Thoughts about the Montreal Climate March

I was one of the 500,000 people who attended the climate march on Friday September 27^th.   We were fortunate to have a gloriously sunny day with a bright blue sky and a pleasant temperature.  It was heartwarming to see so many people from all walks of life attending the march: families, mothers with their children, grandparents and grandchildren, students and regular folk like me. 

Being someone who is passionate about the environment can sometimes be a lonely road. It often feels like people listen to what I am saying but do not always translate this into concrete action.  But at the march, I felt surrounded by people like me who realize that we need to work together to effect change. The ambiance was definitely positive and the enthusiasm of those around me was encouraging. Many people carried placards that were amusing:

Or serious:

Or both:

When we think of the environment, we first think about cars and airplanes. Airplanes have a significantly greater impact on the environment, as shown in the chart below :

According to the David Suziki foundation, air travel represents up to 9% of the human generated emissions. Because of this, we each need to reduce the frequency of our air travel. As one of my colleagues told me, with Skype and other forms of computer communication, business travel should be dramatically reduced. However, I am not sure that this is yet the case.

Another important area to reduce our environmental impact is meat and dairy. Think eating that burger is better than driving your car? According to environmental activist Dennis Hayes, when all the costs associated with caring for and fertilizing the land, raising the cows and bringing the meat to market are considered, eating a pound of beef is worse than burning a gallon of gasoline. The production of meat is associated with 15 to 18% of emissions versus 14% for cars. This is not to mention the treatment of cows, whose calves are separated from their mothers, who are then inseminated again so that we can take the milk.

While the march was about getting the government’s attention to make policy changes to address climate change, it got me thinking about what I was personally doing to address the climate change issue.  I still fly, drive a car and eat meat and dairy. These things are all hurtful for the environment.  Keeping my philosophy of reduce in mind, I decided that I need to reduce the amount that I fly, drive a car and eat meat and dairy.  Consequently, I decided that I am now going to take the bus two days per week instead of just one day and work from home another day. This means I will take my car to work twice per week instead of five. Not perfect, but better. On the weekend, I will carpool with my husband so that we do our errands together for the week in one car instead of going separately.  Eventually I would like to have only have one electric car. While I am not 100% vegetarian, I am certainly going to continue to reduce my meat and dairy consumption. I might even try going vegan for a while.

Although governmental policy action is essential, I am convinced that each of us can start now doing our part to reduce our impact on climate change.

Challenge for Week:  Are there changes that you can make in your life to reduce your climate footprint?  What are you willing to give up?  Each of us have the responsibility to take individual action for the sake of future generations.