Graham Burnett

“During the mid 1990s my friend Stella lived on a housing estate in southeast London. Like so much of the inner city, this area was blighted by poverty, crime, poor transit links, lack of green spaces and vandalism. However Stella had a belief in the abilities of ordinary people to make a difference, and started at the 'end of her nose.' She planted a small wooden box of flowers on the window ledge of her flat to add a splash of colour to the street. Some of her neighbors informed her that she was wasting her time, and sure enough, by the next day the box was smashed up and the flowers and soil were strewn and trampled across the pavement. So she replaced it with another window box. And exactly the same thing happened again. So she replaced it with another. And exactly the same thing happened again. So she replaced it with another. And this time something interesting happened. A box of bright marigolds, petunias, and geraniums appeared on the ledge of the house across the street. Then another a little further down the road. Soon window boxes, tubs and containers of flowers and herbs began to pop up all over the estate.”
― Graham Burnett, The Vegan Book of Permaculture: Recipes for Healthy Eating and Earthright Living