Think&Drink 9: The Kid

It’s not often that we ask fourteen year olds to speak at T&D. And it’s not often that these fourteen year olds can boast to have been involved in getting a million trees planted.

Actually the number is 12.5 billion. But then we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Felix Finkbeiner was working on a school assignment about climate change when he was nine. His research led him to Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and her campaign to plant 30 million trees in Africa. That inspired him to plant his own tree in his school in Bavaria.

It’s been five years since that first tree was planted, and now his campaign has gone global. Since then he has spoken in front of the United Nations (his biggest challenge so far according to him), and with his team has conducted 112 "academies" (workshops run by Plant-for-the-Planet) in 16 countries. The entrepreneurial youngster even has his own new retail product, Change Chocolate, coming up this year.

He does what he does because, in his own words – “the year 2100 is within his lifetime”. The future which is abstract to many adults will be a reality for his generation (and ours!). And it’ll be too late by the time he’s an adult.

At the moment, he already has twelve and a half thousand children with him. His goal for 2020 is for a million people worldwide planting trees with him, and to even create the world's first global political party. “When people work together, they have power – and enough to make our own revolution if necessary."

His dad, who was there with us, shared (rather candidly, and in good humour) that he doesn’t think that he’s all that special (his words!). He just reckons it’s in Felix’s personality to be speaking about these things. But as Felix mused, all this could not be possible without his family – his father to travel around with him, and even allowing the first employee of Plant-for-the-Planet (Felix’s organization) to use their house as an office.

Despite having the facts about climate change at the tips of his fingers, and (from what we understand) a fairly substantial young female fan base, Felix is humble. Upon being asked why he thinks adults make the bad decisions he’s fighting against, he just shrugs his shoulders and says frankly “I don’t know”. 

But don’t take him too lightly. Just a few days ago Felix gave a presentation to a business conference. Usually the applause and the standing ovations come at the end. This time it came in front, and not just any business conference – two thousand CEOs stood in applause as he walked into the room to give his speech.

During the evening, he also said that there are always people who don’t take you seriously. But then, there are always people who don’t take the issues seriously too. Neither should stop you from doing what you do.

So thank you, Felix (and dad), for an inspiring evening – a night with a fourteen year-old who has planted so many trees, and who we reckon will inspire many more over his lifetime.

Activating Empathy in Schools

Ever wondered if school could be better? So have we. 

School was always about Math, Science, and so on - and we always wondered, while watching kids scurrying around in the canteens during break, if any of these young minds ever wondered what goes on beyond their classroom, beyond their own little worlds.

That’s where you could do something.

Organised by Ashoka Changemakers, “Activating Empathy! Transforming Schools to Teach What Matters” is a global collaborative competition that aims to do just that, and it is now open for entries.      

The competition seeks the best ideas, programs, and learning models from around the world that equip students with the skill of empathy by: 

• Encouraging social and emotional development       
• Unlocking new ways of viewing problems, opening the door to a new world of potential solutions   
• Addressing bullying or aggression in ways that advance understanding of others' perspectives 
• Promoting community diversity and a respect for differences    
• Championing children as real-­‐world problem solvers rather than simply bystanders    

Not that this should matter, but there's 70K USD in prize money, and some mystery special prizes, so apply online to share your ideas, gather support for your project, or just to connect with others.

Final final registration closes on March 30, so look up the site to sign up or find out more.

DISCLOSURE: Syinc is an official Network Partner of Ashoka Changemakers. No, they did not pay us to share this. We just think you’d think it awesome anyways.

think&drink7: The day we tackled some of the shittiest issues on Earth

Or a night at the friendly Pigeonhole with WTO founder, Mr. Jack Sim.

That’s right. WTO.

The World Toilet Organisation.

Jack told us about his childhood, about talking too much in class and getting caned on stage. He thanks his education experience for not making him too comfortable – having no other opportunity after leaving school, he went into business.

So, “good things come from bad things too”. He went on to start 16 companies over his adult life. One of them was the Restroom Association of Singapore and the WTO, organisations doing us all very very big and dirty services by campaigning for cleaner public toilets - and soon placed him on the international social entrepreneurship map.

By self-admission, he wants “everything” in life. In a poignant moment, he mused: there's no need to live life as a scoreboard (contrary to what our system teaches all good Singaporeans). He also saw no point in “buying chocolate coloured Louis Vuitton bags to one-up each other”? He’d rather do something that he likes with other … chocolate coloured stuff.

That white shirt he’s wearing in the photos? He bought it because it reminded him of toilet tiles.

Jack Sim "the shirt"

And why would he not? He shared a golden insight relevant to so many people in Corporate Singapore: why trade dollars for minutes – especially after you’re already satisfied. Why be a prostitute selling your body for money to your boss or company?

Jack talks about enjoying every moment in his life – including on the toilet. And whether his business, his wife (he thanks her for “forgiving him for what he is”, to his upcoming Toilet film and toilet museum under the WTO, he clearly likes what he is doing. And he advises us to do the same.

After all, in his words, “if you can't shit, life has no meaning.”