LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

What Did You Do?

What did you do the day after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) told us it was their last warning to avoid total climate catastrophe as temperatures rise globally to 1.5 and possibly 2 degrees above normal in the next 7 years? How did you react when Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN said, “only swift and drastic action can avert irrevocable damage to the world.”

Did you throw up your arms and say there are just too many of us on the planet anyways? Did you think there was nothing one person could do, not even a few of you? Did you think that it’s all just another conspiracy theory or that the fossil fuel industries and governments have got our backs? Did you blame China, India, and Russia for not doing enough? Saudi Arabia for not turning off the taps? Did you think it was all too much for us to worry about? Did you get up and do exactly the same thing you did the day before?

Or, did you get busy and write a letter to the government demanding

Spring has arrived and the snow has disappeared!

Those of us who walk along VLA Road, particularly the west end where it follows the river, can now observe (and collect) the accumulated litter of the past few months.

So I am writing to just a few people (but maybe if you could pass the word along...).

First, there is the Green Poop Bag Person who tidily scoops up after their pet, but then leaves the bags by the side of the road.

Then there is the Rolled Gold Cigarette Smoker (I must have picked up at least half a dozen of action; decide to join a climate action group; turned off your motor while you sat idling; walked or biked instead of drove, looked into a hybrid or electric vehicle, carpooled or finally decided to check out rapid transit? Did you finally realize that since you could afford it, it was time to change to alternative energy sources like a heat pump and solar panels? Did you decide that you can enjoy our part of the world without having to fly to get there? Did you take a good hard look at the kids you are responsible for and haven’t yet started their lives? Did you pledge to live slower, simpler and with gratitude? Did you realize that it really is about you, and that only you can really make a difference?

Each one of us doing something is really the only option for us now. We need to dig in, get mad and get it done. Now is the time, right here, right now to prove what you’re made of. “Our world needs climate action on all fronts; everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Angie McLaren

these cartons).

Some of the other Litterbugs are more difficult to identify as they leave an assortment of candy wrappers, empty containers, and bits of plastic.

On the positive side (I was always told, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”), there were no cigarette butts and no single-use face-masks!

And down by the river itself, there has been little garbage! It seems that those who make the effort to walk down in that area, also take the trouble to clean up after themselves and leave a clean environment for the locals--human and otherwise!

Anne Grube

Good

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