FAQs

Where does the JUMP come from and who’s behind it?

Take the Jump was created by a group of people who wanted to change the feeling of powerlessness that so many of us have when we think about the future of our world.

Normal people who wanted this to exist so we made it. Some are from environmental backgrounds but many are not. A mixture of parents concerned for their children's futures, professionals ready to act, young people who've waited long enough, business leaders with an eye on the horizon and climate experts with new science in hand (including authors of the research behind the JUMP).

All the work, the website, videos, background, everything has been developed by volunteers and no corporate or political involvement or funding at any point. Take the Jump is a grassroots movement, owned and shaped by those taking part.

Where do the 7 shifts, principles and toolbox come from?

7 SHIFTS: Scientific research from the University of Leeds, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the global consultancy firm Arup, has revealed the most important changes we must take to prevent ecological collapse. In fact these are the changes that everyone will have to make in the coming decades to ensure we keep global warming to safer levels.

PRINCIPLES: The principles have been developed by the volunteers who’ve started Take the Jump. Partly based on looking at other efforts to see what’s worked and what hasn’t. Partly from stepping back and thinking, from our own experience, what is it that makes these things hard, disruptive, antagonistic, inaccessible or unhelpful. This helped us decide what Take the Jump is and is not about.

TOOLBOX: The toolbox came from the same place as the principles, but with an aim of figuring out how can we ensure this changes the world, and what support would we need if we were going this. There’s lots of different types of people, needing different types of support. We hope we’ve got something for everyone.

YOU CAN WRITE AND CHANGE THESE: This is just the start of the process, YOU can input as much as anyone else. If you have thoughts put them in the box at the bottom, and we'll be letting people know soon how to engage in driving the direction of the JUMP.

Why do we ask for personal information?

All personal information is totally optional!

Why do we ask your age, gender or ethnicity?

We want to make this a movement that is accessible, safe and welcoming for everyone. It makes it harder to address lack of diversity if we don't know who's taking part.

Why do we ask your location?

Because the support we can offer and connections that can made are often best done at the local level. Unless you say where you're based (not your address!) we won't be able to put you in touch with people in your area.

Is this another well-meaning group that lacks real diversity?

It is true the environmental movement hasn't always been as diverse as it should be. Genuine diversity is a central goal for Take the Jump, as well as being critical to driving the change we need. To ensure Take the Jump is diverse we are:

1) Designing it so that “Taking The JUMP” is something that anyone can do. This is vital to avoid excluding people however unintentionally. It doesn’t need you to put your livelihood or career at risk, take time out of child care, or be rich and well connected. Check out these two Take the Jump principles for more info: “It's enough to try” and “No more us and them”. Involving community leaders in Take the Jump from the get go and throughout the roll out of Take the Jump. Our aim is to actively work with and engage the BICOP, LGBTQ+, older and post-industrial towns & cities communities.

2) Targeted support, engagement, tools and events focused on different communities. More to follow on how we’ll be doing this. Measuring the level of diversity within people taking the JUMP so we can quickly realise when we have a problem and do something about it.

Do you feel like you’re unrepresented or discriminated against by Take the Jump? If so please let us know in the comments below and we’ll make this our most urgent priority to address.

Are you saying it's up to individuals to fix the climate problem?

"What about coal fired power stations or fast fashion? Surely the system must change first?"

It is NOT up to individuals to fix the climate problem on their own, one “consumer” choice at a time. YES, we urgently need huge change to the system. BUT, that doesn’t mean we have no power or the only option is to wait for our leaders to take action. The research is clear, we need all action from all actors now. There isn't time for to wait for anyone group to act, whether it's business, government, communities or individuals.

The system certainly does need to change, very urgently. Moving to green energy, cheaper and better public transport, a much more circular economy, national building retrofit programs, a green finance sector, etc etc. However you can do things to change the system even within your own life.

Also the science is pretty clear there's things that we all need to do regardless of the system change. Like limiting flying and shifting diet. Even with global changes if people are still flying regularly through their own choice this will still lead to staggering environmental harm. So in the end there are some things we can do that really will help.

Yes, this will be easier in a world where the systems don’t support environmental harm so firmly. It would be easier to avoid flying if trains were cheaper, easier to keep electronics if they didn’t break all the time. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get started or that we have to wait until the perfect world before we start to change.

No need to wait, just get started.

Wouldn’t time be better spent getting out on the street protesting?

To Take the Jump does not require us to be political, take part in any activism or go on a protest. Yet neither does it stop anyone from doing so, nor is it a replacement for peaceful protest. It’s just another tool in our box for driving the change we need. Taking the Jump is something that can go alongside and support your activism if that’s your thing, or if not, it’s something we can do in our own lives and communities without bothering anyone, or asking anyone’s permission.

