Spent the past few days at a conference that has given me a lot of food for thought. Lots of sessions on the state of our planet and what we need to do to help it bounce back. My god it was depressing. Stephen Lewis spoke, Elizabeth May spoke, Bob MacDonald spoke. Jean Lemire spoke. The three days were stacked with speakers and it was amazing. Depressing, but amazing and powerful. I cried many times.I came home last night feeling both keyed in and tired. There were many sessions that spoke right to me, and now what I need to do is keep the passion and momentum I have felt over the past three days. I am rethinking my place on this planet and how I'm using (abusing?) my place. I have always had a conservation mind and I have always been on the green side of things. But I can, and we all can, do more. Sure they're little things, but I can still do them.
Here's what I'd like to do to be a better global citizen:
- Try harder to keep the thermostat below 20ºC. We already put it to at or below 15ºC when we're out of the house or sleeping, but further reducing our home temperature will minimize our fuel use (20 years of relatively cheap oil left... that's all) and reduce the amount of CO2 we release into the air.
- Install water limiter in the shower to be able to stop the flow of water at the shower head. It allows you to easily stop the water flow while you lather up. We tried to install one when we first moved in, but it was crap. I'd like to try the same one again, but maybe make sure it's properly installed this time...
- Donate to the Stephen Lewis Foundation or another similarly worthy cause. As Stephen Lewis said, in many cases human rights issues are also environmental issues and vice versa. In particular in the Congo where the women of the community are targeted because women keep the community together. Soldiers in the civil war rape and beat women to get them away from the community's resources. It's heart wrenching.
- Limit the amount of plastic I end up with. Plastic containers are handy for storing things, but there are other ways. I already turn down bags as often as I can at stores, but bringing my cloth bag(s) everywhere is a good move. I can also limit what plastic I buy at the grocery store (juice containers, etc). I would love to be able to buy yoghurt in bulk
- I will not consciously support the bottled water industry. No way, no how. I have had this focus for a while, but I will continue with it. We have a filter on the kitchen tap and that's good enough for me. I will not support the unnecessary purchase of a product that I can get for free... and that doesn't have nearly the regulation.
- I will consciously continue to limit my support of multinationals such as Walmart.
- Further reduce my consumption of meat - for ethical, health and water conservation reasons:
- to produce 1kg soybeans, 1650 - 2200 litres of water
- to produce 1kg beef, 50,000-100,000 litres
My concern is that I was at a conference of 800 people and these people are already on side. What about the general Canadian public? What about those who claim that if they can afford the gas in their truck that they should damn well be able to drive it anywhere and any time they want? What about those who deny global warming and their need to do anything about it? What about those F'ing people who use their hose to clean their driveways?!?! It honestly makes me feel ill that there are people who are so ignorant of the facts. It's disturbing.
I know I'm standing on my soapbox and possibly sounding very arrogant right now, but the issues facing us right now are so immediate and need to be addressed by us as citizens and our governments. Sure the changes we can make in our daily lives are little in the grand scheme of things, but for my own piece of mind I need to make these changes.
"We do not inherit the earth from our parents, but borrow it from our children and grandchildren".
