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FOR PLANET AND PEOPLE
This Is My Problem
This blog is part of our series bringing to your attention people or projects that we want to cheer on as we develop a culture of mutual support and encouragement at Planet and People. Our interests are broad - women in business, environmental living, the climate crisis, educating the next generation. It’s all worth shouting about!
Bethia: This week, I saw the first episode of Greta Thunberg: A Year To Change The World. It’s uncomfortable viewing. She is measured, logical and calm as she delivers the science and travels to areas to see for herself the reality of a changing environment. She pulls no punches and it would be difficult to watch it without a growing sense of dread and anxiety. This is truth that needs facing up to. But in order to get back in the game, I need some hope… some sense that something is being done and that all is not lost!
(photo credit BBC)
Lucy Willoughby runs Good Things. She is very much aligned with our vision - her products are about a greener future for the PLANET and a fairer future for its PEOPLE. Her TEDex Talk is brilliant and I thoroughly recommend it https://www.ted.com/talks/lucy_willoughby_how_to_make_a_difference_in_the_day_to_day
She talks about time spent working with sea turtles and seeing for herself the devastating impact and scale of plastic pollution. She describes the hours spent picking up straws, flip flops, tampon applicators and other common, day-to-day pieces of plastic from a kilometre of beach only to come back the next day and find that the same amount has washed up again. She talks about visiting Tanzania and seeing for herself the impact that support and a chance to earn a fair wage has on disabled and vulnerable people. Her travels and journeys have led her to believe that the daily choices we make DO make a difference to the lives of people and to the health of the planet. Every single consumer decision we make, counts.
I think the most powerful idea that she articulates is “this is my problem”. That flip flop on that beach belonged to a foot which belonged to a person. It could’ve been my flip flop. I could be the person who threw it away, not thinking twice and never considering that it would end up on a beach on the other side of the world. This isn’t a situation that is happening ‘out there’ - we are ALL in this together. It literally IS the decisions we are making day to day, month to month and year to year which are causing these environmental issues. As Lucy says, we CAN make different choices about how we travel, how we eat, how we dress, how we live on this planet.
Greta Thunberg very wisely says, you don’t need to feel optimistic to act.
People like Lucy aren’t wondering if there is any point, if it’s too late - she is putting her head down, putting in the hard graft, taking action and calling for us to act too.
Watch 'Greta Thunberg: A Year To Change The World' on BBC iplayer and get more clued up and more informed about the global climate change crisis. Have a look at Lucy Willoughby’s website and, make a choice for planet and people.
We are the creators of 'Planet Action Kit', inspiring kids to LOVE the Earth. PAK is an educational resource and subscription activity box providing personalised learning resources engaging budding planet-friendly kids. The activities focus on the four main themes: Love, Observe, inVolve and Enjoy and are centred around matters of environment and sustainability.