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Many of you won’t understand what has happened here. Put aside the real possibility that my two large toes are probably more powerful than they should be. And so they broke my socks. This is a real conundrum for me – and many others like me.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even think twice about it. The four socks would go straight into the regular waste bin. Those of you who know the new me will think that my passion for building a sustainable lifestyle is what made me pause for thought here.
Sadly, it didn’t – and it hasn’t… a couple of times in the recent past (my super toes have been busy lately). These socks really are my favorites! They have special meaning to me, and that is the one and only reason I even thought to go look for a needle and thread.
It is only much later that I wondered why I didn’t previously try to repair others. It only takes a couple of minutes to fix them – after you’ve spent two hours looking for a needle and thread.
Chief Sustainability Officer Susteo Group
I am the chief sustainability officer (#realtitle) in Susteo. But actually, when I stop and think about my life I’m really not very sustainable sometimes. We live in a terrible world where everything gets thrown away. And for the most part, even the best of us don’t think twice about the small things we dispose of.
Think about how reusable diapers don’t even get a moment of consideration anymore! I have dumped my share of disposable diapers when Leo was a baby. Didn’t even consider reusable ones (which my mum happily used on me, and then unhappily on my 3 sisters – they are all meat-eaters.
I expect even the most sustainably conscious of us today would strongly consider disposable diapers. That’s kinda sad when you know that. A parent of a newborn baby learns very quickly not to fear the contents of a diaper.
We Mums and Dad’s can explore, scrape, flush and wash… all while sneaking a sandwich, and it wouldn’t be a terrible thing at all – Some on your hand? Not a problem we will deal with it after our sandwich. Poo was really not a big deal for me when Leo was younger, I remember the colors were fun too. Now not so much.
Look how we have evolved!
But we are humans, and we humans have evolved to make every process easier… right?
Actually, that may not be correct. Big brand disposable diapers have not been created to make life easier. They were designed to make more money for corporations.
Does anybody really think these corporations care about our world, your child, or your child’s future?
Think about this! If the big brand guys put enough thought into reusable diapers as they do into disposable – they wouldn’t make so much money. Sure, the world would have less waste. But somewhere a fat cat would make less profit and he wants you to believe that is not evolution.
So disposable diapers are not designed to make life easier. They are only designed to make more money for shareholders. And that’s only one example of millions of disposable products which we are told have been “designed to make our life easier”.
I feel like I am preaching again… when I really have no right to – something you should know about me. I ran a sales team for P&G, yes, we sold diapers and other things for many years, and I can’t remember ever complaining about the money I made. At the same time, Leo and I also dumped excessive amounts of used diapers. Yes, I am and was a hypocrite, we all are… sometimes. But your past mistakes are how and why your future mistakes are inexcusable.
Just stop and think! (it’s not just about socks)
My point is! At some point we all have to stop and think about what it is we can do to stop… What we are doing collectively as humans.
Even if you feel like two socks won’t change the world I promise you, it’s very possible you will feel a little bit better when you know that there are millions of people, just like you who are doing their small parts to slow down the destruction of this planet.
And when you believe you are part of a huge community, all doing small but important things. Your small role becomes even more critical. And that’s why I fixed my favorite socks.
Sure it was my love for these odd-looking socks that stopped me from adding to the world’s garbage, it gave me just enough time to think about what the hell I have been doing.
I do love these uglier socks though!
