An open Letter to Mother Earth

An open letter to Mother Earth from our founder and CEO, Nat.

Dear Mother Earth,

I have a confession to make, and I can’t think of a better time to come clean with you than World Environment Day, June 5th.

The truth is, I haven’t always cared for you like I should, like all people should.
Seven years ago, however, I realised that I could no longer just sit back and refuse to see what was happening around me.

It seems a long time ago now, but it was only around the middle of 2006 that I finally got the point about human-induced climate change and what it was doing to you, and to us.

I used to think that it wasn’t my problem, that one person couldn’t possibly make a difference. Then I realised something that has changed my life forever. I realised climate change was all about me, about my family, my friends and our future.

Now it was personal. So I got my head around the issues, started to act accordingly in my daily life and at the very moment of taking action I took ownership of the problem.

Climate change is real, and it’s now. The damaging impact it is having on you, Mother Earth, is undeniable. And people and our over-consumption, waste and pollution are the cause.

When I look around me I see the Arctic sea ice is melting, and polar bears are now an endangered species because of climate change impacts. It’s getting hotter, sea-levels are rising, and the science accepted by national academies around the world tells us that much worse is still to come, with average temperatures predicted to rise by up to 4 degrees C by the end of this century, with catastrophic consequences for us and you.

Deep down I think most of us know how serious this is, but it’s an unsettling, frightening truth. The kind of truth that makes those who believe wish it were otherwise, and leads others to denial or despair. Many are like I was, disconnected from the climate challenge, not acting in their own lives for whatever reasons.

Sadly, Australians are among the biggest over-consumers, wasters and polluters in the world, a wealthy nation blessed with so much natural beauty, yet collectively we are part of the problem when we badly need to be finding and acting on the solutions.

Your climate being changed by us is not something we can sit back and watch happen any longer. You have given us a home. You have fed, clothed and cared for us – you meet our every need. But still people want more, and your resources are not endless.

Now, more than ever, we need to band together and act positively to protect your future, and protect our own future too.

1 Million Women is a movement of Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and Grandmothers who are getting on with practical action on climate change by making changes in our own daily lives – our energy use, food, transport, fashion, shopping and more.

We accept personal responsibility, we take practical action, and we build our collective impact.

Our aim is a million women or more joining us. While this is ambitious it has to be, because climate change is real.

This World Environment Day we need to share this message far and wide. We need to tell our Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and Grandmothers to sign up to 1 Million Women and make a change for a better future.

After all of the amazing beauty and wonders you bestow upon us everyday, after all that, if we won’t help you – who will?

We are daughters, mothers, sisters and grandmothers getting on with practical climate action to live better for us and the planet. Join the movement at www.1millionwomen.com.au