In view of climate change, physios do not differ from other members of humanity; we all benefit from the riches of the earth, and we in the developed world have unfortunately contributed to the alarming climate problems that threaten our future.
Charitable giving seems like a good place to make a difference
I suspect that my priorities for my personal charitable giving are typical of our profession, or at least I have been for most of my life up to this point.
Medical research and relief organizations were a top priority in my charity commitments; my clinical interests were directly reflected, so I made regular contributions to charities related to stroke research, helping people with stroke, organizations promoting research into other neurological disorders, etc.
You can imagine that I am a neurological physiotherapist. But I also supported the big players in the world of medical charities (big ones in the UK: British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and The Wellcome Trust).
Why have I changed?
The more I read about climate change, the more I realized that this is more important than anything else: If we don't put our planet, our living space in order, then future generations will not have a suitable place to live.
Discover how your practice affects the environment
So even if people no longer die of cancer and heart disease, are no longer disabled by strokes and MS, they will still not be able to lead a decent life. It suddenly occurred to me that my priorities were wrong – if we don't address climate change, there is no point in putting our resources into medical research.
I admit that I belong to the generation that has benefited from our shabby treatment of the planet: I'm sixty years old, have driven my entire professional life (I'm a community physio), fly around the world at beautiful places Holidays (before Covid), so maybe some of it is fueled by feelings of guilt on my part.
Indeed, I am often impressed by young people and their will to improve our living space, and I feel that I owe them an apology. “I'm so sorry we haven't used the earth's resources well; I apologize for plundering its rich reserves without thinking of replenishing them. ” So, now I want to make my small contribution to making amends.
And we know that planting trees is the fastest and cheapest way to fix carbon …
My contribution
I have completely changed the focus of my charitable donations and would like to tell you about a wonderful new organization that I support with joy and pride.
Flash Forest is a Canadian company that aims to plant 1 billion trees by 2028. Founded in 2019, the company describes itself as "a reforestation company that aims to plant ten times the normal rate and a fraction of the cost of traditional tree-planting techniques." They have botanists and forestry experts, and multispectral mapping technicians and technologists.
Drones are used to perform site assessment and mapping, and then they are used to fire “seed pods” into the ground. The seed pods contain a selection of carefully selected tree species along with a cocktail of supporting nutrients that ensure that the seeds are nourished and thrive.
They are currently reforesting in British Columbia, Northern Alberta and Ontario and planning to send teams to Borneo, Hawaii, Australia, Malaysia and the EU. Your drones provide continuous maintenance, monitor the planted areas and, if necessary, spray additional nutrients.
It's a brilliant use of technology, and within the next five years they are on track to plant tens of millions of trees on six continents. That will really have an impact on climate change.
