Meet the Steering Group - Orianne Neyroud
Orianne was one of the founder members of CA-WN in 2019, and has just finished her A Levels.
What is your motivation for being involved with the environmental movement and with CA-WN in particular?
I first got involved with CA-WN because I was fed up with not doing anything and was getting increasingly worried about climate change and social issues.
I have since started to really appreciate the local scale of impact we can have through CA-WN and have built up experience of that through a range of other voluntary organisations - this local focus is so gratifying because you can actually see the impact you are making!
If you were given one wish to change something in West Northamptonshire what would it be?
If I could change anything about West Northamptonshire, I would just want people around me to care more about political issues. In my experience there is too much apathy, which is really disheartening and gets us nowhere.
What one change have you made for the climate in your own life that you are happiest about and why?
The change I am probably most proud of is educating myself better on environmental issues and debates surrounding them. When I first started caring about climate change and being eco-friendly I tried to cut out so much from my life (for example, I became obsessed with avoiding palm oil) and began to disapprove of people who didn’t do the same. However, since actually being better informed about these issues, I feel more comfortable having discussions with people and considering both sides of the argument - often gaining this understanding is a much more effective way of changing people’s minds!
Tell us something about yourself that people might find surprising.
Something surprising about me, although not unrelated to my concern about climate change, is that I hate hot temperatures. Up to 20oC is quite enough for me - I’d much rather be curled up in a blanket with a cup of tea than sitting in the garden on a summer’s day!