It is clear that to avoid complete ecological disaster we desperately need to change things about our current system. This is the responsibility of government and business and without bold activism and protest it is looking like it will not happen.

But what about those not able to protest, or feel uncomfortable with it? And even those who do protest can't be doing it all the time. Are we powerless the rest of time?

Or can we use our lives as a form of protest by making a genuinely radical change of direction in ourselves? Just changing what we consume and focusing on how we want to live rather than how we’re told to, and coming together to do it. What’s more potent than this, actually being that system change, from the ground up?

There are many projects trying to change behaviour… What is different about Take the Jump?

What makes Take the Jump different is:

• It's genuinely grass roots, set up by normal people with no funding or external influence
• Take the Jump IS clear and simple, with just 7 shifts we can all make based on what the science says we need to do. Take the Jump offers:
• A box of tools and a community to help us along the way, such as ways to connect and help each other
• A set of principles that change how we view this
• No complicated apps or tracking (unless you want to), this is about changing the way we live not filling out forms

What about people who don’t have enough? What about countries still fighting to provide for their people?

Many people don’t yet consume enough to meet their basic needs. These are not the people who need to Take the Jump. In fact to Take the Jump for them means to consume more. This includes people in industrialised counties that have been left behind, and the many billions around the world who are still fighting to meet their basic needs.

What would you say to struggling families when it is often more expensive to be green?

This is a hugely important point, and why it's enough to just try. The world around us can make if very difficult to make these transitions. Often fresh green food can be more expensive than less healthy alternatives.

Who will be making decisions about Take the Jump going forward?

Take the Jump is yours. You write your story from the start. There’s not external funding, oversight. The only people making decisions going forward will be those taking part. We’re working to set up a process by which people taking the JUMP can be more actively involved in steering Take the Jump should they wish. In the meantime the team of volunteers who set the organisation up will keep things ticking over. Take the Jump is a movement, but based on the science. Take the Jump is for anyone who knows something isn't right. For anyone who believes in a thriving future, for us and our kids. For anyone who wants practical steps/shifts that actually work.

Do you support flight shaming?

Take the Jump is definitely NOT about shaming anyone. We’re all in this together and change isn’t always easy. Instead it's about making sure we know clearly the changes that are needed (and yes keeping flights to low levels is a hugely hugely important part of that). We get support from each other to help us make the shifts, and understanding when we don’t manage to.

How will this change anything given the scale and complexity of the challenges?

This is not about adding up individual actions, sure that’s helpful, but the scale of the problem is vast. It’s about starting to touch and feel the future we want to live in, and prove that consumerism isn’t the most important thing in our lives, for ourselves and each other. This will start to change mindsets and lead to much deeper and longer-term transformations to our world system than any aggregation of individual consumer choices.
Ultimately this is the kind of underlying change we need. The way things are is driven by systems, mindsets, culture and behaviour. We need to address all of these to get change. In the JUMP we’ll be addressing all of them from the bottom up, and showing the world that this is possible.

Are you taking away people’s freedom to have a nice life? Are you denying hard working families the chance to take their kids on holiday?

Take the Jump is founded on the idea that actually it's not stuff that brings joy to our lives. Also none of these things are 100% abstinence, its not about going back to the stone age, just balance. This includes flying. You can still go on one short haul flight every three years (long haul closer to eight) and certainly see the world over your lifetime. For the other years, you’re happy in the knowledge you’re ensuring a safe future for our kids, and there’s many wonderful places to go on holiday that don’t involve travelling half way around the world.

Which countries is Take the Jump for?

Take the Jump started in the UK. New Zealand is the second country to get involved and is sparking interest in several other countries, but anyone can Take the Jump anywhere. If you don’t have a local group just start one and see what happens. We’ll also be doing our best to make sure Take the Jump is available in as many languages as possible, and planning targeted outreach in different places around the world.

How do we decide which shifts are suitable for individuals rather than business or governments?

Here’s an example from the research behind the JUMP. Aviation emissions will increase many many times over if left to expand at current levels. We therefore look at the main actions for reducing this, and where primary influence sits for implementing these actions. For instance in aviation the two main actions are swapping to greener forms of air travel (primarily influenced by business and government) plus reducing flying to climate safe levels (influenced by government through policy, business through investment and pricing, but also individuals through deciding whether to fly or take another mode, or even whether to travel at all). The numbers show even with a highly optimistic roll out of green flight technologies (government and business doing everything possible), these technologies cannot keep up with currently expected growth in demand, so we must keep growth in flights globally to a sustainable level. Given that the amount of people who can afford to fly increases every year, this shows us that existing regular flyers must reduce their flights. This is partly up to business and government to provide affordable alternative options, but also it is a choice that individuals can make now. Hence this is a powerful role individuals can take, and so forms one of the shifts.