Earth Day 2022 with Sarthak, Solution Architect

I am a Solution Architect in the EMEA XMS team and have been with Qualtrics for almost three years. I am originally from India and I moved to Ireland with my wife, Trishna, back in 2013. We have two kids – a two-year-old toddler and a nine-year-old fur baby.

Owing to my upbringing in different cantonments, I moved around quite a bit while growing up. Later, my career took me across Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa. Once the travel bug bit me there was no looking back. Going to different places, learning about different cultures, and witnessing the struggles and trepidations of individuals from different walks of life played a role in shaping my thought process – “Take from one hand and give from the other.”

To be frank, I didn’t spend much time thinking about these things until I got into my thirties. Before then, I did notice things like pollution, wastage, and traffic jams, but my thoughts would move on fairly quickly to other shiny and short-term things. Like a lot of us, I was also immersed in rampant consumerism where I gave little thought to what is really needed, as opposed to what is just nice to have. Moving to Ireland helped as things are a bit calmer here. The hikes and walks in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains brought a sense of fulfillment from simple things that I did not experience so regularly in the past.

Things completely changed for me a few years ago when my wife and I started talking about bringing a human into the world. We wanted to be sure that we could give our child the best possible chance to thrive in this world and enjoy and cherish nature in its true element.

The new phase for us commenced soon afterward – the trigger was something I learned while watching a Netflix special by a famous Indian standup artist. He said you cannot be truly passionate about a lot of things – at max, you should have up to three things (this does not include relationships) for which you go all in. For these things, you invest time, effort, and money, and you walk that extra mile. Everything else is just a distraction. This simple and profound message stuck with me – I have been following and will continue to follow this rule for the rest of my life. I did some self-introspection to unearth the things that really make me happy. Since then, my spending habits, my waste management, and my priorities have changed. I am passionate about cooking and spending time in the great outdoors.

I also did some research when our little one finally came, on the sensitive topic of baby nappies/diapers. I was shocked to read that these make upto 10% of the total landfill in the world. Our decision toward biodegradable options was a no-brainer. Single-use plastic is another big one that we try to avoid at all costs. These are small steps, but we know they make a difference.

Before I sign off, I want to share a Qualtrics-specific example for which I had voiced my opinion and saw a change. Late in 2020, while we all were work-from-home, we got a shipment of SWAG in a really large, bulky box with a lot of packaging waste. I thought this was not sustainable and we should do something about it. I shared my thoughts with the Green Team and I’m happy to say that action was taken – all the packaging ever since has been leaner. I feel it is a win for all of us and for Mother Nature. Thanks for pushing this ahead EMEA Green Team!

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	Sarthak is an alumnus of the Army Public School, Amity University, and Pune University He started his career at Infosys.

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