Caroline O'Donoghue: Who am I, with my tote bag, to even think I can change anything

— I met a group of boys in their early 20s who dedicated their every working day to replanting the coral reef. They did not dither, or blither, or make excuses.

Every so often, my dog gets stuck on something that we call a brain loop. It’s incredible to watch. If she were a person it would be easily diagnosed as a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder. She will tap my leg, then sniff the floor, then walk around in a circle. Then tap my leg, then sniff the floor, then walk around in a circle. She will do it, over and over, simultaneously soothing herself and working herself up, both anxious and methodical, on and on forever until someone interrupts her.

Today is the Irish Examiner’s sustainability issue, and there is nothing more infinitely sustainable than my brain, looping around and around and around on the subject of sustainability.