Our team has produced lots of successful environmental projects and expeditions over the last few years. However, in all of the rushing around that
swimming a long, dirty waterway, or producing a United Nations event entails, I have to admit that we missed some huge opportunities: opportunities to model the very actions that we were publicly advocating.
In the past, it wasn't unheard of for me to drive 500 miles (800 km) alone in an SUV to give a speech about
clean water. Or to eat conventionally-produced produce on a swim sponsored by an organic food company. Or to go on national TV wearing a cotton shirt produced with the same pesticides and herbicides I was campaigning against.
At the time, I rationalized these choices along the lines of convenience. I said things like, "We're doing the best we can to get the word out on an impossible schedule."
In fairness, some of our choices, like our widespread use of canoes and small boats with low-horsepower four-stroke outboard motors as escort craft, set a nice example.
For the most part though, we lost the opportunity to use the expeditions themselves as teaching tools.
Upon reflection, it is clear to me that how I arrive at an event, the clothes that I wear, and the food that I eat, send stronger messages than anything that I might say from the podium.
Actions still speak louder than words.
On the TOXTOUR
TM , we will take this truth to heart.
We will aim to lead by example. As we swim from town to town, travel to community events to collect electronic waste, and visit schools, we will strive to be a model expedition. We will work to keep our carbon and toxic footprints small.
So don't be surprised if you see us hauling e-waste with draft horses
instead of 18 wheelers, riding mountain bikes instead of SUVs to
events, and hauling our gear in waste vegetable oil-powered vehicles.
(Does this mean that I will never get on an airplane again? No. But it does mean that I will think carefully before I do, and that I will compensate for my enlarged carbon footprint by investing in
renewable energy generation projects every time I fly.)
On the TOXTOUR
Blog, we will share the thinking behind our choices, and we will invite your feedback. I suspect that we will struggle with this new challenge. I predict that we will be criticized for being less than perfect. Whatever happens, one thing is for sure: a new approach calls for a new definition of success.
On the TOXTOUR
TM then, to succeed we must inspire others not only by
what we do, but by
how we do it.
