Whose job it is anyway?

June: We’ve hit the midway mark of the year, the sun is finally shining and election season is almost upon us. To keep sustainability part of the conversation, I thought I’d share a little story…

Still following?! It’s a bit of a complicated tale, but the essence is clear – anyone and everyone can do something about climate change. But all too often that ‘somebody’ we are imagining is actually nobody. We see this in leadership, politics and daily life, this same story told over and over again. So how do we re-write it? Simple – we must become anyone.

• Consistency is key – When there are billions of people living on Earth, how do you even know where to begin, or if there is any point if your actions alone won’t make that much difference? Well if everyone thought like that nobody would get involved! You can’t control everything, but you can control your own life, so choose a few commitments and stick to them consistently. Better to consistently eat a number of plant-based meals a week, for instance, or halve meat and dairy consumption than to dive into veganism and only stand by it for a couple of weeks.
• Sweat the ‘medium-sized’ stuff – As individuals, there is a lot we can do to make sure our voices are heard, but a certain amount of the big decisions lie in the hands of business and political leaders. We could also agonize over every small decision we make, but this will probably make us anxious. To make the biggest impact yourself, hone in on your key lifestyle areas, e.g. Transport, Diet, Consumption and Energy. If you can make a positive change in each of these areas, for instance reducing your air travel each year, reducing your meat intake to a couple of days a week, buying second hand in the first instance and switching to a renewable energy supplier, then you’ll be well on your way to making sure your impact is a good one.
• You are not alone – And it is so important to remember this. We are constantly shown the bad in the world (and it is terrible) but there are so many people that do care and are working for good. Every good thing you do is contributing to this and creating a better world, so please don’t give up because you don’t see your actions represented yet.

It depends where you want your impact to go: carry on as normal and be in the ‘nobody’ category or join the ‘everybody’ category and be ‘somebody’. Anyone can be the change, and that includes you. So this is your mid year sign to keep up the good work, keep creating the life you want to lead and when it comes to sustainability, remember that that ‘somebody’ you are waiting for is already here: It’s actually you.

Happy Summer Solstice! 🌞