You have utilised your talents and
resources as an environmentalist, ecologist, adventurer and activist. How would
you best like to be known?
I’d be very happy to be known as an environmentalist
or adventurer. Working for the environment is certainly not a nine ‘til five
job but that’s part of the enjoyment. I wouldn’t do anything else.
There is a line you have used, that we like very
much, you have been quoted as saying, “Curiosity is a great driver of change.”
Please elaborate on that stance.
To be curious is to discover, some of the greatest
discoveries known to mankind have started with a question and it is that
question that turns into an adventure.
For me, the essence of adventure lays in the ability
to harness the power of dreams and stories in order to inspire, educate and
engage individuals, communities and industry to become agents of change.
Describe The Adventure Ecology portal.
Adventure Ecology, the organization behind the Plastiki expedition was launched
in 2005 to educate, entertain and raise awareness of environmental and social
issues whilst driving real world solutions. In the five years that have
followed we have been working hard to give nature a voice; from traversing
icecaps to trekking through rainforests to successfully crossing the Pacific
Ocean in a catamaran made buoyant by 12,500 plastic bottles. We’re motivated by one simple pursuit: to inspire and engage
widespread, global attention and action to combat the critical issues faced by
planet Earth.
As the world around us evolves, so must Adventure Ecology, urgency for environmental action is greater than ever before. To respond to these global challenges requires new methods– ones that harnesses the power of adventure, journalism, business, art and community. For this reason, we’ve spent 2010 incubating a new organization called MYOO that will replace Adventure Ecology as the group driving our future expeditions and adventures. Here at MYOO we believe in collaboration, innovation, storytelling and adventure to drive social and environmental change. The name MYOO is taken from the word community spelt phonetically (kuh-MYOO-ni-tee) and this is what we are; a unique community of problem solvers, future thinkers, creatives, writers, producers, innovators and designers with the common goal to inspire dreams, fuel conversation, share innovations and activate change. Log onto Myoo to see what we’re up to and how you can get involved.
We strongly believe with today’s
technology there is no need to waste our natural resources to produce a
relevant publication on paper. How do you feel about the unnecessary use of
natural resources?
There are so many clever alternatives to using
natural resources unnecessarily, like you mention with printing on paper- it’s
exciting to have online magazines where we can explore the wonders of
technology to bring content to life and share with the world.
What is your next adventure?
We’ve got lots of adventures on the horizon; stay
tuned to Myoo to find out more.
The above interview with David de Rothschild 2011 © Manner of Man Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.
