Duncan Hayes

Bringing our truth to work, for people and planet Ever felt you’ve been sailing through life, reflecting expectation and societal norms, rather than digging deep, unearthing and living by the courage of your true beliefs? There’s comfort in congruence. The opposite could be said for going against the grain. Four years ago, that’s exactly how I felt, when embarking on a life-changing trip across South-East Asia, starting in Mandalay (Myanmar), before cycling a 4,000-mile route to Chengdu (China). Amongst fascinating culture and gloriously accommodating people, I witnessed the devastating impact of human development first-hand: A new metropolis stretched 20 miles of flattened land, the growing influence of its border’s hands. Just past the confluence, rivers dammed, 10 miles of species damned, no more fish to feed the many hands. Forests all but abandoned. Rabbit warrens of trucks colonized sacred mountains. ‘Where the pandas once ran?’ I found my solace at an ice cream van. My cameras were twice searched by gun-slung officials, believing I might be a spy. But what was there to hide? What was I hiding? What do you hide? When we’re no longer ignorant, are we complicit? And in whom do we confide? The ecosystems on which our own lives depend are often silenced, voices unheard above the hum and flicker of urban lives. Robert M Pyle refers to the ‘Extinction of Experience’. The less we engage, the less we appreciate. Though, for all human wisdom, we are not, and never will be super-natural. It is up to each of us to align our actions with our knowledge and beliefs. Without the influence of people, the world is likely to have undergone a natural process of cooling during the 20th Century. My recent studies into Sustainability and Behaviour Change at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) have led me to believe, the rapid devastation of our natural world, is by no means a 'climate problem'. Rather, a distinctly human problem is at hand. In addressing the crisis occurring at the nexus between humans and nature, what greater power do we have, than nurturing and evolving our humanity? We need not all be activists. Or forego all pleasures. Though, by aligning our work with curiosity for the origins and effects of our actions, we can each make a meaningful difference, leading to new norms, reflecting true needs.

Bringing our truth to work, for people and planet

Greenwashing is a path of least resistance (how boring!)