Blog 1
So, finally, the doors are open and many of you have already
visited the shop. Thank you all for getting the Sustainable Weigh off to such a
positive, flying start.
Now that we’re up and running (although with loads still to
do!), our thoughts are turning to the other part of our ambitions for the
Sustainable Weigh/Siop y Glorian. This blog is part of that. And where else to
start the life of the SustainaBlog but on the 5th October 1893…
Far beyond the reach of daily life, in the frozen wilderness
of the Arctic north, a wooden ship by the name of Fram was preparing for winter.
She had left Norway that June, specifically designed and built for an
expedition headed by Fridtjof Nansen, who’s aim was to be the first man to
reach the North Pole. His plan to do so was contemptuous of contemporary
thinking on the subject. Instead of fighting the polar conditions, Nansen
sought to capitalise on an insight gleaned from his scientific work and use the
ocean currents and pack ice movements as tools to help him reach a new furthest
north. Instead of avoiding ice for as long as possible, Nansen would seek it
out, pick his moment and then confounding all logic, deliberately get his ship
trapped for the winter. Once locked in place, he would rely on the ocean currents
to carry the helpless Fram, over the North Pole.
It was an audacious plan. No one else considered
deliberately wintering trapped in the frozen north to be a good idea. Nansen,
bought up on long solo trips cross country skiing, immersed in the spectacular
natural wonders of the Norwegian countryside, understood instinctively that his
best chance of success lay in working with nature rather than against it.
So it was that on the 5th October, the rudder of
the Fram was shipped aboard and the vessel and her crew were committed to the
mercy of the ice for however long it took. The pessimists suggested they might
be trapped for 3 years. The end result of that long drift was a new Furthest
North record. The Fram, specially built with curved, strengthened sides survived
and lives on in a museum to this day. The lessons were clear. Nature could be
harnessed rather than fought.
By now the moral of this tale and its link to the subject of
Sustainability should be clear. It should be possible to work with our planet, not
in rapacious opposition to it.
That is the basis upon which we’ve created the Sustainable
Weigh. We’re not a total solution and we don’t have all the answers. We don’t
know everything and we’re very confident that we’ll make mistakes. But we do
know we have to try and do something. So, we’re going to seek to offer an
alternative to consumption as usual. Using our definition of Sustainability as a
guide, we’ll look to sell products which can help make a positive impact on
reducing food waste and packaging use, find more meat and dairy free
alternatives and support schemes such as Fairtrade.
There is a well known quote from the American actor and
comedian, Robin Williams which you’ll find in our shop and on our website. He
famously said that “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change
the world”. We want to take that thought and help people change their worlds
just a little bit at a time in a way that adds up to something meaningful and
impactful. There is much in the world that needs changing on a systemic level
but there is also much that is in our hands. We can make changes that have an
impact.
As we’ve worked on developing the ideas that have become the
Sustainable Weigh over the past year, it has become clear that as much as we
are a shop, here to sell things to people, our role can’t end there. We need to
be part of the conversation on what our future looks like. We need to be a
source of information and ideas. We need to be knowledgeable and authentic in
what we’re saying to our customers. This blog is part of that. Part of the need
to share ideas in the hope they change the world a little faster. Part of the
wider ambition.
And there is a dramatic need to move faster. Every week
there is news showing how humanity’s impact on the planet is driving climate
change, species extinction and resource depletion. The time for action is now.
To return to where we started this blog, far in the artic north. If someone
wanted to recreate Nansen’s frozen polar drift of 120 odd years ago, they couldn’t.
The ice no longer exists.
We all need to be part of the change that stops more damage
being done and even more being lost to future generations. And it’s that need
for change that brings us to the final part of our trilogy of subjects for
today. You.
You can make a difference. Small changes do add up to
something meaningful. And because of that, plus the power of ideas, we look
forward to seeing you in the shop, changing your world one plastic bottle and
refilled pot at a time.
