Thursday, December 29, 2005

Richard Sandbrook

I was looking, as ya do, at one of those year-end round-ups, and came across a list of those who had passed away. So, as you do at my age, I checked to see who I had managed to outlive, if perhaps not yet out-achieve. One entry stuck me:

Richard Sandbrook , who has died of cancer aged 59, was a founding member of Friends of the Earth, UK. A former accountant with a passion for the environment, he helped define and develop the concept of sustainable development. He recognised early on that green issues should incorporate concepts such as social justice for those who depended on the natural world: that green issues and poverty should be tackled as one. He also believed that it was better to persuade global companies such as mining concerns to adopt greener codes of practice rather than ostracise them as enemies.

I didn't know him. I didn't even know of him. But what I read here reveals him to be an inspirational character to all we are trying to do with Junkk.com.

I wonder what he thought of the situation we are in now? It doesn't really matter, because at the very least he must have known that he tried, and did his best to improve things. And that is one heck of a legacy to leave.

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