7: Welcoming A Greener Future

When I eat 3 dried figs, two handfuls of macadamias mixed with a handful of cranberries shortly after a hearty lunch, I feel like a queen. This is the life I experienced as a royal in 1700 Italy- this decadence and availability. It really is surreal; I work hard to realise how lucky I am to waltz in and out of the kitchen having ingested such abundance.

Technology changed the game in 1780, with the invention of the steam engine. Now we have macadamia nut cracking machines and trucks which transport them to store near you. We have been born into a fortunate time.We skipped the hunting, gathering and ploughing fields, we missed working in the industrial revolution. Society has made great economic progress. Australia’s capacity to provide foundations for wellbeing, opportunity and meet the basic human needs of it’s citizens is world-class.

The Social Progress Imperative is a US-based nonprofit measures 50 social and environmental indicators that create a country’s social progress score. Our ‘social progress score’ is 89.30/100. Visit: socialprogressindex.com.

Economic success has led to the lives we enjoy. Those in developing nations look on- waiting for their opportunity to have our lifestyle. When technology first made this mega-abundant lifestyle possible, global population was 1/10th of its current size. A greener, sustainable future is the destination, re-usable shopping bags are a step in that direction.

Nadine Thomas

Retail Demi-God