspire her to persevere. Not much later, she decided to blog about her sustainable quest. "With the Green Heroes Academy I want to help other people live more sustainably with practical tips. What should you pay attention to, what can you do and what are the best choices? For example, it is better to buy a vegetarian burger in a plastic package than a piece of meat in your own tray at the butcher's. But you need to know that. It starts with making conscious choices."

Through her blogs and socials, Petra mainly focuses on the benefits of sustainable living. "Critics still sometimes judge sustainability as if you can't do anything anymore: no more flying, you can't buy anything... I myself have actually become happier because it gives me a good feeling that I am contributing in a positive way." In Alkmaar, Petra regularly organises Zero Waste tours together with 2 other guides. As a speaker of Think Big Act Now (after the book The Hidden Impact), she likes to inspire groups and organisations during a lecture or workshop. She also offers an online course, the Zero Waste Kickstart. After this course, participants can reduce their waste by half or more.

What you can do yourself

Communication is her profession. Besides the Green Heroes Academy, Petra works as a Senior Communication Advisor at technical services provider Equans. What does she think about sustainability communication and messaging in the Netherlands? "In the past, there has been too little coverage of the climate problem. Journalism itself admitted this two years ago. Now you see a lot of reporting, which is good, but I do think we have to be careful with scaremongering. I'd rather see reports start with 'this is not going well' and then move on to 'that's what you can do about it'." She thinks the government should play a bigger role in this. "I am climate mayor of Dijk en Waard. That is voluntary work which I do with love. But if saving the world is some kind of volunteer job, then we are not taking it very seriously. Not just communication, but the basics of policy need to change. Like stop subsidising fossil fuels and let the money go to sustainable developments."

Accelerating the process

Making those sustainable choices is not always easy. Petra too recognises this: "It's actually a very psychological thing. We need to accelerate that process. We are already really at a nice threshold of people who want to do sustainable things and we need more of them." In 10 years' time, she even hopes the Green Heroes Academy won't be needed at all. "I would like everyone to become aware and live within the carrying capacity of the earth. That we tackle it together and in 10 years' time we will have reached the tipping point and be heading in the right direction again."