#aBillionSeconds
We are starting with the idea that progress takes time. If you only had one second, you would have only been able to read this text to the word ‘starting.’ In a million seconds, groups have built hospitals, shipped goods across the word, and planted entire forests. A billion seconds aims to guide our collective attention to a bigger scale and further out so we can establish meaningful goals with significant impact on our planet. A billion seconds is around 30 years, longer than a single generation, enough time for a forest to grow. We are adopting this timeframe in order to better explain the concept of multigenerational thinking and inspire ideas with a lasting impact.
The journey of a billion seconds involves us all, regardless of if we decide to participate, this is about our planet which we all depend on.
We want to inspire people to commit one million seconds a year, and support them in how to achieve this. A million seconds is around 11.5 days, which can seem like a daunting prospect. This works out to a day a month, or a quarter day a week. We realize that not everyone can spare that amount of time, or find projects that require that level of commitment. We aren’t asking for it all to be done in days though, we’re all about the seconds.
We must value every second. As individuals, we already invest thousands of seconds a month unconsciously into many things, including healing our planet. Small acts like rinsing out plastics before putting them in the recycling, showing kindness to a stranger, picking up a piece of trash on the sidewalk, or choosing to commute by bike instead of a car. By consciously adding small practices and habits into our daily lives, we get closer to our goal of spending a million seconds a year doing something positive for the health of our planet.
We believe that once good activities, programs, and solutions are cataloged, defined, and shared, it will help others bring change to their lives, communities, and cities. This is how we scale good ideas.
A billion seconds was thought up by C7 as a way of reaching more people, and spreading transformative ideas. However, it wouldn’t work without the network of brilliance we are collecting. We are working with a variety of organizations, including groups setting up the platform and infrastructure for urban entrepreneurs to transform emergent cities, groups looking for sustainable solutions to migration and urbanization, and many more.
