About Us

Janet MacKenzie

The Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE) movement was inspired by a speech given by Janet MacKenzie, editor and avid environmentalist, at a World Environment Day event in Melbourne. In 1988, Janet spoke about how “ordinary people can make a difference by raising awareness and initiating actions to solve local environmental problems”. The speech resonated with Australians who wanted to be proactive in protecting their environment. MacKenzie created the HOPE charter – the “HOPE Generator” – providing information, contacts, and resources for people to lessen their impact on the environment. In it MacKenzie wrote “… everyone can do something, no matter how small. Maybe tomorrow they’ll do more.” Soon, over 80 HOPE ‘hubs’ opened across Victoria with many more in other states supporting the slogan ‘Think Globally – Act Locally’.

Figure 1 Janet MacKenzie(deceased 2018)

HOPE website – About Us.pdf

Feature article – The story of HOPE so far, by Regina Kimble (14 December 2020).pdf

Feature article – HOPE comes of age, by Michelle Smith (27 June 2016).pdf