When Hermione decided to cycle from London to Morocco, she had no idea what impact it would have on her life – and the lives of those around her. She asked friends and family to support her by pledging to make small changes to their everyday habits, things like cycling to work, turning lights off, or composting food waste. These simple, health-boosting, carbon-saving actions were the start of something much greater, creating a domino effect of changes that could underpin the battle against climate change.

Hermione Taylor never intended to run her own business. But her passion for the environment led her to working in a strange assortment of jobs – from weighing rhino dung at Edinburgh Zoo, to carbon accounting in Westminster, and driving buses in Canada.

While studying for a Masters in Environmental Technology, Hermione looked at the impact to behaviour change when pledge schemes were introduced to campaigns to tackle climate change.

During a cycle challenge from London to Morocco she came to the realisation that the environment needed people’s action more than it needed their cash, and asked friends to support the challenge by introducing small changes to their everyday lives. They took on small challenges such as cycling to work, to eating local seasonal food, or switching to a Green energy supplier.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx