I believe the children are our future...

I hope you're well.?

Whenever I give a presentation about our work I?usually begin with my 'why', UK for Good's purpose,?and that usually involves this photo of our grandson to illustrate the point.

It's all about shaping a better world for our children and future generations.?

Yesterday I spent a really interesting morning at a local primary school. The headteacher had asked me to join their Inspire Day to talk to the children about the work we do.

It really made me think.?

As you may know, we help business leaders better understand and improve their impact on people, communities and our planet.

How was I going to explain that effectively to a group of six and seven year-olds?!

Do children of that age even understand what a business does I wondered?

As it happens, most of them did not understand what the word 'business' meant, but they DID recognise the various pictures I showed them.

I figured if I could communicate what I do and why I do it to a group of young people, I can communicate it to anybody!

The children?seemed interested and asked some?interesting questions ("why don't we recycle everything that goes in the bin?!").

A big thank you goes to Ella's Kitchen for their B Corp?video, which perfectly articulated why doing business for good matters so much.

Click here to take?a look ?(it'll make you smile, promise!)

Weather Kids Campaign

Sticking with young people in mind, in this brilliant World Meteorological Organization campaign, young?meteorologists warn viewers that rising temperatures will continue to bring more of the catastrophic risks to people and the global economy, including a projected impact on 94% of the world’s children, threats to food security and a potential rise in taxpayers’ bills globally of trillions of dollars.

The video ends with a powerful plea from the children: “It’s not just a weather report to us. It is our future.” The campaign provides a link for adults to sign a pledge to act through voting, making financial decisions that align with sustainability, and educating themselves on climate solutions and climate action in their own country.

watch the video here

fast fashion is a disaster for people AND planet

This week I noticed an announcement of a new €200million circularity fund?from the fast fashion company Shein. Generally not recognised for their positive impact on people or planet I was curious.

There is a huge problem of overproduction and overconsumption of fast fashion. According to the?Ellen McArthur Foundation?the equivalent of one truckload of clothes is burnt or buried in a landfill every second of the day. That’s 92 million tonnes each year. Out of 1 billion packages that entered the US in 2022, one-third came from the fast fashion businesses?Shein and TEMU. (Forbes).

Safia Minney of Fashion Declares?says: "The low prices of these products are made possible by exploitative and forced labour in China and elsewhere, and the fact that any shipment to the US worth under $800 is not subject to tarrifs under de minimis law.

According to WRAP , the average UK household owns around ￡4,000 worth of clothes – but around 30% of clothing in the average UK wardrobe has not been worn for at least a year. ￡140 million worth of clothing goes to landfill every year."

Madness, complete madness, and so easy to solve.

We need to stop buying and throwing away fast fashion.

Fast.

postive news

There has been a raft of positive news from the new labour government this week.

From the inspiring appointment of Chris Stark CBE as 'Head of Mission Control for Clean Energy' (what a job title!) to reforming the water sector, and planning system, and the appointment of James Timpson as Prisons Minister - it all feels more hopeful.