Crossroads

I think it was one of those moments in life where you feel the need to review where you're heading and if it all makes sense. Although I was secluded at home due to COVID-19 like a lot of people this felt more like a relief than a burden to me. Apparently for a lot of people this was the last drip. Mental flexibility is not a given for everyone, and maybe it is my African roots that keeps me going. For one of my family members it meant a total meltdown. Every family has its cross to wear.

It did make me think. With all that digital stuff going on, moving from one buzz word to another. AI, Big Data, Start-ups, Scale-ups, likes, posts, ...my days where packed with one video call after the other. It felt like chickens in a battery cage.

So time for some sanity. I wanted to fill my brain with something tangible that made sense and one of the things on my bucket list was gardening design. So far so good. Just in time to start the evening course. I'm lucky because I'm blessed with a piece of garden that feels more like an abandoned plot of land sometimes. Although last summer the grass was not green.... Let's sneeze to that.

But also my trees were suffering. A very hot summer and too much stress took his tole. My 'tree doctor' was worried. It was a trend today. He has seen it with his own eyes. A little of research and scientist are saying the same thing. We can pretend, but we can't deny that Climate Change is a fact. Now I'm not stupid but when I look at how our governments are handling the pandemic I'm not hopeful for them to solve this on top. Biodiversity and trying to patch nature back up. Let's focus on that.

So I wanted to stay sane, and I started an evening course 'Garden Design'. My hopes were up. I wanted to learn about ecological and sustainable gardening, but it was strange that instead my garden design teacher bragged about her license to kill. She still could use round-up, she was a pro. I couldn't anymore. Too bad she said. But I'm very good at it.... I was in shock and never really recovered from that. Shall I stay or shall I go ?

But then one of my class members works for the 'Soil institute'. She mentioned not to plant chestnuts anymore. They won't make it. Another guy is working for the City of Antwerp. They had to collect water from construction sites to save their greenery. So I started my own journey to find sustainable ways of designing gardens and this was one of my Eureka moments. I came across 'Robert Hart'. Once a journalist at Reuters and inspired by Ghandi and Toryohiko Kagawa and one of the first 'Food Forest Pioneers' in these moderate climates. A method where you mimic a forest edge by creating 7 layers of edible trees, shrubs, plants, climbers, ... delight. The magic lies in not disturbing the soil if you can. As the living soil is as important and fragile as what we humans can perceive on top. It ticked all the boxes for me and 'Bark.today' was born.

The other equally powerful learning Robert embodied, as he chatted animatedly amongst the fruit trees, was just how much one person can do to move things forward when they give themselves permission to work their visions out of the realms of thought and practice.”

Now I have to admit that I'm on mission to convert everyone. So if you get in touch with me, I will talk about how our 'digital carbon footprint' is as big as the aviation industry in 2019. That we mustn't think that the pandemic slows down climate change. Too bad for you it isn't. But the EU did check.

Imagine having to chose between climate change and a pandemic in order for the human race to survive.

And it might feel strange but I do feel blessed. Without all this I might have never learned about Donella Meadows and her predictions of the future in 1977 that were spot on. But how hopeful she was even up until her dead in 2001. Her way of 'Systemic Thinking' is an eye-opener to see connection and cause and effect. For me, it is as important as the speech of 'Martin Luther King'.

I would also never have met people like Gerry McGovern, writer of the book world wide waste or Olivier Vergeynst from the Belgian Institute for Sustainable IT and many more. They are all on a mission to help us to 'Stop Talking and Start Walking'.

And you could do the same. CO2NEUTRAL@WORK - > JOIN US TODAY