Two weeks ago the world lost one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, David Bowie.
Thousands have been mourning his passing and are visiting his birth town to mark their respect. Musicians have been playing tribute to Bowie at concerts around the world and a tribute show will be held in New York late March to celebrate his life. Just this week scientists even registered a constellation shaped like a lightning bolt in honour of David Bowie and his out-of-this-world talent.
Such is the collective love for Bowie’s art and the impact he’s had on so many; he truly was one of the world’s greatest creative minds and he’s undeniably left a legacy.
But what is legacy and what will yours be? That’s what we’re going to chat about today!
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Our creatives, be it musicians, actors, dancer or artists, so often help us define meaning in our lives. They also bring so much enjoyment to a life that’s all too often mundane or a struggle for so many people.
Not just David Bowie but Freddy Mercury, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Beethoven, Monet, Michelangelo …. they’ve all left a massive legacy and their work will continue to be enjoyed for years to come. Their art, and the meaning of their art never dates. It truly is timeless…
That’s legacy in the popular sense of the word.
But what about the everyday person like you and me or even humans in general?
What will our legacy be?
Before we chat about that let’s look at what legacy actually means. According to the handy Dictionary.com legacy refers to anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.
It’s basically what we leave behind.
Indigenous Australians, reportedly the oldest living human culture on Earth today have a strong legacy of stories, songs, rituals and visually, rock paintings, ancient ceremonial grounds and middens (piles of shells and bones). The first Australians were in alignment with their environment, leaving barely a physical trace for millions of years until life as they knew it changed forever with European settlement. Indeed, many traditional cultures around the world were similar.
In contrast, modern humans (that’s us!!) are leaving a physical legacy that will be around for millions of years……in the form of plastics, concrete and other man-made materials that just don’t break down in the environment.
Let’s stop to have a think about that for a moment………. Not. Break. Down.
Where archaeologists are currently excavating bones, bronze or iron tools to learn about past civilisations, what will future archaeologists will be excavating?
Landfills of single-use disposable nappies? Plastic toys? Electronics? Batteries? Plastic and aluminium drink containers? iPhones? This is a very likely scenario because let’s face it, these items aren’t biodegradable. Sure, some of them have recyclable components but a large percentage still end up in the waste stream.
It’s been estimated that a single-use disposable nappy takes around 500 years to break down, but no one really knows exactly! They’ve only been around for 50-odd years – none of us will be here in 450 years’ time to report back in on the decomposition progress!
That’s just the waste legacy post-industrial age humans are leaving behind……. the physical change to our Earth and its inhabitants are even more concerning.
Some scientists have warned that the Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction not dissimilar to that which wiped out the dinosaurs. It’s been termed the Sixth Great Extinction.
Such mass extinction events have only occurred five times in the past 540 million years. During each of these ‘Big Five’ events three-quarters or more of all animals at the time became extinct.
The main drivers of the current event are not surprisingly climate change and habitat destruction caused by guess who?
Yup, us humans.
We’re destroying natural habitats around the world at a great rate of knots to feed the exploding human population. It’s got to the point that 95% of the total mass of mammals on Earth are humans and our domesticates such as cows, pigs and sheep. Only 5% are wild animals.
Five. Per. Cent.
Putting this in the context of what future archaeologists will be digging up – it will be a rare find that isn’t a human or livestock remain!
I don’t know about you but I don’t want this to be the case. I want to go on a bushwalk and see koalas, platypuses, snakes, birds, insects and amphibians in the wild, not in a zoo. And I want my kids and grandkids and great great great great great grandkids to enjoy this experience too.
I want our legacy to be different.
And more so, call me exceedingly optimistic, but I believe we have the power to change it.
If you want to get your head around the real impact we’re having on our environment, I urge you to get your hands on my eguide ‘Think Global Act Local’. This eguide breaks down the seven greatest environmental challenges currently facing our planet and identifies 101 small, simple and achievable things you can do around your home or in your local community to address these issues.
If you’re eager to take a step further, I’ve just re-opened my FREE Home Detox Training series for a limited time to help you break up with toxins in your home and will soon fling open the doors to my popular Home Detox Boot Camp. I only run this Boot Camp twice a year so if you’re keen to create a cleaner and healthier home, without synthetic cleaners, pest control and personal care products, you won’t want to miss this.
But I’ve also been thinking a lot in recent months about the legacy I want to leave on this beautiful planet. Sure, I live as lightly as I can and I’m always striving to improve. I’m also super passionate to inspire and educate as many people as I can to do just the same and my environmental values will always be at the centre of what I do.
But my skillset and drive stretches a little bit further….
I’ve been running profitable, multiple award-winning online businesses now for over six years and I’ve learnt a stack about the nuts and bolts of online marketing and general business management during that time. Not to mention all the knowledge and experience I clocked up previously in my 11 years career an environmental engineer and also working in the business improvement team for BHP Billiton at Australia’s largest industrial site.
I have an eye for waste – not just physical waste in the environment, but waste in business processes. I’ve also been blessed with a creative engineering mind that can easily transition from innovative concepts to strategy and planning in a split second.
After receiving many requests, I’ve decided to share my skills with special game changers, who are ready to step up and who want to leave a greater legacy in the environmental, social, community or health arenas. Because I strongly believe by helping you to create positive change and leave a greater legacy, I’m leaving a greater legacy too.
What I’m saying is that for the first time ever, I’m making myself available for one-on-one coaching for conscious business owners, or conscious ‘idea’ owners.
I decided to offer coaching because I KNOW how much I struggled in those early years (hell, even in the not-so-early years!!) to find my feet, get my confidence up, and create traction.
Because I KNOW how tricky it can be to develop a business model that melds your desire to make a difference with your need to support yourself and your family.
Because I KNOW how disheartening it can be when everyone in the ‘regular’ business world espouses profit above all else.
Because I KNOW what it’s like to be simultaneously pursuing two goals – changing the world and making good money – that most people think are mutually exclusive. (They’re not!) because at the end of the day, the more profitable your business is, the more change it can make.
There’s a small forest in my home state of South Australia on previously cleared land in a poor condition, that my business has funded the planting of, thanks to regular contribution to Trees for Life. It’s just one small example of how a profitable small business can leave a lasting positive legacy.
So, if you have a strong desire to create or extend the online reach of your conscious business or organisation so you can make an even bigger impact, and you’re ready to invest in a coach to help you kick your goals, I want to hear from you. Join the FREE Conscious Biz Creators Community on Facebook.
So if you’re after highly experienced, highly personalised coaching to help you grow and expand your conscious business, and would love to work directly with me, I encourage you to act quickly.
Whether it’s by reading my blog, downloading my Think Global Act Local eguide, participating in my eco-living ecourses or working with me one-on-one to help you amplify your conscious business, I look forward to helping you leave a lasting, positive legacy on our beautiful world.
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Laura Trotta is one of Australia’s leading home sustainability experts. She has a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering, a Masters of Science (in Environmental Chemistry) and spent 11 years working as an environmental professional before creating her first online eco business, Sustainababy, in 2009. She has won numerous regional and national awards for her fresh and inspiring take on living an ‘ecoceptional’ life (including most recently winning the Brand South Australia Flinders University Education Award (2015) for the north-west region in SA and silver in the Eco-friendly category of the 2015 Ausmumpreneur Awards). With a regular segment on ABC Radio and with her work featured in publications like Nurture Parenting and My Child Magazine, Laura is an eco thought leader who’s not afraid to challenge the status quo. A passionate believer in addressing the small things to achieve big change, and protecting the planet in practical ways, Laura lives with her husband and two sons in outback South Australia. 
