 “If We’re Not Exploring, We’re Just Waiting” (A quote from the video, Earthcare: Grappling with the Climate Crisis Through the Arts) This 15-minute video explores, through the arts, our desperate need to reconnect with nature, but how do we keep that exploration going and growing? It may not be as difficult as we imagine. Change does not, initially, come from politicians and big business – it comes from us when we address it earnestly in multiple small groups. Recently, six of us met on Zoom to discuss the climate / justice crisis and possible actions. We took time to describe ourselves and share our hopes and expectations for our ongoing conversations. We decided to use a book as a jumping off point for our discussion and we chose JB McKinnon’s, The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves. This was a good choice to start with as we agreed to meet every two weeks and this author gives so many examples of consumerism that if we were unable to finish the entire book, just a few story illustrations got our thoughts and ideas flowing. We talked about approaching a local hardware store to set up a corner for a skilled volunteer to repair small appliances and a dry cleaner to allocate space for alterations. As these services gain customers, the volunteers would be paid. We discussed buying fewer but better-quality goods and clothing. All of us will try to avoid plastic grocery packaging – favouring our own reusable containers and we will look for eco-certified labels. We spoke of using the car less and walking or cycling more and we encouraged each other to increase our plant-based meals. We even talked of creating puppets from large plastic jugs - recycled recyclables!
Thanks to virtual communication we can meet together in Toronto, Montreal and Brighton, England, however, a small group of neighbours would work too! When each of the six of us follows through on an Earth care project we will have taken six steps toward sustainable living. If this small-group discussion- to-action approach to exploring change multiples in cities and towns across Canada and well beyond, we humans could move from being the problem to becoming the solution. Our recent isolated solitude has produced valuable resources to spark our thinking and guide us forward. For a list of just a few of these CLICK HERE This book list will continue to expand with more resources, especially if you add to it!
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