REbot Note #01 – The Swallows, the Summer and the Unspoken Idiom

Even small steps can lead us far away. We know that REbot is not yet an initiative of such depth and importance as to hunt for poachers under African skies or to stand in the way of whaling ships at sea. From a realistic perspective, we can state it already now: it will never be like this. But if everyone does just a little more in their everyday lives for sustainability, we’ve already set off for something new, almost without realizing it. What matters is not always what is large, spectacular, and preferably immediate.

As a ju-jitsu master said, anyone, can have a black belt in minutes. You can buy it in the store. But it's not the belt that makes you an instructor, or a master. It's the path you take over many years, learning about yourself, others, and indirectly about the whole world. The way you defeat yourself each day when you jump over your shadow again instead of choosing comfort.

The commitment to sustainability works the same way. On a dog day afternoon, it’s much easier to be comfortable and to buy a half-a-liter, plastic bottled soft drink at the gas station that empties in two minutes, than refilling a glass bottle on public well, or worse, in the washroom, assuming others might see it and wonder what they’ll think. "Hey man, don't you have enough money for a soda?" Anyway, what kind of water can flow in the faucet of a gas station's sink? It's completely different than in our bathroom at home, I bet you!

Why should we reach for the energy drink's can that someone else drank from and threw away at the playground? Does anybody think that we indirectly hint at how much better we consider ourselves than others if we go to the playground with a garbage bag? Why annoy an already irritated cashier with our textile bag that even she has to look into, if she can’t believe that there are six buns in it, I swear?

Is it really hard to take on insignificant conflicts, that mostly exist in our own imagination, when we know that recompense will never be missed? The greatest reward is not the recognition of others - although it’s more or less guaranteed - but our own honor. That we are not afraid to bend down for that box and dare to do something good to set an example.

Never overestimate the importance of a rejected straw or plastic cutlery! But never forget that the hardest is always the first step. We will be glad if some of you have done this to us or will do so afterward. With today’s photo compilation, let’s thank the first swallows who embarked on the REbot challenge! The images you send are all proof that we have to give up almost nothing in order to make a difference. Keep it up!

Share with us how you do for the environment in everyday life and you’ll love playing points in the interactive REbot challenge!