FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
By John Twitchen, Founder at Stuff4Life
Thirty years ago, as an Environmental Studies student at the University of Hertfordshire, I took part in an industry placement that changed my life.
At the time, I didn’t realise digging trial pits on an old landfill site would set the course for a career in sustainability, communications and innovation – but that hands-on experience did something that lectures alone couldn’t. Not only did it demonstrate that when you put stuff in the ground it can take a VERY long time to decompose, it also taught me that doing is what makes the difference.
That idea – “action speaks louder than words” – has become a thread running through everything I’ve done since. It’s also the central theme of my recent TEDx talk, ‘Environmental Entrepreneurship and Why Action Speaks Louder Than Words’.
This famous line (from a Mark Twain novel) is a philosophy for how we should approach sustainability. We don’t need more talk about awareness, ambition, or alignment – we need action, proof, and progress.
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) programmes should be about getting stuff done – not (just) policies and commitments, but actions and outcomes. Communication alone isn’t enough. You can’t just talk the world into sustainability you have to build it.
That shift from explaining to doing is what led to Stuff4Life, the company I co-founded to develop and scale circular solutions. We set out to tackle a familiar problem: too many uniforms, workwear and clothing items being thrown away when they could be valuable resources.
The result was a new workwear service, and critically a patent-pending depolymerisation technology – an innovation that breaks polyester down into its base components so they can be remade into high-quality fibre. It’s practical, measurable and circular by design.
One of my new-favourite quotes comes from ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, who said: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” It’s a perfect metaphor for sustainability.
Too often, we’re reacting to yesterday’s problems – tightening regulations, changing disclosures, shifting consumer sentiment – instead of anticipating what’s next. That’s what drives innovation in the ESG space. It’s not just about compliance or risk management anymore – it’s about critical thinking and strategic foresight. The organisations that thrive will be the ones that understand where the puck is going towards circular systems, resource efficiency and regenerative business models. Which means buying, using and disposing differently.
For companies serious about reducing their impact, this is the key to tackling Scope 3 emissions – the often-overlooked impacts hidden across the supply chain, in stuff.
Circular design and innovation can dramatically reduce the resources we consume and the emissions we generate. And just as importantly, they can create entirely new industries, jobs and value streams in the process.
ESG has become part of mainstream business language. We talk about metrics and targets, disclosures and frameworks – and those are important. But none of them matter if they’re not backed up by real action.
That’s what my TEDx talk is about: the move from intention to implementation. Because in the end, sustainability isn’t a communication challenge – it’s an operational one.
At Stuff4Life, we didn’t start with a press release. We started in a lab. We built something that works, and then we shared the story. That’s the order I’m signed up to – and it’s the order we all need to embrace if we’re serious about change.
Because ultimately, actions speak louder than words. It always has, and in the quest for a sustainable future, it always will.
