The economic power of women through our everyday choices can change the world in a good way, writes 1 Million Women founder Natalie Isaacs. As women we have great power. It’s real economic power. Power that comes from our everyday choices on how we live, what we buy and don't buy, when we save and when we spend, the work and business we do, where we invest and our giving. 1 Million Women exists to fight climate change. We do that by empowering women to seize their opportunities to make a difference, starting in their daily lives with our Six Ways of Living Simply. In Australia women are over half of the population, over half of all university graduates and 46% of the total workforce. Women make about 85% of consumer purchasing decisions. We own about a third of small businesses. By mobilising this economic power of women, built on the individual choices we make with our money, the objective of 1 Million Women is to change the economy towards better outcomes for today's society, and for future generations. In our community of women, when we do this, when we take control of our power individually and collectively to focus on having the least impact on the planet – then that's the 1 Million Women Effect. Our membership goal is 1 million women all taking action in their own lives. Together, the economic and the citizen power of a million women can change the world. That's why our first 'ask' to all women is that you join us and be counted. After that we need you to start acting. It's OK if it's just one thing at first, or a few simple little things. We show you how. Action begets action, and once you've started you can build up to bigger and more complex changes that address every aspect of your life. Graduating to real transformation in our own lives is the key. Unless we push ourselves to do more, to get outside of our comfort zones, we end up not doing enough. You can’t be effectively involved in the solutions to dangerous climate change if you aren't taking action in your own life. By starting with individual action, we take women on a journey to empowerment. We galvanise women to make real changes. It’s not enough to say that “I recycle”, or to outsource your environmental concerns by signing a petition or ticking a box or donating to a cause. It’s good to do those things, but not sufficient given what’s at stake. Personal action and a powerful collective voice, that’s what 1 Million Women is all about. We are women leading change through: • Changing the way we live and the choices we make to have the least impact on the planet • Asserting our economic power to act on dangerous climate change – our spending, saving, investing, giving • Reaching beyond the green belt to engage and empower women from all walks of life, who often can feel alienated or disempowered by the enormity and complexity of climate change, and • Rising above partisan politics, because governments and their policies come and go, and we can’t wait! Our collective power as 1 Million Women grows every time another woman joins us. That’s the 1 Million Women Effect - join us, be counted.
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