Living Kindly is a philosophy that is important to us. Being kind to ourselves and our families, being kind to our communities and our environment is at the heart of how we are trying to live. We are powerless over people places and things but we can largely control how we occupy the tiny space on this planet - our home. It is here that we have started an amazing journey to be true to our mission to #LiveKindly. When you start to run your decisions through the #LiveKindly filter, truly amazing things happen. It has changed so many of our behaviors, the products we buy, the suppliers we support, what and how we eat. We have also listened to the scientific community who have done so much amazing work to define what every single one of us needs to do to stave off the catastrophe of climate change, our vulnerability to future pandemics, as well as fundamentally addressing the horrors of animal agriculture. We cant change the world but we can change what we do and hopefully be able to influence others and learn from others. The areas we have chosen to focus on are listed below, in no specific order. Over the last 18 months we have made some progress in all of these areas, learned so much and continue on a crazy, steep leaning curve.
Support #Biodiversity
Biodiversity as the most complex feature of our planet and the most vital. “Without biodiversity, there is no future for humanity,” - Prof. David Macdonald, Oxford University
This may sound like a global issue and beyond what 1 home can do, but you will be amazed at what happens when you do some simple things, like not using harmful chemicals, not using pesticides or any poison's to repel pests, encouraging certain species of animals and insects to live in your gardens. We have seen some real balance coming back to our space and we will share some of the things we found to be successful as well as what organic options to use to substitute for many of the household, and personal products we use every day that are full of harmful stuff.
Quest for #ZeroWaste
We don't need 1 person doing #zerowaste perfectly, we need millions of people doing #zerowaste imperfectly. Anne Marie Bonneau
This has been by far the most frustrating change we have taken on. The sheer amount of plastic that we consume every day, boggles my mind. We will share some ideas about how we REDUCE- REUSE-RECYCLE.
Move to a #PlantBasedDiet
Nothing will benefit human health, and increase the chance of survival on earth as much as the evolution of a plant based diet - Albert Einstein
The most dramatic and consequential change we have made is the move to a Plant Based diet. To be honest, I am truly disturbed by my own willful ignorance over the last 50 years of my life. As my eyes have opened over the last couple of years I feel really embarrassed that I have gone along with the rubbish that has been shoved down my throat (excuse the pun) by the diary and meat industries and by the power of "social norms" which make it acceptable somehow. The bottom line is that meat and dairy are really bad for human health and catastrophic for the planet, apart from the fact that these industries are responsible for a level of barbaric and truly horrifying cruelty that we have all chosen to simply ignore. Even as I write this, the anger rises in my throat. We will share our journey to a completely Vegan lifestyle and the incredible health benefits we have experienced but we will not shy away from exposing the dark reality, dodgy science and simple fake news from industries reeling from the exposure they absolutely deserve.
Quest for #SelfSustainability
Happiness belongs to the self sufficient - Aristotle
An illustration of the change in my priorities is that when I wake up in the morning, I no longer reach for my phone. I want to see what has happened in my garden overnight. This is starting to be one of my new measures of success. The learning curve is incredibly steep but the sense of fulfillment when you harvest veggies you have grown in soil you have made healthy with compost you have made from things we normally throw away, is just - well, COOL. You need patience and care and above all consistency. I think self sufficiency is not the same as the doomsday preppers, who are actually insular and exclusionary, its more about cultivating networks of like minded people, supporting local producers and local farmers markets as an example, growing what you can with what you have. Jenny always marvels at the abundance we can create and that is provided for us. The fact that when harvest plants they grow more, if you don't they stop growing. They reward us for harvesting them. When we kill hundreds of millions of the most gentle sentient animals, there is nothing but the end of a life. There is something wrong with this picture!
What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make - Jane Goodall
We have chosen to make a difference by #LivingKindly. We can only control our own actions and what happens in the space we rent from our children. We are the last generation that has the chance to do something that will allow us to deliver on our sacred responsibility - to leave our space better than the way we found it. We hope you will join us and celebrate success, learn from failures and highlight injustice wherever we find it.
Jenny & Steve
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