Hello. Welcome to the Nu blog. Over the coming months I am going to be writing articles about environmental issues that concern me, and, hopefully, inspiring you to take some simple, but effective steps to becoming greener yourselves. I was asked to get involved with Nu and, without hesitation, said yes straight away, because I believe that taking little positive steps – and buying earth friendly products – is what will help to win the war against plastic.

“Being the change requires actions, changes in habits and, ultimately, sacrifices.” 

I am also dad to two lovely girls, and I can remember what it’s like to have two under twos in the house. You worry all the time that you are doing the right thing and yet also remain well aware of the pile of mess you are leaving behind. So I am really excited about Nu and how the story will unfold as the product goes into trials and to the market.

Will you try Nu Bamboo products? I hope so. Like lots of other less environmentally harmful products, you might have to go a little out of your way to find them, and you might have to make small adjustments in your ‘normal’ routine to use them. But every effort you make is worth it.

Being the change is hard. But only you can do it. Because only you have the power to make the changes to live in a world you want to. No one else is going to put green products in your shopping basket or remind you to take a keep cup to the coffee shop so you can give up the plastic lined ones. The supermarket isn’t going to ask you to buy only products that don’t come in plastic wrapping and the drinks manufacturers aren’t going to get you a refillable bottle for Christmas. Only you can make those changes. And we – and by ‘we’ I mean me, NuBamboo, and a growing army of like-minded thinkers – are going to be there to cheer you on.

I worry constantly about the state of our oceans. I pick up plastic every time I go to the beach, which is almost every day. And now that I’ve seen what is washing up with every tide, I know we need to make massive changes in order to stop this environmental disaster. We need to seriously consider wearing and using natural fibres whenever possible, using non-plastic alternatives whenever we can, fighting the urge to be slaves to convenience and living a greener, less harmful existence.

But, as I already said, it is hard. Being the change requires actions, changes in habits and, ultimately, sacrifices. You have to make conscious decisions to go against the grain, to do things differently. If you are a new mum, for example, it’s easy to buy nappies that won’t ever degrade and wet wipes that are made from plastic. But deep in your soul you know it’s not right.

Every time you make a wise, earth-positive purchase, it makes a difference. You might not be able to see it, but it does matter.

“Even small actions add up.”

My beach cleaning campaign started after fierce storms in 2013. My local beach was devastated with plastic rubbish, including nappies and wet wipes. It was overwhelming, but I decided that I should just keep going back and picking up a little each time I did so. I figured that little and often could add up to big things. I also figured that if one other person did it too then it would at least be doubling my efforts. Then it would have been worth it. So I started using the #2minutebeachclean hashtag. Four years later almost 55,000 images have been posted to Instagram, from every continent using that hashtag. And we also have 350 beach cleaning stations on beaches in the UK and Ireland.

Things are getting done, but it’s only because there are lots of us doing it now. 2 minutes on their own might not make much of a dent to the problem of ocean plastic, but when you add them to everyone else’s 2 minutes, it soon adds up.

And that’s my point. Change does take time and effort, but every positive action matters. And you are the only one who can make it happen. Ok, so it isn’t easy to go out of your way to buy differently, to remember your keep cup, refillable bottle or bag for life or to take the train instead of driving. You have to put yourself out to buy truly environmentally friendly products, like a Nu Bamboo nappy, or wet wipe, and you may have to spend a little more to buy local, without packaging, or organic. But making the effort to do just one of those things does matter.  And you CAN do it.

“Your actions, no matter how small, will add up.”

Author Martin Dorey – the founder of the global #2minutebeachclean movement, writer and beach lover.