THE MOST FREQUENT CHALLENGE I ENCOUNTER AS AN ENVIRONMENTALIST is “Suppose I agree with your analysis. What can I do?” We are all at different levels of awareness and sensitivity to the environment, but whatever stage we’re at, we must educate ourselves and get involved. There’s a lot that can be done, and here’s a very personal list of suggestions to start with.
Inform yourself. There are many helpful organizations, magazines, and books on a wide range of environmental issues. For starters, I’d recommend two old but classic books, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and E.F. Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful.
Convince yourself of the reality of environmental degradation. Talk to old people about what the forests, fish, air, birds, mammals were like when they were young. Our elder citizens are a living record of how much the world has changed.
Reexamine some of your most deeply held beliefs. Is steady, continued growth necessary for our well-being? What is the “quality of life”? What is our relationship as a species with the rest of the natural world? What is the ultimate purpose of our government and society? What is progress? Where do spiritual values fit in our lives? The way we answer these questions will determine how we address and act on environmental issues.
Be a conservationist in your daily behavior. Find out where there are depots for glass, paper, chemicals, and metals and start recycling. Use cloth diapers. Store chemical leftovers from the garage, kitchen cupboard, or medicine cabinet for proper disposal instead of pouring them into the sink. Compost your kitchen leftovers. You will be amazed at the reduction in garbage.
Use your power as a consumer. Exert pressure by what you do or do not buy. Praise environmentally responsible companies and criticize ones that aren’t. Deep Woods, for example, has an excellent pump spray for insect repellent; why should there be any aerosol sprays when a mechanical pump does the job? Urge stores to phase out use of plastics, ask supermarkets to replace foam containers and other packaging, demand that fast food outlets abandon the incredibly wasteful packaging that adds nothing to the quality of the food. At hamburger chains ask whether they use North American beef.
There is no end to profit-driven waste and pollution. Don’t buy leaded gas. Point out the energy waste of open upright refrigerators in food stores. Recycle all glassware and metal containers. Don’t buy toothpastes simply because they have color, stripes, or a delivery gizmo that add nothing to deter decay. Don’t buy breakfast cereals with little nutritional content just because of a packaging gimmick. Buy organically grown food. This list is endless. Share your thoughts and ideas with others.
Exert your influence as a citizen and voter. Urge all municipal governments to start recycling and set a goal of 60 to 70 percent of all waste. No city or town should be allowed to release raw sewage into rivers, lakes, or oceans. Boats should not be allowed to dump sewage into salt water or fresh water. We have to begin major initiatives to recycle human sewage onto agricultural fields. Agricultural land should not be used for development or landfill.
Press for more legislation with teeth to stop industrial pollution, tighten regulations, and reduce waste. Industry’s crocodile tears over excessive costs of pollution control and threatened shutdowns should no longer be allowed to delay implementation of antipollution measures. We need to impose massive fines and prison sentences for corporate executives as well as individuals who pollute. There should be a special police group like the Los Angeles Strike Force to track down and apprehend polluters. Vehicular exhaust should be rigidly controlled. We need massive crash research and development programs on alternative energy, pollution detection and control, and environmental rehabilitation. Governments have to approach environmental matters holistically rather than partitioning them into ministerial departments. Politicians act when they feel the heat of public pressure: letters, phone calls, and telegrams do have an impact. Praise politicians with good environmental records.
Take an active part in elections. Attend all-candidates meetings and ensure that those running have thought about questions of nuclear energy versus alternative energy, atmospheric degradation, pollution, pesticides, and the relationship between profit and growth and environmental degradation. It should be as essential for any candidate to have a serious environmental platform as to be able to read or add.
Support environmental groups. There are many effective environmental groups fighting at different levels. Contact the Canadian Environmental Network through the federal Environment ministry for the list of organizations across Canada and then choose according to your priorities. They need money, support, and volunteer help. My personal list includes Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (CARC), Acid Rain Coalition, Probe International, Energy Probe, Pollution Probe, Canadian Environmental Defence Fund, Greenpeace, and the Sea Shepherd Society.
Think about our children. For the first time in history, we know that our children will inherit a world that is radically impoverished in biodiversity and afflicted with major problems of degraded air, water, and soil. Children should learn that pollution and waste are obscene and represent assaults against them. Surely the opportunity for youngsters to anticipate a rich and full life in balance with the complex community of life on this planet is the reason for society and governments. Profit is not the reason.
This list is far from complete. None of the individual acts will save the world from the impending catastrophe, but involvement changes us, provides us with new insights, leads us into different strategies. It’s the process that matters. It’s the struggle that gives hope