It all began in April 2019. There was a protest about extinction, a schoolgirl was taking to the streets, and a book called Losing Earth was published. We read it. And by the final paragraph, everything had changed.
We were about to lose earth.
We were stunned. We had no idea what a critical point we were at. How could we have been unaware of this? Why had we not known sooner, nor everyone else? Why was this emergency not in the news headlines every single day?
We just did not know how to respond. But what we did know is that we couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. We refused to believe we were powerless. So we decided we would begin with where we got stuck. We’d tackle our own obstacles - time, overwhelm, ignorance - which we also knew were many else’s. We’d remove these by researching the facts, whittling them down to an easy action that we could act on one at a time, knowing that if enough of us joined in that meant power.
It seemed we were answering a need. People were responding. They loved the manageable action, that they were learning new things, that they felt empowered, proud to be part of the fight to protect our precious planet.. and all despite having crazy busy lives. Yes!
In our first year we ran it alongside our demanding jobs - Sonia is an Executive Coach; Aimee, a senior business leader. Needless to say we almost combusted! But things were also going up a gear. The world was waking up. More and more freak events were happening around the world, wildfires growing, icecaps melting faster and back-to-back flooding everywhere. The race was on. There were big dates for us as a planet to hit. We had to be at Net Zero emissions by 2050 if not earlier, and to do that we have to be half way by 2030. The next ten years are the one’s that count.
So we decided we had to up the ante. But how? How could we take our collective impact beyond the (powerful) shifts we could make in our lives, but also regenerate and innovate to restore our planet, and use our influence to shift things at the highest levels? In short, we asked ourselves how could we give this some serious welly?
The Every One Club was born.
We’ve taken some big decisions. Sonia’s transitioned her work to go full time. Aimee is working around the clock. Dani joined us to manage the administration and social media. We’re in a position now to give it throttle.
We have a singular mission - to galvanise 100,000 Planeteers by Dec 2022. Why? Because that’s when as a community we start to have serious clout. We’re able to drive industry by our buying decisions. We’re able to help get debates tabled in parliament in an instant synchronised click. We’re able to fund impactful projects with over £1.2 million every year. Exciting? We think so too.
Who says we’re not powerful?
It’s our planet. It needs every one of us. It can’t be done without us. But it can done.
So shall we?
AIMEE HIGGINS
Strategy, Research, Partnerships
SONIA LAKSHMAN
Strategy, Communication, PR
DANIELLA DESILVA
Social Media, Administration