The longer I work in sustainability leadership, the more I think of simple ways to say otherwise complex things. I forget easily, so I’m going to keep a post here of them.

I can only remember four now, so I’ll start with them and add more when I remember them or come up with new ones. I’m writing them out of context, so sorry if they don’t make sense. I believe that when used appropriately, they’ll help convey meaning.

1. I don’t have to steward. I get to.
2. That’s the addiction speaking.
3. Apples taste better than Twinkies but not when you’re knee-deep in them.
4. Doof

EDIT: Adding more

1. Systemic change begins with personal transformation.
2. Question is not what notes to play but how to learn to play them.
3. Stepping on the gas, thinking it’s the brake, wanting congratulations.
4. Ask not “what does someone have to experience to act,” but “who suffers from the polluting system I support and what can I do to change it?”
5. People don’t want to do small things. They want to do meaningful things. I won’t argue little things add up, but I start with what people care about. If they act from what they care about, they’ll find their actions meaningful, do them more and bigger, and tell others. Big things that people share add up.

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Sorry if this post seems low-effort, but I expect to remember and think of more. I’ll write them as I think of them.

I already remembered another, which I copy from my post, My new graphic slogans:

Everybody cares about the environment until they want to see the Eiffel Tower.

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