TED’s mission is ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ so I thought I’d spread the winning idea from the Fast Ideas that were presented at this year’s TEDxSydney event on 16th June 2017.
The potentially world-changing idea was conceived by Guy Webb, a far-sighted scientist working at Soil C Quest. Here it is:
‘There are now dangerous levels of carbon in our atmosphere. Yet there’s too little carbon in the world’s vast farming soils.
Imagine if there was a simple, practical method that enabled farmers to transfer carbon from the air into their soils – on a giga tonne, game-changing scale.
This may now be possible thanks to a recently discovered carbon-capturing fungus. The process is simple: fix carbon from the air and inject it into soil – making farmers Carbon-Capturing Climate Super Heroes!’
Behind the scenes, Guy also shared the following: ‘I believe we can make a real and lasting difference to how climate change plays out in our lifetimes. It’s the same as watching a plant grow. I can water and fertilise a plant … however if I sit there and watch it for an hour, it doesn’t do anything. I can’t notice any difference because the time scale of plant growth is simply too slow for the human eye to observe. However, come back after a week of sun, water and fertiliser and I’ll see a bigger greener plant. It’s the same with climate change action. The scale of change is hard to perceive in real time, however if we were to make serious reductions in C02 emissions by channeling it into soil, over the next 25 years, slowly but surely we would turn things around. Follow Soil C Quest on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and check out the website to find out more if you have a mind to.’
I feel exactly the same way about our health. The small decisions we make every day – to go for a walk, eat more vegetables, spend 10 minutes in the sun, get to bed a bit earlier, practise a few minutes of gratitude … the effect of these things may not be immediately noticeable. But they inexorably add up over the years and result in a longer, happier, healthier life.
As for my idea, watch below!
For more on TEDx Sydney visit: https://tedxsydney.com/
