The title intrigued me – Did curiosity kill the cat or is it a vital skill to have in our ever-changing world?  The first speaker, Dawn Austwick (Chief Executive, National Lottery Community Fund) delved into where the phrase came from, that plagued many of us as children when asking too many questions of parents and teachers. Dawn suggested that rather than being a vice, curiosity is the very reason why we set up charities or social enterprises – by asking, ‘Why is that the way it is and how could we do things better?’.  Curiosity is the very lifeblood of innovative organisations.  Funders an ..read more

Making do, sustainability and living a simpler life July 12th is National Simplicity Day – a day to put technology away and get back to basics; reflect on the simpler things in life.  Claire reflects on how we can be more positive about sustainability and more aware of the benefits of living a more frugal life: I may be looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses, but out of necessity, many of our grandparents lived a thrifty life, often making do with alternative ways to get a job done. From using natural and inexpensive cleaners and soaps to cooking from scratch and fixing the broken ..read more

At Solutions for the Planet we support the right to repair Why? ·         One study showed that between 2004 and 2012, the proportion of major household appliances that died within five years rose from 3.5% to 8.3%. ·         An analysis of junked washing machines at a recycling centre showed that more than 10% were less than five years old. ·         Another study estimates that because of the CO2 emitted in the manufacturing process, a long-lasting washing machine will generate over two decades 1.1 tonnes less CO2 than a short-lived model. ·         Many lamps sold in Europe come wit ..read more

Yet the young people that we work with @Solutions_for_the_planet in the landlocked cities of Bradford, Inner City London and Birmingham have a strong bond and passion towards the worlds oceans and how they can help to clean them of pollution. As Tom Franklyn a primary school teacher in Inner City said: “We’re never going run to out of inner-city children, but we are going to run out of clean, pure ocean. If we put the two together, what a combination that would be, what a powerful force. We’re trying to come up with a truly humanitarian approach to ocean sustainability. Helping these kids fal ..read more

Reflections after reading Sarah Milburn’s article on ‘Young People and Hope’ and Russell Brown’s article on LinkedIn – ‘Trust – building (and rebuilding)’. Although many young people think climate change is an important societal issue, studies indicate that pessimism, anxiety and fear is common. How do we communicate with young people around these issues? How do we find ways to instil hope? Will doom-and-gloom messages scare people into action, or cause them to give up? Will emphasizing hope put people in a can-do frame of mind, or reduce their sense of urgency? How we communicate with ..read more