We Speak Sustainability
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A living archive of grassroots action

Small actions. Real people. A better world.

Around the world, ordinary people are doing extraordinary things for the places they call home. We find them, listen to them, check what they did, and show you how to try it too.

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36stories
33countries
9lives remembered
36ideas to copy
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I want to do somethingPractical ideas you can copy, sorted from easiest to hardest. Show me what's happening near meBrowse the world map or pick a country below. I'm working on a specific problemCompare how different countries tackle the same problem. I'm a researcher or policymakerInsights, open data and our methodology. I want to remember and learnDefenders and pioneers who changed our relationship with Earth. I have a story to shareTell us what you are doing, however small.

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The world is speaking

Every point is a person, a place, a start

Tap a point to read the story. Every story on the map is also in the full list.

Mariama Sonko and Nous Sommes la Solution — Niaguis, Ziguinchor, SenegalNzambi Matee (Gjenge Makers) — Nairobi, KenyaAfroz Shah — Versova, Mumbai, IndiaResidents of Kamikatsu — Kamikatsu, Tokushima, JapanZeinab Mokalled (Moukalled) and the women of Nidaa al-Ard (Call of the Earth) — Arab Salim, Nabatieh, LebanonWilliam Kamkwamba — Masitala village, near Kasungu, MalawiUaxactún community and its Organización, Manejo y Conservación (OMYC) — Uaxactún, Petén, GuatemalaAutumn Peltier — Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, CanadaVuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Old Crow — Old Crow, Yukon, CanadaLeah Namugerwa — Kampala, UgandaNohra Padilla — Bogotá, ColombiaBilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola (Wecyclers) — Lagos, NigeriaAbel Cruz Gutiérrez — Lima, PeruJamila Bargach and Dar Si Hmad (with co-founder Aissa Derhem and the Aït Baamrane villages) — Aït Baamrane, Sidi Ifni Province, MoroccoRural families of Brazil's semi-arid region, with the Articulação Semiárido Brasileiro (ASA) network — Floresta, Pernambuco, BrazilVillagers of Hussainabad (Skardu) and Pari (Kharmang), Gilgit-Baltistan — Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, PakistanMohammed Rezwan (Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha) — Chalan Beel, Natore district, BangladeshPacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change — Port Vila, VanuatuLeydy Pech — Hopelchén, Campeche, MexicoFarmers of Maradi and Zinder, with agronomist Tony Rinaudo — Maradi, NigerVeryNile (founded by Mostafa Habib and Khadija Hafez) and fishers of Qursaya Island — Qursaya Island, Giza, EgyptPam Warhurst and Mary Clear (co-founders), with volunteers of Incredible Edible Todmorden — Todmorden, West Yorkshire, United KingdomDieudonné Tantoh Nforba ('Farmer Tantoh') and Save Your Future Association — Bamenda, CameroonLisa Carne and Fragments of Hope — Placencia, BelizeChewang Norphel — Leh, Ladakh, IndiaRoberto "Ka Dodoy" Ballon and the Kapunungan sa Gagmay'ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion (KGMC) — Concepcion, Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, PhilippinesBernice Dapaah and Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative — Kumasi, GhanaMartine Postma — Amsterdam, NetherlandsCommunity of Abreha We Atsbeha, mobilised by village leader Aba Hawi — Abreha We Atsbeha, near Wukro, Tigray, EthiopiaJadav Payeng — Kokilamukh, Jorhat (Brahmaputra river islands, Assam), IndiaSuzan Lakhan-Baptiste and Nature Seekers, Matura — Matura, Trinidad, Trinidad and TobagoThe Brave Women of Kruščica (including Maida Bilal) — Kruščica, Vitez municipality, Bosnia and HerzegovinaIsatou Ceesay and the women of N'jau — N'jau, Central River Region, The GambiaSOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods), co-founded by Sasha Kramer and Sarah Brownell — Cap-Haïtien, HaitiMelati and Isabel Wijsen — Bali, IndonesiaNemonte Nenquimo — Waorani territory, Pastaza province (coordinates: Puyo, provincial capital), EcuadorChico Mendes (remembered) — BrazilBerta Cáceres (remembered) — HondurasSister Dorothy Stang (remembered) — BrazilKen Saro-Wiwa (remembered) — NigeriaIsidro Baldenegro López (remembered) — MexicoWangari Maathai (remembered) — KenyaRachel Carson (remembered) — United StatesYacouba Sawadogo (remembered) — Burkina FasoJane Goodall (remembered) — United Kingdom
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This week's small thing

A mountain town that sorts its rubbish into 45 categories

Kamikatsu, Tokushima, JapanDocumented

Residents began washing their food packaging and carrying their own rubbish, sorted by type, to the town's collection centre instead of having it burned.

“Once custom is changed, it becomes habit”Akira Sakano, Zero Waste Academy, quoted by WHYY (The Pulse)
Meet Residents of Kamikatsu →
Copy this

Mark birthdays or other milestones by planting native trees, and invite friends and family to do the same

DifficultyEasyCostLowInspired byLeah Namugerwa, Uganda

Local tree loss and few chances for young people to take part in restoration.

Learn how to try it All ideas to copy →
They left a footprint

Wangari Maathai

1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011 · Kenya

Kenyan biologist who founded the Green Belt Movement, linking tree planting with women's empowerment and democracy, and became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The footprint Wangari left Legacy archive →

Some footprints disappear in the sand. Others change the direction of history.

One problem. Many solutions.

Urban waste

How do towns and cities reuse, repair and recycle more? 6 stories from 6 countries.

Compare all 6 approaches → · Browse all problems

What didn't work?

Failure is evidence too

From Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola (Wecyclers) in Nigeria:

The first kiosk model failed because residents found it inconvenient, and an early bicycle-and-wagon design was too hard to pedal (MIT News). Adebiyi-Abiola told Al Jazeera she faced sexist comments as a woman running a waste business.

More lessons from setbacks →

Our global archive

From one person to a global movement

Counted automatically from published stories. Follow the 1,000 Small Things Project.

36stories published
33countries
36towns and communities
33kinds of action
For researchers and policymakers

The missing evidence on community action

Global sustainability data rarely sees what households, farmers, fishers and neighbourhoods actually do. This archive makes it searchable, citable and open.

Insights

What 36 documented actions show about scale, cost, setbacks and gaps.

Open data

Download the archive as CSV or JSON under CC BY 4.0.

Methodology

Inclusion rules, evidence levels, classification and limitations.

For institutions

How governments, UN agencies and NGOs can use and contribute.
Join the movement

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We want to hear from you. No action is too small, and you never have to invent numbers.

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