Wangari Maathai

As part of Earth Day celebrations taking place around the world, I had the privilege of being invited to a small event at ABC Home in New York City last night, where Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, spoke about her work and the environment.

The amazing thing about Professor Maathai is that in 1977 she looked around at the problems in Kenya, where she lives. She saw that there were problems with lack of water, lack of firewood where women had to walk further and further to gather wood, deforestation, hunger and poverty, women’s rights issues, as well as other problems. Rather than get overwhelmed by it all, she looked at the problem very simply and thought ‘trees’. Yes, she decided to start planting trees. And she did – over 20 million trees were planted from 1977-1997!

How much more simple is that? By planting trees, she and thousands of Kenyans are reviving the landscape where food grows again, water is retained in the soil, and people aren’t as hungry. In addition, she has women gain more rights and get their dignity back.

According to the Green Belt Movement website, “Through its holistic approach to development, the Green Belt Movement addresses the underlying social, political, and economic causes of poverty and environmental degradation at the grassroots level. Its empowerment seminars help people make critical linkages between the environment, governance, and their quality of life. Participants develop a deep desire to better their own lives and communities. As they gain economic security, they are willing to protect shared resources such as forests, public parks, and rivers. The GBM started by addressing a serious problem with a simple solution: getting communities to plant trees as a symbol of their commitment. Today, this approach is taking root worldwide.”

So, if you ever think there are too many problems in the world – where climate change is destroying the environment, agribusiness is altering the quality of our food, people are hungry, etc, etc, don’t get overwhelmed. Simply go out and plant some trees. Positive change is as easy as that.

Happy Earth Day!

ps: If you’d like to learn a little more about the Green Belt Movement and their tree planting, please visit their website.

ps: If you want to know more about what ABC Home & Carpet is doing to help give back, please visit their ABC Foundation website. In addition to helping through their foundation, the store works with many local coops and groups around the world who supply good to the store. The store also only sells products made from wood that was sustainably harvested. And the store has committed to being 100% sustainable in 10 years – now that’s walking the walk!