A Service Design Principle to make it clearer that we don't own the planet

In coaching, we often make people aware of the words they choose. For example, when someone says: "I have to eat healthy", we might ask: "Is this something you are forced to do, or something that you choose to do?". Such simple changes of words greatly impact how we perceive the world.

We often see nature as a resource that is here for us to use (1). We, myself included, often use the word "our planet" as if we had ownership of nature. I'm asking myself if I should change that. What if I said instead: "their planet" to show that the majority on this planet isn't humans, but rather other animals?

This reminds me of how the Guardian decided in 2019 to change how the journal speaks about the climate situation. They switched from "climate change" to "climate crisis" in their style guide. Here's how editor-in-chief Katharine Viner explained it:

“We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue (..) The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity.”

Action question

What words that you use today could you change when you speak about nature so that you're more willing to make your service or product sustainable?

Footnotes

(1) For more on that, explore this short article by Anna van der Togt.

Daniele's notes

• This is the first shitty draft of this principle

• This principle might one day make it in the fifth book in the "Service Design Principles" series that explores how to better serve humans and the planet.

• If you're curious about service design principles, you can get the four previous books in the series, with proofread principles and less grammatical creativity.