Our Story

How It Happened

Sustainably Motivated grew out of an appreciation for nature and our concern for the environment. The more we learnt about what was happening to our planet, and the rate and scale of resource consumption, the more we felt compelled to share.

Knowledge is certainly an incredibly powerful tool, but it can also feel like a burden to those who are aware of the issues. This became the case for my wife and I. We began by simply reading about the topic, and ended up watching countless documentaries, going to events, and joining multiple environmental organizations. Still, it wasn’t enough.

Sharing The Learning Journey

The more my wife and I discovered, the more astonished we were that a greater number of people didn’t know about the critical issues. Even very dear friends and family members seemed disconnected with what we were learning about. Clearly climate change was a threat to all life on earth, and a direct consequence of modern industrial practices.

Pretty scary stuff, but our friends and colleagues didn’t seem to notice. This was evidently a failure of our media channels, education systems, and the prevailing political structure that caters to those with financial influence.

Too often, the paramount interest is related to economics factors, which in turn contributes to the current social-consumer narrative. We get fed with so much information daily, yet we’re lacking coverage on many of the issues that are so fundamentally vital to us all.

Looking To The Future

As a result of this informational imbalance, we became motivated to share our discoveries. Indeed, the site started off as a place to curate and keep track of what we had been learning. A handy space that we could access easily from anywhere with an internet connection. One that could also provide for our friends & family an interesting and reliable place to learn about the sustainably related topics.

Initially, I had really been all about the social media. It’s definitely a great way to stay connected to topics and events! But with the enormous flow of information, it was tough to track down some previous posts and their sources. It was also challenging to get through to followers. Despite having created a Facebook Page early on, we soon realized that very few followers were actually seeing our posts. Unless we paid to promote them of course.

Sustainably Committed

So we started the blog! I’ve been writing and posting for some time now (5 years)! I also try to incorporate links as often as possible, so you can go see for yourself where I’m getting the info from. We’ve definitely dedicated a lot of time here. But it’s also been a labor of love. We are committed to the cause, and remained convinced that sustainability is the best way forward.

After our first son was born, my wife and I became even more motivated! Although time has become increasingly precious, we strive to continue sharing the message of sustainability. To that effect, we certainly welcome assistance and guest contributors. We know that to sustainably maintain the momentum, we need the help and collaboration of like-minded people.

What’s The Deal With The Old-Timey Bike?

The old-school bicycle with the over-sized front wheel that you see in our logo and the picture above is called a penny-farthing. While being a personal fan of cycling and the bicycle as a means of commute, this old-fashioned bike also presented a great analogy.

I had once heard that trying to change the mind of a group of people was comparable to steering a really large ship. It’s a somewhat common comparison in business to think of the CEO of a corporation as a ship’s captain. Consequently, there are a number of stories and anecdotes that refer to the capacity of change leaders in an organization as trying to steer the group.

Remaining Sustainably Motivated

Well in that context, I had read a quote (I’ll try and find it, link it shortly) about how we can shift opinions by making small changes and building upon them. Similar to moving a really large ship, we can accomplish this with a really large rudder. The large rudder can, in turn, be moved by a somewhat smaller rudder at first. Eventually, you will get the ship to move.

In that way, I see the penny-farthing as a visual representation of the social mindset that needs to shift with regards climate change and sustainability. We can do it, but it will take the efforts of a dynamic smaller wheel to get the bigger wheel to go where we want it to. 😉