Euthrix potatoria Drinker moth caterpillar

‘In- house training sessions for work. Attendance is obligatory. ‘

This, turning up in your in-box, causes a groan of complete non-enthusiasm. For heavens sake! The same subjects repeated year after year, there’s nothing new in them, I already follow all the legislation and guidelines, it’s a day wasted in getting to the venue and the pressure to get on with real work deadlines looms. It’s the biggest waste of time in the calendar.

So, a couple of years ago I took the training to deliver the Manual Handling and Pollution Control Sessions, ready to run the gauntlet of audience apathy, annoyance and boredom. 
Why would I do this? – Because, against all odds I believe that the two subjects are at the spear-head of what are two of the greatest issues of our day.

Manual handling is not just about ‘how to lift a cardboard box’ it’s about how we can keep our bodies pain-free and active. It’s about the interface between healthy mind, body and spirit. It’s about how we respect and work with others of differing physical abilities throughout our daily lives.
Rightly, training is largely focussed on the protection of the spine. But questions such as:- What is the best way to inform and instil safe manual handling practise for our volunteers. What do you need to do to stay strong and supple as you age? What are the gender issues of strain on soft tissue, eg hernias and prolapses? How do men and women differ in their approach to a labouring task, given that women are generally less strong than men?

Pollution control is not just a series of ‘compliance actions for managing harmful substances’ it is also a mind-set about how we care for our planet. It’s looking at our government, our community, our households, our workplace and making the best decisions we can to mitigate for global pollution at local level. In picking up litter, sorting our household waste, dealing immediately with the smallest of oil spills, planning 5 years ahead of tree felling for silt run-off management,  we are providing living examples of how a caring force of people can start dealing practically with the enormity of the wasting of our Earth.

Has this got anything to do with the picture of the Drinker Moth caterpillar? Not intentionally – but if you want to push the point - like all caterpillars, with good food and lots of exercise they pupate. Pupation is that messy period where they disintegrate and then re-create their body parts. Arguably, the golden moth that emerges is even more beautiful than the caterpillar.
We have to hope that, similarly, this destructive messed up era can metamorphose into a world clean, whole and wonderful.
(A bronzed body-beautiful also would be a bonus)