There have been don’ts by the shedload since last month’s terrifying Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report focused minds (all too briefly) on our depleted, overheated world. Don’t fly, don’t drive, don’t eat meat, don’t buy stuff you don’t need. But for each “don’t” there is a “do” and a shift to positive behaviour that becomes easier and more attractive.
So do travel, but mostly by ferry and train. It might cost more and take more time, making travel a rarer treat. Do walk, cycle or take public transport. You will feel the benefits in your pocket and your lungs. Do choose meat produced by regenerative Irish farming where animal, soil and farming income are healthier. Do buy more mindfully, supporting local communities and enterprises that do more good than harm. Do ignore all those suggestions but don’t expect future generations to love the consequences.
We all want to do the right thing. If you can make the right thing a joyful experience and an easy change then all the better
The story of doing rather than don’t-ing is best told in Damon Gameau’s documentary 2040. It was the last film I saw in a cinema back in January 2020, and changed how I looked at life. Told in the form of a letter to the Australian actor’s four-year-old daughter, the documentary is a glimpse at what a 2040 world could look like “if we simply embraced the best solutions that exist today”. Watch 2040 as we head into a winter of climate alarm. It will do your heart good.
And if you're looking for a stylish "do" for the return to school or office there is Mother Reusables. Inspired by a newspaper article on the easy changes people could make, Greg and Susan Mutton decided to leave the ad business to found a company making reusable drink bottles. We all fundamentally want to do the right thing, Greg says, and if you can make the right thing a joyful experience and an easy change then all the better.
Their bottles are beautiful and made from recycled stainless steel. The company has also partnered with Eden Reforestation Projects and has committed to planting a tree in the various project countries for every bottle sold. They don’t see the move from advertising to selling water bottles as a huge leap. In many ways it’s about “creating a brand that’s desirable”, Greg says. Advertising brains have fuelled patterns of overconsumption so it’s good to see the skills used for something less threatening to our survival as a species.
And as schools open again I have never met a lunchbox my children couldn’t break or lose, so Lón an Lae paper sandwich bags are a great staple. They also avoid the accidental creation of new furry ecosystems when a half sandwich is left forgotten in a lunchbox over a long stretch.
Catherine Cleary is co-founder of Pocket Forests
