Walking / cycling through Westland (NL) – ‘Blue’ reminds me of trust, power and wisdom. Responsible, reliable, seeks peace.

‘Blue’ connects me to water and sky. But also to paying taxes, police … . I was raised in a family of growers and lived in a polder (= below sea level!). Understandable we learned to have attention to quality and quantity of water. Water we daily watched, felt and smelled. When you live and work in an area with a lot of industry – like me: Europoort, Rotterdam area – understandably you learn to pay attention to fresh air.

Water … sometimes exiting! Not long ago I was a few days abroad. In the meanwhile there was a lot of rain in my home town – a polder area. The pictures my wife sent, made me a little concerned … what if ..?! Directly I saw ‘pictures’ of August 1998: then for a short time my hometown was partly flooded … Anyway, the operators of the local Water Authority had long hours – my hometown kept dry feet! Also thanks to the local sustainable waterpumpstation – a windmill, supported by electric pumps.

Air … In my home town, the West part of the Netherlands (close to the sea), we have a lot of fresh air – sea climate! In the past 1,5 years I lived and worked 11 weeks (in total) in China – area’s with hardly any wind … Prognosis: the number of metropoles will increase in the next two decennia, worldwide. A good reason to focus on worldwide quality of air!

Our planet Earth has (many) area’s that lack availability of good quality water and air … Prognosis: world population will increase to more than 9 billion in the next decennia …!

“Change the world – start close to yourself”. This ‘flagstone quote’ is still true. In my opinion it’s time for more focus on ‘blue’ – responsibility! Think and act sustainable is not a far away show… When I travel, I use my bicycle when I can (even in a little shower!). Every day I pick up a peace of garbage (plastic!) from the street – anywhere I walk – and put it in a garbage can.

Blue. Think and act sustainable. Pick up responsibility. Are you in?