Category: Say what?

Beyond cars and collapse

I am both a cyclist and a driver. But much more than that, I am a father in the age of climate crisis.

Fiona. Ian. Derecho. Floods. Fires. Famine. It’s almost back to back, but we’re doing next to nothing about it. Can we face the elephant in the room and prevent runaway climate change, collapse? Can we pause for a moment and reconsider our obsolete, short-sighted, rat-race lifestyles?

“We fly where we want.
We drive where we want.
We eat what we want.
We buy what we want.
That’s what’s driving growth.
That’s what’s leading us to ecological & societal collapse.
Thats what needs to change.”
— ClimateDad

Do I love my car more than my kids? Not in a million years. We need to get most cars off the road to make way for real, people-centered community. When parents drive their kids to hockey practice, is it love? Or is it killing them?

The only way to survive the climate behemoth is much more radical change than most of us have even begun to think about.

Out of necessity I too drive when I must, in these crazy, suicidal times. But my heart sinks every time I turn the key. I’d love to park my car, share it, recycle it — anything but private car ownership for each of us.

Nobody knows for sure when we will cross the tipping points to runaway, unstoppable climate collapse. It’s not looking good. Those of us who choose not to drive might just be saving your kids lives.

But we can’t do it without you. It’s easy to be cynical… just a little bit harder to truly be alive. Besides, survival is so much more fun.

Let’s rebuild our lives, our world that the car has done so much to destroy!

– Peter Blanchard

#climatecrisis #climateemergency #climatecollapse vs. #climateaction #activeliving #activemobility #activetransportation #sustainableliving #degwowth | Wikipedia: Sustainable transport | Active mobility

@International Federation of Pedestrians @Canada Walks @America Walks @Walk Toronto @Walkable Ottawa @Centre for Active Transportation @BEST Vancouver BC @Car Free Day Vancouver @Twitter | @Facebook

“You may say I’m a a dreamer, but I’m not the only one” – John Lennon

Will Canada’s banks kill us?

Terrifying.

When I look for #financialadvice at any major Canadian bank, I see virtually no mention of anything but money. No genuine concern for whether we will survive the #climatecrisis, #ecologicalbreakdown, #war and #militarism. The entire system is fundamentally divorced from the very thing that gives us life — our #ecosystem / #ecology / #environment . Or in short, the things we need every day: food, air and water.

Sure, there’s a niche for #ESG / #ImpInv / #SustainableFinance / #SustainableInvestment — and that’s great! All the financialadvisors in the world will tell you, “sure, that’s great, but” you’ll make much more money investing in the death machine, the military-industrial complex. Most people continue to dedicate their time and energy mindlessly to #fossilfuels and destruction. If you dare to do otherwise — kudos, you’re in a small but hopeful minority!

Our financial system is nothing short of obsolete, corrupt, suicidal. Will we see beyond our money?

“When the last tree is cut, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts, we can’t eat money.” — Indigenous saying

Doing business with RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO or CIBC means perishing in the  #climatecrisis and #greenwash — rather than real #sustainability — let alone the long overdue #energytransition, #frugality, even #degrowth.

While we look for comfort to our bank balance, our net worth — how can we look our kids in the eye? Fully knowing how they will die slow deaths from floods, firestorms and war, thanks only to our short-sightedness and greed.

We can and must do better!

Photo credit: RMIT on flickr, Creative Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

All we have to decide…

Image: Joel Lee, CC some rights reserved.

In our time — the anthropocene — how many of us are doing what really matters? How will history remember you, me, all the others who denied or despaired? Bilbo & Frodo didn’t run away from what needed to be done, or sit around and blame everyone else. Models of action, against all odds — exactly what we need today. Shall we rise to the challenge?

Work for  Climate | Climate Strike | Climate Action.

 

Plastic is in your poo, you’re eating it:

“A study has detected microplastics in human excrement for the first time, raising larger questions about how the tiny particles can affect our health.” – EcoWatch | “We’re eating plastic without even realising it.” – Huffington Post | “We are eating our waste — mismanagement has come back to us on our dinner plates” – Chelsea Rochman.

More: Microplastics Detected in Human Stool Samples for First Time | Plastic Has Been Found In Human Poo For The First Time (Huffington Post) | More: Microplastics in human stool (news) | Microplastics health effects

What you can do: Easy ways to reduce your plastic waste | What can you do about plastic pollution? | How to reduce microplastics | Single use plastics | Poster

Top 5 plastic polluters: Nestlé, Tim Hortons, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola  (Greenpeace | CBC)

The environment is not something “out there”. We become the chemicals we eat, we drink, we breath. There’s no separation. It’s time to stop single use plastics!

Media Literacy Week in Canada

In a world where we’re all ensconced in bubbles of comfort, faith and certainty, how do we boldly seek out honest information? How can we balance between “credible/respected” sources, vs. radical new approaches?

How can we distinguish positive, creative solutions from pseudoscience, fake news and quackery? In a world where often there’s no concrete answer, how do we deal with complexity and uncertainty, yet still move forward?

Continue reading “Media Literacy Week in Canada”