This article explains why this site exists and what it is trying to achieve. Colin Austin reflects on his personal motivations, his background in engineering and innovation, and his concern for future generations. The focus is on soil, water, food security, and soil carbon as practical tools to improve resilience in a world of growing population and resource pressure. The site exists to share knowledge freely, encourage action, and support long-term thinking.
My Mission — Colin Austin, 4 June 2013
Thanks for the Prompt
Thanks Marianne for the jog. I recently received an email from Marianne Kambouridis in Ballarat telling me about the great work she is doing on sustainability in her school. That message prompted me to sit down and write clearly about what I believe, what I am trying to achieve, and how others can support these aims.
From time to time it is useful to stop and reflect. Why run a website? Why write articles? Why keep pushing ideas that often sit outside mainstream thinking? This article is my attempt to answer those questions honestly.
Grandfather’s Syndrome
I suffer from what I jokingly call a medical condition known as “grandfather’s syndrome”. Instead of going out, spending the last of my money, and generally having a good time like a normal, sensible person, I find myself thinking about the sort of life my grandchildren will have, and in turn the lives of their grandchildren.
The current population of the world is around seven billion. By the time my grandchildren are mature, it will likely be closer to nine billion. More important than the numbers, however, is how the world will change. At present, the bulk of the world’s population lives in developing countries with modest lifestyles. In my grandchildren’s lifetime, many of these people will enjoy greater purchasing power and wealth than we currently do in the affluent West.
Wealth, Progress, and Hidden Costs
Our capitalist system has proven remarkably effective at increasing wealth and material comfort. In that sense it has been a great success. However, it focuses almost entirely on short-term profit and largely ignores long-term effects, particularly the cost imposed on the natural environment.
Yet the natural environment underpins everything we depend on: our food, clothing, shelter, and our ability to enjoy the world around us. When these systems are damaged, the cost is not immediately obvious on a balance sheet, but it is very real for future generations.
What Can You and I Actually Do?
It is easy to feel powerless. Wars, conflicts, inequality, and extremism are enormous problems, and I can do very little directly about them. But responsibility for the future does not lie only with governments or institutions. It lies with people — you, me, and everyone else — taking responsibility where they can.
I am an engineer. For many years I had a successful career in science, technology, and innovation. I understand how the innovation process works. I no longer work to create products for profit or commercial gain, but that does not mean the skills and experience disappear.
Growing Food Is Normal to Me
All my life I have had an interest in growing plants, and in the essential roles that soil and water play. Perhaps this comes from my early life experiences — when Hitler tried to bomb me and missed, he then tried to starve me into submission. Growing food became normal.
To me, food production is not an abstract concept. It is practical, essential, and deeply connected to human dignity and survival.
Soil and Water as Foundations
I have therefore used my experience in science and innovation to focus on better technologies for soil and water. For decades I have worked on ways to regenerate degraded soils and to use water more effectively.
Wicking beds, and more recently my biopacks for soil regeneration, are the latest outcomes of this work. These developments are not a hobby for an old man, nor are they a business in the usual sense. In fact, they cost money rather than generate it, at least for me. The hope is that they deliver wider benefits for people around the world.
The Problem With Worshipping Money
In my lifetime, our ability to produce goods has increased beyond belief. This has been driven by science, technology, and capitalism working together. Compared with my childhood, living standards have improved enormously.
We are now seeing a dramatic global shift as technology spreads through developing countries. This is, in many ways, a good thing. It raises living standards and reduces suffering. However, it also places unprecedented pressure on natural resources — soil, water, and ecosystems — on which all of us depend.
Limits of the Profit-Only Mindset
Many Western governments operate on the belief that the profit motive alone will solve environmental challenges. The idea is that governments can sit back and simply manipulate financial systems from a distance.
A quick look at the economic situations in Europe and the United States shows the limits of this philosophy. Whatever your political views, it is difficult to deny that China’s more pragmatic approach — actively interacting with the private sector rather than relying on it blindly — has delivered stronger results in many areas.
Soil Carbon and Time
Soil carbon is the second largest carbon sink after the oceans. Properly managed, soil could absorb around fifty years of man-made carbon emissions. This would buy us time — time to develop and implement new energy technologies — while also improving food security.
This will not happen automatically. It requires governments to become actively involved, and it requires practical, scalable systems that farmers and communities can adopt.
Why This Matters to Future Generations
Because I suffer from grandfather’s syndrome, I genuinely believe that technologies based on soil and water can play an important role in creating a better future. That belief is why I run this website, publish newsletters, write help columns, and try to spread information as widely as possible.
I also spend time trying to persuade governments of the importance of soil carbon. This is often slow, frustrating work, but it matters.
How You Can Help
You can help by spreading the word. Talk to friends. Share information in person or through the internet. The internet has extraordinary power to spread ideas that once would have remained local.
Access to Healthy Food Is a Right
I believe everyone has a right to a healthy diet. There is no moral justification for me making money from people — or from those trying to help people — who lack financial resources. Any technology or information I develop is made available to them freely, with no suggestion of payment.
Voluntary Support
From time to time, I write articles or booklets describing my work. I invite those who enjoy an affluent lifestyle to make a small contribution, typically around five dollars per item.
This will never make me rich, but it does help cover the costs of research, experimentation, and education. It also provides encouragement. I am a human being with normal emotions, and it helps to know that others value what I am trying to do, particularly when dealing with the frustrations of government processes around soil carbon.
In Closing
This site exists because I believe that soil, water, and food systems matter deeply for the future of humanity. I believe knowledge should be shared freely, innovation should serve people rather than profits alone, and long-term thinking is not optional.
If this site helps even a small number of people think differently, grow food more effectively, or take soil and water seriously, then it has served its purpose.
Colin Austin
