The Regenerative Revolution - Building a Better Future

This blog is about the future… and I hope so much that in a few years time I’ll look back at these words and say “we’ve come a long way!”.

There is no doubt that our world is changing – it always has and it always will. That is how nature works, that is how our planet and all its living ecosystems have evolved.Constant change and renewal, that is the way it should be.

But now in our human world change is happening so fast that our planet can’t keep up. 
We just have to look at Australia’s weather this summer to know that climate change is real, and the fact is we are driving it.

Every inch of our planet is polluted by plastic, living species are becoming extinct every day, our food is grown with toxic chemicals while cancer, obesity and disease are rampant in our communities.
It’s a grim picture. To fix it seems an insurmountable task, one on such a scale that it’s hard to imagine, let alone actually do. But the thing is…

Nature always wins.

Nature always finds a way.
We make antibiotics, so nature changes her viruses and they become resistant.
We build towns, roads, bridges… and as soon as we move out nature moves in, plants and animals and living ecosystems take over and our constructions become part of the natural environment once again.

Our planet knows how to heal herself.
And she will — with our help. 

We can do this. Together.

We are not separate from our planet, we are part of it. And there are 7.5 billion of us! Separately we feel like just one person, and how can I make a difference? Well you can, and I can, and 7.5 billion of us definitely can make a difference and shape the future we are creating.

The Regenerative Revolution is happening already – look around at how things in your life have changed lately.
We take our own cup to the coffee shop instead of using a plastic cup.
We take our reusable bags to the supermarket.
We have electric cars on our roads and solar power on our homes, we have places where you can share food or books or fix things instead of throwing them out, we have companies that pick up and re-use all manner of things that just a couple of years ago would have gone to landfill – scraps from cafes, food from supermarkets, coffee grounds from coffee shops.

Things are changing but we all need to do more and it needs to happen faster.
At the recent World Economic Forum Sir David Attenborough was asked why he thought we don’t see alarm bells ringing, why governments, companies and people are so slow to act. His answer was simple…

“We prefer comfort to challenge”

Are you up to the challenge? No doubt you have thought about it – we’ve all sat back in our comfy plastic-filled lounges and imagined our future, and our children’s and their children’s future.
The choices we make right now every day are shaping that future. It’s up to us to make the right choices.

But what can I do?
Well...
Every dollar you spend is a vote for the world you want.

Are you happy to keep filling your bin with plastic or do you want to support those companies that are trying hard to switch to alternatives (which in Australia right now is a massive challenge for those of us who are trying)?

Are you happy to keep buying substandard, chemically grown food from the big supermarkets or do you support local growers and farmers markets or grow your own? 

Do you buy the newest and latest of everything or do you seek out second-hand, recycled and up-cycled?

If we don't change our habits nothing will change.

Together, you and I can build a future that’s cleaner, healthier, and more hopeful.
What little changes can you make today?
Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but 7.5 billion little changes can add up to a big, beautiful future for our planet!

Photo: my Dad, Grahame very proud of his personal letter from Sir David Attenborough. 
It reads...

"Dear Grahame West,
Thank you for your letter. I know very little about the use of seaweed as a terrestrial fertiliser, and I will read your words with care."