Our planet can no longer sustain the amount we take from it in an attempt to get our needs met.

The GreenBe approach to the climate problem - and indeed the humanitarian and economic problems - is to work on the social side of the multi-disciplinary solutions that are needed. This means that GreenBe works to help us to see how we are already of value and worth; to see behind what we think and the things we do to enhance our sense of self through the accumulation of possessions, be they people or objects.

In our experience reducing our resource use to sustainable levels means having to make some sizeable shifts. This requires skilled facilitation, intervention, patience and commitment in order to sustain and support those shifts. We also think that effective and appropriate completion of these changes relies on the cultivation of certain a attitude. So the qualities of compassion, non-judgement, open-mindedness and enthusiasm are at the heart of what we do.

This approach is based on several decades of research suggesting that at the core of our culture's massive and continued increase in consumption, is a lack of self worth; essentially that we think we need more and more things to feel better about ourselves, to feel whole and complete, and to foster a sense of safety and belonging.

This beginning place helps us to inquire; What do we really value? What is of real worth? How do we protect and share that?

Of crucial value are the air we breath, water we drink and land from which we grow our food... this is not a trendy "Eco" sentiment but a basic fact.

It is GreenBe's aim to help us to accept this.

After an initial consultation we match you (or your group) to a consultant and or mentor that best fits your situation - click on “contact” to begin the process. Our team’s role is to support you on your journey toward achieving your goals. The team member or members assigned to you will be familiar with your specific issues and understand the arenas in which you are trying to manoeuvre. In other words the people supporting you will have skills and experience relevant to you and your aims.

The interactive and dynamic relationship between you and your consultant will lead you to greater awareness about your specific situation. Our aim is to help you achieve short-term results to motivate you to cultivate the skills necessary for sustainable change. Helping you to remove what is preventing you from progressing in the direction you'd like to go is our first goal. We understand that at times the process may brush up against sensitive issues and you can trust that there will always be an honest and straightforward approach in how questions are asked and requests are made about the process as a whole.

GreenBe was founded by Alexander Balerdi once he had realised that at the root of the human contribution to climate change was the amount that we consume. He wanted to bring together people that could help others look at the reasons why they consume so much and what needs they are trying to satisfy by doing so. When he began to look into these reasons for himself, he was struck by the realisation that so much of his comfortable life was not in fact comfort but the violation of his own most fundamental human needs and those of many others.

In his own words, “I owe my "comfort" to the destruction and suppression of our environment and other cultures.” So he decided he would begin the work of committing to changing himself and his sphere of influence. “I began to redefine what it was that satisfied my needs and I am still doing this. It is hard and working with others in my community and in business helped me to see that I am most certainly not alone.” In fact he founded GreenBe on the idea that this is not an individual problem but a systemic one. It can only be tackled by working together to come up with solutions to why we in our lives feel we need so much (at the cost of others) in order to survive.

GreenBe was founded on the metaphor of honey bees, how merely by going about getting their needs met they manage to support and sustain the environment that supports and sustains them. Humans tend to overwhelmingly do the opposite; by going about trying to get our needs met we manage to undermine the sustainability of the environment that supports and sustains us. Alexander’s question to himself, “How utterly transformative would it be for ourselves and our global culture to work towards living lives that sustain Nature, humans and all Life? I consider this our most important work.”

consultant - informing, advising and supporting

We aim to provide you with the best possible circumstances from which to decide how to operate in an uncertain and changing world. We use our knowledge, experince, and expertise to assist you in making choices. A bespoke service for each client means no two projects are identical, however consulting amounts to sharing the latest information and research with you and then enguage you in actioning that advice sustainably. We will put together reports (for information), plans (for action), and meet with you to encourage that our work together yeilds fruitful results for you personally and your group or businesses depending on what exaclty you are looking for.

mentor - your development project manager

Mentoring is offered as a form of ongoing support to sustain the changes that consulting suggests. We use the term mentoring to imply someone who can act as a support and guide on your journey toward living and working more sustainably in your specific area. They will usually be familiar with your industry and interests. Very few can claim to be living truly sustainably - i.e. never participating in a way of life that if continued, will eventually completlely deplete resources for others. So we stay away from terms such as coach or expert. We do not believe we have your answers however we are confident we can help you arrive at the answers that are right for you. Neither is this counselling, or therapy, however a mentor may suggest this as part of the process and depending on their skillset, may offer this and/or advise how to pursue this to assist in your own or your group's development.

trainer - bespoke workshops and skills sharing

The development of a sustainable culture is contingent upon the agreement of a group to participate in the new way of life. We quickly recognise that we require agreement from both with-in and with-out the group and from here we see how the defeinition of "group" can expand. A GreenBe trainer will run sessions with you individually and as a group to teach you specific skills necessary to support you in living more sustainably. These can range from practical hands on skills (susch as, better reuse and recycling practices, growing your own food, how to install sustainable technologies - grey water systems, solar panels, turbines etc) to just as practical but less physical skills such as understanding why we overconsume resources in the first place and how to communicate with people about these issues in a way that enguages them.

development - personal, business and commnunity

Sustainability is not sector, industury or culture specific. In other words being "green" is not just for hippies. The question of how we get our needs met in ways that support and sustain the environments we depend on is one that affects every part of our lives, and the lives of those that we do not yet consider to be part of our lives; those in other groups and countires, the plants, animals and insects that we share this planet with. To develop as a species, be it as individuals, businesses, governemts, schools, communities, it is vital to acknowledge that nothing we do is without conesquence to those we share our living space with. Our ability to survive this peiod in history and to truly develop, is contingent upon us recognising the simple fact that we need each other. In the most practical way, these times are showning us that we can only sustain life by acknowledging that we are part of it.

The Fundamental need

1. We need a planet with a particular kind of atmosphere and a sustainable supply of resources in order to survive in a relatively comfortable way.

Shared purpose, where we are headed

2. It is our desire for the human race to continue to survive on this planet, Earth, working toward a state of relative peace and harmony.

The State of the World, the situation we face

3. We are living in a time where there is wide agreement and overwhelming evidence indicating that the developed world is over consuming the Earth’s resources, begining a process of environmental and cultural changes that put in serious jeopardy the availability of stable ecosystems and resources. Hence the survival of the human race and many other species is at stake.

Our contribution, causes and motivation

4. It is important to reach an integrated understanding of how we contribute to the problems stated in assumptions 1-3. In order to effectively and appropriately respond to the previous assumptions it is not enough to be given action plans and advice from external ‘experts’. This approach tends to address the symptoms without recognising what fuels them.

How we might work together differently

5. Cultivating a comprehensive understanding of the problems and how we contribute to them requires committed reflection with friends, families and colleagues. This process is on going and yields effective results when addressed simultaneously between individuals, communities and larger social structures.

Accepting wholeness and interconnectedness

6. Any development work, personal or community, that doesn’t support and recognise as vital, natural/ecological interconnection and interdependence, with our selves/humanity as an intrinsic and integrated part of this, is not ultimately developing at all.
In other words; we ignore the first assumption at our peril.