When you think about Canada what do you think about (besides hockey, poutine etc)? Beautiful landscapes, lots of undeveloped natural spaces, amazing wildlife? While those are things that are awesome about Canada there is also the dark side of Canada. The oil industry. The chemical industry. The factory farm industry. Political parties who have so little environmental content in their platforms that it is laughable. Global environmental commitments that are swept under the rug due to pressures from industry and nations to the south.
I live in a province that is full of industry yet I can walk 5 minutes and be in the country. I live in a province where a 4 hour drive will land me in the middle of some of the most beautiful parks. Parks where if you don't book your campsite the second booking opens up for the season you are out of luck. Canadians love being in nature yet it seems we don't want to protect our natural environment. Yet we all tout that we love to canoe, we can do hands down the more realistic loon call, we shop at MEC and everyone knows someone who spent a summer tree planting up north/out west.
I can see how it is easy to lose yourself in the beauty of Canada and forget that if we keep up our day to day actions those areas will NOT exist. It is easier to just not think about that because it probably won't happen in our lifetime. I urge you to think about it. I urge to think about your daily life and how you can reduce your dependency on fossil fuels. I urge you to get involved in your community and protecting its natural spaces. I urge you to talk to your politicians. Until it is important to you, it will not be important to them. I urge you to find a local family farmer and TALK to them. Get your food locally and reduce the carbon emissions of transporting that food to you. Make changes. Big or small it does not matter. Just please make changes.
Earlier this month David Suzuki released his Carbon Manifesto calling on Canada to smarten up and start to think about more than just the money lining our wallets. Please spend the time and watch it. I promise you that you will walk away wanting to be more than what he thinks we all are.
What is 1 change that you will make? I can't say right now what my pledge will be but if I can make it happen I will be so excited to share it with you.
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Ah yes. The manifesto. He talked about it. I still need to check it out.
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