Reducing heat, increasing w/health!

As a keen advocate for sustainability, I often get asked "how can we contribute to the climate issues we face?" It's not always a simple answer because we all have different eco-footprints from the car we drive to the plastics we use, to the food we eat. No one wants a lecture!

On the other hand, they are often amazed at what they can do, simply and easily. I will often share inspiring stories like this one to illustrate. Here in NZ we have many such initiatives and they are on the increase. On a very small piece of land you can create a beautiful garden, organic food, a community and an education centre. OMG (Symonds St, Auckland - https://www.fortheloveofbees.co.nz/omg) for example, has transformed a wasteland into a wonderland that feeds dozens of families (their microgreen salads are scrumptious!). There is also a mental health benefit. Working with/in nature has been shown to have a magical effect on our mental health and wellbeing - doing it together with a community adds even more benefit. We are social, we like to make things better, and we love to see things (and people) grow. Growing together is fun!

The best thing is that every action you take towards a cleaner environment, the more impact it as on your wellbeing, the wellbeing of your families and our communities. No matter how small EVERY drop counts.

Some things have a very big impact, like investing in sustainable funds/organisations. Moving your investments (retirement/pension funds for example) away from companies who pollute is you voting with your hard earned money. The difference over your lifetime can be astronomical and it's a simple decision now. Choosing a 100% renewable energy provider etc (I use Ecotricity: https://ecotricity.co.nz/).

Some things are part of a bigger movement and will take time before we reach a tipping point, like moving to an electric vehicle (and as from July 1st in New Zealand we have subsidies available, these can really make a difference. 2022 will see a proliferation of new EVs and EVs looking more sleek, sexy and futuristic than what we have been used to. My EV works out to about the equivalent of 30c per litre of petrol, and because they are simpler (20 moving parts vs 2000), they have much lower maintenance costs (batteries excluded). Even deciding to have your second car electric will make a huge difference, to your world and your wallet.

Still other things are daily choices. For example, supermarket shopping and trying to avoid plastics is a nightmare - why do they wrap EVERYTHING in plastic - is it for us and the environment our kids will inherit, or their convenience? Reducing plastic where you can is one huge step you can make. For one week actually take a look at everything that's in plastic - it's a tidal wave - and where does it all end up? Did you know they even found microplastics (those little fibres that peel off plastic like skin cells do our bodies) in the Himalayas!! We even have plastic in our seafood - yikes!

We can even make a difference with our diets, and in making those choices, improve our health. How about making one day a week vegetarian or vegan? Just one meat free day will reduce the load on body and planet by almost 15%!! Two days is 30% and so on. If you are worried about protein, ask a gorilla (horse, rhino, whale....). They are vegan! As vegetarian and vegan eating becomes more popular (a world-wide trend), and we eat more 'fexitarian', we will lighten the load, reduce our eco-footprint.

As CEOs and business leaders already know, becoming more "green" is good for business. Employees feel good about companies who give back, who try to make a positive impact, or reduce their negative impact, and so do customers. When employees feel good, they make less mistakes, they sell more and they more often go the extra mile. That's good for our bottom lines. Afterall, health is wealth.

Our eco-footprint is just a series of (mostly simple) choices. Once those choices have become a habit, your norm, its like you are adding money to your bank account every day. Every dollar we add to our 'eco-account' produces a compounding effect, and that makes us (and our kids) feel better. We are making a difference, one drop, one dollar at a time.

Have a great weekend and love to see your comments!