(Photo: NASA Climate Change)
Recently, while getting ready for school drop-off, I told my daughter that since she was now almost five years old getting dressed should not take her so long. If she knew better, she could have turned around and said a similar thing to me regarding my actions towards minimizing my contributions to climate change.
I have a lot of bad habits. I do not know why, but I had a hard time seeing them until recently. The catalyst for my personal realization was the recent protests by students inspired by Greta Thunberg. Please Google her name if you are unfamiliar. We humans are creatures of habit by nature, but we are also lucky enough to be gifted with the ability to adapt ourselves, to change.
”We declare: Their concerns are justified and supported by the best available science. The current measures for protecting the climate and biosphere are deeply inadequate.” World leading climate scientists support #FridaysForFuture #schoolstrike4climate
There are a lot of things I cannot control and therefore cannot change. At least, this is what I used to think. This fact was used by my lazy side to prevent me from taking any meaningful actions, big or small. Although I have long accepted the fact that humans are responsible for climate change, the gravity of it made my inner self act in irresponsible ways. ‘Surely this problem is too massive for my little contributions to matter, right?’ NO, the magnitude of this problem is not an excuse for personal inaction. There are always little things that are within my, and your power, to change.
I am now trying to look at every little thing that I do in a new light. When I buy coffee (on days when I cannot make my own or forget my re-usable mug), I am now asking for no sleeve since I usually have a glove or a shirt-sleeve handy. I have stopped putting old grocery bags in garbage cans that really do not need them. I have placed a time limit of no more than two (of reasonable length) songs for my showers. These small gestures are just that, small, but collectively they amount to positive action.
Something small that we can all do is bring climate change up as an issue to the next prospective Member of Parliament that comes knocking on your door for the upcoming election. Make the cost of your vote a commitment for meaningful legislative climate change action.
You can also express your discontent to media organizations that focus so much attention on less important issues. Complex and difficult long-term issues are provided nearly the same ‘air time’ as other less important and complex ones. Current problems are not unimportant, but they are FLEETING in comparison to the climate change crisis. In 30 years, they will be summarized in a paragraph or two in the history books. In 30 years, we will all be talking about how we should have taken more effective action earlier. We will point to today’s headlines as an example of our collective inability to work together for the greater good. We will gawk at our amazing mass inaction. This is how I feel about myself right now. We distract ourselves through the media, it helps us think about something besides the responsibility we have NOW to take action.
We may be unable to completely stop climate change, but we can at least minimize its impacts by acting NOW. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror because I had the courage to change the little things that were within my power. I do not want to be part of the problem anymore. I want to be the hero my daughter thinks I am now, and in the future. I want there to be a future for her to live in. Please help me make that possible for her.
Thank you, Greta Thurnberg, and all the others who have been advocating for this type of action for so long. I am grateful for both your actions and the personal growth you have inspired within me. I am sorry that it took me so long to reach this point, but I am on board now, and I am doing my little part to help.
Jeffery Joyce, Stittsville