‘Every little bit helps’… environmental artist John Dahlsen (work above) spent 8 years collecting the thongs from the beach on the far north cost – one man’s trash is another mans profession.
I listened to Matt Perry last week implore his audience of entrepreneurs at an EO event in Sydney…. that ‘it is up to us’ to make the world a better place. No matter how small, each of us has the opportunity to make a profound difference to ‘looking after’ the planet.
He said that we could be the hero!
A ‘hero’ is someone who solves a problem too big for the rest of us…. hence by definition a ‘hero brand’ is a business that makes a problem go away. Doing the right thing, being a great corporate citizen is good for the bottom line too, he outlined. To be a hero is not to let others bully you, to stick to the status quo, or to give up.
Businesses, however are made up of people. Lot’s of them – sometimes the leaders of the business believe in sustainability or the ‘triple bottom line’ – but many times they don’t. This does not mean that we should give up – or leave it to someone else.
One by one we change the world. It just takes one person doing something, and then the idea catches on.
Handy Hints on what you could do:
Wash your clothes less! You won’t smell don’t worry – we have become paranoid about washing – and every time we do a load it impacts the planet. I know my son can wear 3 t-shirts in a day… and because they are on the floor they get washed. Try it…we wash things way to much – and the benefit is that your clothes will last longer. (If 100,000 people do one less load of washing per week – we would save lot’s of power, water, and reduce the detergents etc)
Use it all before you by another one! My daughter has endless potions and lotions in her bathroom (way more than me) so we are playing a game of using what we have – before we buy a new one… this might sound odd, but she has endless half used bottles that she stopped using just because she got something new. They are perfectly good – and she will save a lot of her pocket money. (What does your kitchen pantry look like.)
Clean Up! Reuse, recycle, or remove! It does not have to be clean up Australia day for us to focus and see what is around us (You could start with the second drawer in your kitchen – we all have one)… You could clean your room, the house, the backyard, the local park. You will feel good and so will the those around you
* Notable facts: Every year dedicated individuals all over Australia prepare to do battle for a cleaner Australia. These selfless individuals come from all sections of society to take part in the Annual Clean Up Australia Day to clean up, fix up and conserve our prized Australian environment. Last year 591,400 volunteers together cleaned up over 16,199 tonnes of rubbish at 7,363 registered sites across Australia. Will you be part of the team for Clean Up Australia Day 2013?
Every single sole has the power of choice…. choose to make a difference. (I’ve even tidied my desk).
Lynne Lloyd says
Terrific practical ways to stop wasting resources, simplify our lives and save the planet. Often it is all the house cleaning products that we accumulate under the kitchen sink and laundry cupboard. We only actually need at the most 3 products to clean the whole house, not 15!