But the plane is going anyway….

One question we come across lots when we discuss sustainability and holidays is “What difference does one person not booking a flight make – the plane is going anyway?” This is a tough one! We always fall back on the Starfish story that has been told many times by motivational speakers but in case you have never heard it, here it is:

“An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.

“Young lady”, he asked, “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

“The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die.”

“But young lady, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference.”

The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves, saying: “It made a difference for that one.”

The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. 

I know it’s cheesy but this really spoke to us when we started our sustainability journey seven years ago. Changing our lifestyle to be more sustainable felt like a mountain to climb but each time we made a different choice we felt a bit more peaceful.

I don’t think we expected to feel more peaceful but it is a battleground out there! How can we live sustainably in a modern world that is driving us to consume more, travel more, eat more, want more. We have found dipping out of the consumerism that surrounds us has actually benefitted us in a totally different way. We haven’t felt that we are missing out but more finding a different way.

We believe that by each one of us making one small different choice at a time, that collectively we will make a massive impact with the potential to save the world one starfish at a time!