Here we look at; why I left my job to start Nafford Junction and help inspire sustainability when you grow, eat, and live.
Watch here or read on below:
So, why did I leave a secure job and decent salary?
Why do I want to help inspire sustainability and reverse climate change and global heating?
Well, we’ve been living in a bubble. A bubble that existed when I was born, in the 1970s. A bubble that you may feel today. I’ve heard people say “the planet hasn’t let us down yet”. Global heating feels obvious to me, but that’s because I’ve been looking.
I’ve been a part of climate change. I had been ignorant to it. I’m annoyed that it’s taken me this long to feel compelled to do something, over and above recycling and turning off the lights when I leave a room.
But, since starting a Biodynamic gardening course last year, 2020, then discovering the amazing Kiss The Ground documentary on Netflix, I’ve realised that it’s critical to improve the way we live, now.
We literally have this decade to make changes.
It’s not me that said it’s about saving ourselves. It was David Attenborough, in his amazing documentary, A Life On Our Planet:
The fact is; if we don’t reverse global heating, there will be an absolutely catastrophic collapse of the natural world. The natural world that we need to survive, to live.
It won’t happen overnight. It won’t be like a bomb going off. Then again, it won’t take 1,000 years. It won’t even take 100 years. It will happen in my lifetime, I’m 43.
The causes started years ago. Those causes include cutting down forests, burning fossil fuels, polluting the air, even industrial scale farming, ploughing the land and using artificial fertilisers and dangerous chemicals to grow food. They all contribute to climate change and global heating.
This is the Decade to Inspire Sustainability
After this decade, if we haven’t changed the way we live, we will reach the point of no return. We will have done too much damage.
If we don’t reverse global heating then the world that my son, he’s 7, and his friends have to live in… well, I don’t know what to say. It will be a horrible place. That thought makes me extremely sad, and angry. It also makes me incredibly motivated.
Because of what I’ve learnt, I know there are amazing things that I, you, every one of us, can do to reverse climate change and global heating and improve our lives, health, and happiness at the same time.
We all have the capability to make changes. We shouldn’t wait for governments to tell us what to do.
Think about it. Do you really think governments are going to tell us exactly what to do, when part of their funds come from individuals and companies that benefit from polluting the planet?
It’s important that we crack on and make changes, ourselves.
Changes that will force big companies, governments, and the worst polluters to prioritise sustainability. In a way that makes companies and governments listen.
If you have a bank account, you can change, today, to a bank that only uses your money ethically, such as Triodos*.
If you have a pension, you can change, today, to sustainable investing based on the United Nations-supported Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI), such as the fund offered by Standard Life.
We can also make changes to our day to day lives: If you use gas or electricity, you can switch to a green deal, such as with Together Energy. Using sustainable and ethical products. Consuming less. Wasting less.
But that doesn’t have to mean, having less. The changes can give us a greater feeling of value, of purpose. A feeling of living a more meaningful life. Changes that reconnect us with the world we live in.
That’s why I felt compelled to use my business and marketing skills to help inspire sustainability with as many people as possible. To make it easy for everybody to know what to change and how to do it, which is why I came up with the idea of starting a website, called NaffordJunction.co.uk,to publish how tos, research, and advice to help others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.
This move isn’t about going to another job or starting another business just to make money. I do need to earn money to live. I’ve worked hard to reduce all of our bills to a minimum. I’ve saved enough to be able to give this a go for a year and in that time I need to find a way to keep Nafford Junction going forever.
Many people will see me as well off and lucky. I am, and I feel incredibly grateful to be able to do this. To others, I have very little and they probably think I’m mad. It’s those ‘others’ I’m hoping to inspire.
I’m hoping that by doing the right thing first that money will come later, from those that can afford to support what I’m doing.
I know that if we don’t reverse global heating then it won’t matter if I have a comfortable job or savings or a pension or holidays or a house or creature comforts, because the world that we know today will not be the world of the future.
It’s also a sad fact that many people don’t have any of those luxuries, so it’s up to all that have those privileges to make the important changes that will improve our own lives and help support others.
So, if I do my bit, alongside the people that have inspired me, I will be able to contribute to creating a better world than the one we’re living in today. It will be a world that improves with each generation. A world where it’s less about growing at all costs, and more about thriving. It will be a world where it’s normal to give back more than we take, and to live in a way that can be sustained forever.
Here Is What You Can Do
- Share this with others
- Talk to your friends and colleagues
- Watch A Life On Our Planet with David Attenborough at attenboroughfilm.com
- Start noticing what you buy, consume, and waste
- Think how you can be more sustainable and inspire sustainability
- Be inspired. Know that we can reverse climate change if we do something about it
Where Next?
There is so much inspiring information to give you ideas of how to help climate change by growing, eating, and living sustainably, you can:
- Read Our Articles
- Sign-Up to Our Free Email Newsletter
- Get Started and Vote with Your Money
- Try the Sustainability Roadmap
- Use the Company Directory
- Support Nafford Junction
Help Us Inspire Others
If you are passionate about helping climate change, please consider supporting Nafford Junction, you can:
- Become a Patron to Give Regular Contributions
- Buy Me a Coffee to Make a One-Off Contribution
- Create for Us and Publish Thought Provoking Content
- Become an Inspiring Leader and Advertise with Us
- Go to NaffordJunction.co.uk/support
Sources That I Used To Create This
- Kiss the Ground Film | Kiss The Ground
- Ethical banking* | Triodos Bank
- Sustainable Investing | Standard Life
- Green Energy | Together Energy
- A Life On Our Planet | David Attenborough
Production Notes
This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.
Any advice given is the opinion of those involved and does not constitute medical, financial, or legal advice.
* We include links we think you will find useful. If you buy through those links, we may earn a small commission. It’s one way to support our work and to inspire as many people as possible.