Anushka's blog: Small actions, big consequences

I recently saw a social media post, ‘Why am I recycling when Taylor Swift takes 170 private jet flights a year?’.

It irked me as this nihilistic attitude of ‘I am just one of 8 billion people’ could quite easily be turned on its head as if 8 billion people all recognised their collective power, seismic change could be achieved.

When my kids were very young, I told them the moral tale of four homeless people, who separately each had some beans, potatoes, carrots and lastly some fennel. The four vagrants agreed to combine their ingredients into a delicious soup and took their turn to drop their ingredient into the bubbling cauldron of water. However, they each decide to secretly withhold their food from the cauldron so they could enjoy both some soup and their individually salvaged vegetable. The inevitable result when the lid was lifted was a mere pot of boiling water. The homeless soup story has become an analogy for understanding cooperation and power in numbers and could be applied on a global scale.

It’s easy to forget the power that an individual has and the example you can set for others and especially younger generations.  It is easy to feel impotent yet there is power in voting, signing petitions and educating oneself and others in politics.

There is a butterfly effect of a single person’s actions that has far-reaching influence by the example one person sets or communicates to others.  If you feel social media is spreading misinformation, then disrupt the algorithm by feeding it facts and knowledge.

Perhaps the most significant impact is where you choose to invest and spend your money. This is where your power lies. You can choose pensions and savings that invest in sustainable and ethical businesses.  It’s an act of rebellion to remain impervious to advertising and be happy with consuming less.

Whilst I cannot solve climate issues myself, I can do my bit on a daily basis. I try to be more plant-based, avoid using a car or energy unnecessarily, avoid food waste and cooking from scratch where possible, avoid plastic products as much as feasible, repair, re-use, recycle, buy 2nd hand, use solar lights outdoors, plant trees, feed the birds fatty meat scraps, seeds and oats, grow wildflowers and sunflowers to encourage bees as well as grow some vegetables myself.

One of my favourite authors, Voltaire, alluded to this in his 1759 novel Candide. When its innocent protagonist, Candide, travelled the world, suffered many ordeals and was disillusioned with its unfairness, violence and cruelty due to its corrupt monarchies, political and religious institutions, he concluded that he would ‘cultivate his garden’. There have been books written debating what is meant by this; however, I take it to mean creating the world you wish to see in your own microcosm, helping nature, setting a good example, worrying only about what is within your control and having faith that the butterfly effect will take place.

Anushka works full time for a professional services firm, is married with two kids aged 14 and 12.