Jack Wakefield has spent much of his life working toward making a positive impact on the world. Not only has his passion for making a difference inspired his career, but it's led to him adopt a zero-waste lifestyle.
"Globally, every second a bus load of rubbish is dumped in developing countries," he shares. "Each of us can play our part just by making simple changes to the way that we live our ordinary lives."
Video Transcript
Meet Jack: Zero-waste advocate
London, England
Jack Wakefield: Every 15 seconds in the UK, we throw out enough plastic to fill a double-decker bus. Globally, every second a bus load of rubbish is dumped in developing countries. Two billion people without any way of managing waste — so this is a huge waste crisis that's hitting the poorest people the hardest.
[Speaking to clerk] A jar full?
Clerk: Yup.
Jack: So I'm at my local refill larder filling up my pasta and rice, and I'm getting cleaning products in a way that means I don't have to buy any packaging. So it means that I can live in a zero-waste way — choosing to make different decisions like shopping in places like this, and refusing to buy stuff when it's covered in packaging. And this year, because I'm choosing to live differently, it means I can reduce my waste down to a jar this big, and hopefully next year it can be a bit smaller.
(Footage from Jack’s hike with family and friends)
So, I turned 25 last year, and I wanted to do something to mark the occasion. And so, I invited my family and my friends to come on hikes and adventures with me around the UK. And over the past year, we've been walking up to the height of Everest on UK mountains to show you that holidaying here can be really adventurous and exciting. We don't have to fly and have a huge carbon footprint. But also to raise money for some solutions to climate change as well.
When I was 15, I really wanted to look at what it looked like to live out my faith in practical ways. And so it began by covering my parents' house in stickers of how we could reduce our impact from cycling, or not using the tumble dryer, and then escalated in all sorts of areas of my life and into my career as well now.
(Footage from the Global Climate Strike in London)
Each of us can play our part just by making simple changes to the way that we live our ordinary lives. It doesn't mean it has to become a career, but all of us have to buy food and clothes, and we can choose to make those decisions acts of worship and acts of justice.
(Group posing for photo at climate strike)
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