Changent Zero
Become a Changent

Become a Changent

Your Changent

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU

Changent Zero exists to inspire and activate “Change Agents” who desire a better world and are seeking ways to easily engage in a mission to make this happen. When you become a part of the Changent Zero community, you receive your Changent # (Agent #). Each Changent is assigned a number (similar to James Bond’s 007), representing the move from being “just a number” to the true power that resides in each of us when we add our number to the total impact for positive global change.

For now (until the zero waste app is launched), use your Changent # to identify yourself when you post your ‘changent actions‘ such as celebrating a habit change (i.e. refusing plastic bags, re-using an item), or writing a letter to your city council on an issue or creating a piece of art inspired by nature or by your concern over climate change. These are just a few examples! We invite you to post your ‘action’ on our Facebook page along with your Changent # so we can all celebrate!

Why become a Changent?

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

ANNE FRANK

We are all individual cells within the organism of earth. When we take care of the planet, we take care of self, as the planet takes care of us. It is an infinity loop of giving and receiving.

However, many of us have been taught to see the earth as separate from ourselves. This disconnect has allowed us to focus our energy on making and accumulating more having belongings instead of belonging.

Success tends to be defined as the biggest footprint possible. This illusion of success is a fantasy solution to a very real and primal need:

To secure safety and comfort for ourselves, our children and their descendants.

Our brains are wired to be triggered for the sole purpose of keeping us alive. This was helpful as cave dwellers vulnerable to the elements and our fellow creatures (some large with very sharp teeth)!

We are no less vulnerable now, but our survival-focused reptilian-brain (“fight, flight, freeze” response) keep us busy navigating threats that feel just as big…even if the predator is now in the form of a daily routine where we spend both work and weekend days responding to 100+ emails, driven by fear of losing our job.

As we focus on our individual day-to-day survival, we lose focus on the bigger picture. There is a fantasy (mental “flight”) that excess will keep us safe. However, our bodies know that the connection between self and earth means our sustenance, our survival, and therefore our power! 

This means securing the safety for all living things.

Ionically, this awareness can create a fear loop back to the brain when we think about the environmental crisis on our planet. This activated sense of urgency, fear and overwhelm can trigger us back into a survival loop, leading us to project our fear as we “fight” petty battles or to “flight” as we binge-watch Netflix, or to “freeze”, paralyzing us to the point of inaction.

Let’s re-establish the connection.

In our vulnerability and awareness, we yearn to re-establish the connection to the earth. To be a part of it, not separate from it. This does not require great feats or sweeping gestures. It happens in the smallest gestures and moments.

This is the journey to securing a future for ourselves, our children, and descendants.

Unless we are willing to encourage our children to reconnect with and appreciate the natural world, we can’t expect them to help protect and care for it.

DAVID SUZUKI