This presentation was made to the Thought Leaders conference back in 2008 in Sydney. It was a five minute lightning talk – I was limited to five minutes and a handful of slides. This is a post-event recording using Apple Keynote.
What are we going to do about our environmental crisis?
It’s getting hotter
It’s getting drier.
Our storms are more vicious.
Our rivers are dying.
The Great Barrier Reef is dying.
Species are dying – forever.
They’re not coming back.
I think the problem is… we’re out of touch.
Think about some of the relationships you’ve had with friends, partners, clients, colleagues…
What happens when you mentally, physically or emotionally lose touch?
Some of our political leaders are in Copenhagen to make a plan for our future.
How can we value something we don’t engage with?
How do we expect to make sound decisions for the future when we’re out of touch with what’s going on?
We’ve lost our connection to the natural environment.
We sleep in our comfortable beds.
We get food from the fridge.
We get water for our showers out of a tap.
We jump into our cars to go anywhere.
We spend all day inside.
We work on our computers all night.
We talk on our mobile phones to our friends.
Mentally, physically and emotionally we’ve lost touch with our natural world.
I’ve lost touch!
You’ve lost touch!
We’ve lost touch!
How do you expect to make sound decisions for your future when you’re out of touch with what’s going on?
Do you like my photos?
By now, you’ve probably worked out they’re all pictures of trees.
There’s something magical about our native Australian trees.
Deciduous trees lose their leaves in winter.
Australia’s native trees don’t do this.
They lose their bark instead.
And that’s why we get so many magnificent colours, shapes and textures.
None of these images have been photoshopped in any way.
There’s been no colour enhancement.
They’ve all been taken with a regular digital camera.
And, most importantly, 95% of these photos were taken within five minutes walk from my home in suburban Melbourne.
These are photos of regular, everyday, typical Australian trees.
The only trick to some of these photos is that they were taking immediately after rain.
When you add water, the colours get brighter.
If you’re concerned about our environmental crisis, then here’s my solution for you.
Get in touch with nature.
Get in touch everyday.
You’re welcome to build a mud-brick house. And that’s not what I’m talking about.
You’re welcome to trek to the Amazon. And that’s not what I’m talking about either.
You’re welcome to campaign to save the whales. And that’s not what I’m talking about.
I’m talking about making a connection.
I’m talking about getting curious, being playful and admiring the wonderful.
I’m talking about a five minute, simple, everyday connection.
Sit on the grass.
Walk in the rain.
Rub your hands in the dirt.
Whilst you watch the rest of the slides, think about how you can get in touch with nature for five minutes every day.
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