The Circle of Life
or, more prosaically, Eden’s operating Model
Pikkers* (centre) create pristine Parishes, which are the founding blocks of a pristine Planet and which lead to gratified Patrons funding Pikkers who help raise funds for Proceedings by ClientEarth whose actions lead to Polluters being sanctioned thus reducing the amount of pollution for Pikkers to deal with.
* Pikker (in Estonian mythology) is the “protector of the holy river.” In our terms, pikking entails zero tolerance of pollution of the parish waterways from one’s parish. The Holy Grail is a permanently pristine parish and the journey involves a twice-weekly pik of the entire parish. Distinguish litter-picking, where success tends to be measured in terms of the quantity of litter collected, which, perversely, means the longer the gap between picks, the more impressive the amount of litter collected… and the more that will meanwhile have bled into the waterways.
“Eden” evokes a pristine planet and our mission is to bring that about, parish by parish. In doing so, we are set to disrupt the litter-picking industry, an industry that continues to apply yesterday's solutions to today's litter crisis. Great British Spring Cleans and other occasional litter picks not only do not begin to cope with the daily deluge of litter but they seduce people into thinking that litter is under control.
It’s very obviously not. On the contrary, the deterioration in our environment is accelerating.
It needed a total rethink.
There were two primary challenges to nullifying the litter problem:
How to get people to pick up litter as fast as it's being dropped.
How to fund the equipment and organisation needed.
Eden’s answer was to establish the concept of a “pristine parish”: a parish where litter is cleared twice a week - The Goldilocks Regime*. Eden recruits pikkers to pik their parish, fully equips them and provides ongoing organisation and support. All paid for by sponsors.
How come this system works?
Well, it transpired that:
A resident, who might think twice about volunteering for a "futile" annual pick would volunteer to pik every week, because there was instant and permanent payback - at last they could live in a clean environment and their parish, once pristine, did not revert. Ever.
A pristine parish is worth something, not just to the residents, but to brand managers who recognise that funding the creation of a pristine parish, in return for branding pikkers' vests, is a way of greening their adspend, attracting the conscious consumer and motivating their colleagues.
In other words, keeping one’s parish pristine has become at once a gratifying occupation for residents and an advertising channel for brands.
In doing so, volunteers either generate the funds needed to enrol and equip other parishes or back ClientEarth in tackling polluters in court.
It's a virtuous circle as illustrated by the infographic at the top of this page.
* The Goldilocks Regime
Piks take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays, give or take a day. That affords a three-day window for a pik to be done, a necessary degree of flexibility for volunteers. Given a week can’t accommodate more than two three-day windows, the regime reflects the optimum periodicity.