Whole Food Living - Winter 2020

Page 10

"Suddenly I could fix my environmental concerns by Peter Barclay

10 wholefoodliving.life | Winter, 2020

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his is a story about two beasts of battle. In one corner you have a seasoned explorer, one who doesn't shy away when the going gets tough and has taken his fair share of knocks. Peter Eastwood is a venturer of sorts. When it comes to business he's a sailor sniffing the breeze. In the corner opposite stands an ancient creature. Arrogant in its own way, the rhino stands almost totally safe except for a poacher's flying bullet. It's a comparison that might seem laughable in a contest anywhere on an African plain but there's one thing these two beasts have in common, they both eat plants. For Peter Eastwood, becoming plantbased came about because of a combination of things, but the initial impetus happened through business. “I’d been involved with Rhino conservation since 2009. Then I was

challenged by my technical manager at work on why I didn’t do something for New Zealand instead of just for Africa.” A discussion arose around what could be done. “She said we should be more environmentally friendly. But what does that mean, what is it?” As he thought of it at the time, “I’ve got to run a business here. I’m not here for handouts – leave all that to the bloody greenies, you know.” Back then, he says, “I was really right wing.” His technical manager asked if she could form a committee and come back with some proposals. “I said yeah, fine. So, she came back a week later and said we should look in the rubbish skips and then we’ll work out what we can avoid throwing in the rubbish. That took us on a journey within the company where we found all of these huge savings


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