On the surface, my 1,500+ mile swim from Canada to Washington, D.C., looks a lot like the awareness-raising swims for clean water that I did a few years back. Our team has produced lots of successful environmental projects and expeditions over the 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 my
SUV to give a speech where I suggested that folks limit their driving
. 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 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 as strong a message as anything I might say from the podium.
Actions still speak louder than words.
During the
Swim For A Healthy World, we will take this truth to heart.
We will aim to lead by example. As we swim from town to town, staging community events, and visiting 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 riding mountain bikes instead of SUVs to
events, and pulling boat trailers with trucks powered by used cooking oil.
(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.)
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.
To succeed in this adventure, we must inspire others not only by
what we do, but by
how we do it.
