This week I completed two things which are wholly unrelated, yet carry a similar message at heart. The first was my very first market promoting the sustainability of upcycled furniture as part of this year’s Zero Waste Week initiatives. The second was Jodi Picoult’s book of the same name.

The strap line “There is a fire raging, and we have two choices: we can turn our backs, or we could try to fight it” could easily be adopted by the fight against global warming and all that entails.

From the novel, I noted one of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s many quotes “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”. This hit a chord as it formed the essence of my many chats at the market despite me not being aware of this quote at the time.

I am not thinking that I can save the world single-handedly by painting and selling second-hand furniture. But – and here’s the connection – I am doing something small but great … and if EVERYONE did something small and great, then this will surely mitigate the huge problem we all have? My fellow marketeers, Steph and Joe from Fillable, are championning the plastic-free lifestyle and are doing it very well. Situated on Wingbury Farm, outside my office window, are half-dozen solar panels with sheep grazing at their bases. Econimically sound (of course) but also this renewable energy powers much of the business units. In fact their glamping pods have wood-fired hot tubs.

Sorting rubbish is now a given for almost everyone now (is it not?). The challenge is to pick something else – even if it’s just one thing, one small great thing, and make the change. This may lead to another small but equally great thing.

And these will add up to a big great thing.