BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter is from Living Green Barrie executive director Andee Pelan.
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Earth Day. What a weird concept. A single day to acknowledge the Earth, the only planet we have and the only reason we are alive.
I’m not going to go into a big “blah blah blah” (thanks Greta!) about how we are wrecking the planet and how we have to change our ways to head off the worst of climate change. You’ve heard it before and you probably didn’t react much then, either, except with that fleeting feeling of anxiety. Maybe you’ve thought to yourself: “The problems of the world are too big, too overwhelming, for me… it’s not my responsibility, it’s the government’s… and besides, I recycle.”
Even though I work for Living Green Barrie, I know there are a lot more things I could be doing to reduce my own carbon footprint. I am going to try to make some more changes this year and I’m hoping more people will join me.
I want to challenge everyone to commit to making just a few small lifestyle changes starting today. It’s not hard to do, but know that you might be slightly inconvenienced. The trade-off for your minimal effort is a hopeful future.
Here is a short list of ideas and none of them include recycling:
* Refuse to buy something you want (not need), especially if it is over packaged, of poor quality, or disposable. Just say no.
* Commit to adding a few more plant-based meals into your weekly rotation.
* Reduce an unnecessary car trip. Can you combine errands or carpool with someone? Consider walking, biking, or busing just to see how that works out.
* Hang your next load of laundry to dry.
* Turn off lights and stop heating or cooling rooms you are not using… and if you’re cold, put on a dang sweater (I channelled my dad for that one!).
* Sign up to volunteer with a local group.
* Get a tree, plant it somewhere and care for it until it grows up.
I know it’s cliché, but we really need people to act like every day is Earth Day.
Living Green Barrie is inviting the community out to celebrate Earth Day today (April 22) from 4-7 p.m. and April 23 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 9 Churchill Dr., in Barrie.
Come learn about local volunteer opportunities. Ask experts about vegetable gardening or selecting the right tree for your yard. Tour the Janice Laking Community Garden, get a free native wildflower seed pack (while quantities last) courtesy of Waystation Plants. Purchase native trees and shrubs and support Living Green’s goal of planting 10,000 trees in Barrie.
To learn more, click here.
Andee Pelan
Living Green Barrie
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