Why I must
Journey to Sustainability

We work our entire life to give our families the best chance for success in the future

We cannot leave them with a planet that will struggle to provide for them

By Peter O'Connor

Born in the 50’s my teenage years were influenced by the ideology from the leaders of the time and I would recognise John Lennon as a significant influence and his push for peace often challenged the decision makers of the day.

Joining the workforce in 1973 my mindset changed to one of establishing a career, earning remuneration and providing for my family with the best we could provide. Our own life was the benchmark we had to meet with the goal to improve on it.

As I am closing in on the end of my working life, I am extremely happy that my family of wife, 4 children and 10 grandchildren have the grounding and values I would have hoped for and should be able to look forward to a successful future whatever they choose it to be. I am not happy that I am destined to leave them this wonderful planet in worse condition than when I was born. During my lifetime we have moved from a time where planet earth could recover from our existence each year to a time where we are over-consuming the planet’s resources instead of managing them with emphasis on the Soil & Water. Its ability to provide for my future generations will be a significant challenge for them and the longer we leave it; the harder it will be for them.

sustainable  is the process that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs ” 

The challenge that I see at the moment is:

There are few decision makers embracing the challenge and those that do are half-hearted at best. It is difficult to expect community support for renewable energy when you continue to sell fossil fuel to other countries for your own business needs or to stop supplying plastic bags but are happy to charge for them

We have numerous single agenda groups who will encourage you to follow their ideology on the basis that it will save the planet. The biggest problem with their efforts is that they continue to condemn or ridicule others who follow another ideology. Anyone who embraces the need for change and commences their own journey should be praised – not condemned.

For many the outlook is either not understood or too difficult to commence. In part this could be from the confusion created by the first two groups. If I look back 4-5 years the understanding was grey for me as I lacked the resources to be educated to make my own decision and the resources to provide meaningful tasks, I could undertake to achieve my goal

So that is my goal for sustainability:

  1. To become educated in the numerous issues that are challenging the existence of our planet

  2. To become informed on the meaningful tasks individuals and families can do to improve the outlook for future generations

  3. To highlight and promote these on digital platforms, to assist educate others so that they to can make an informed decision on their involvement and have some tasks they can consider.

I have not taken up any challenge to change the decision makers in our world. 

This will best be achieved by creating a significant base of believers who lead by example