Climate change has opportunities for us all

by Toby Reid, VPOE

Recent declarations that we are in the midst of one of the greatest mass extinctions in the history of the planet are enough to make a person lose hope. In fact, this harsh reality is downright unsettling and, for this author, unacceptable. The means by which we’ve ended up in this position is important to understand, but more important is what we’re going to do to reverse the trend. There is no doubt that if we continue on our current path, humans are likely to be the biggest name on this extinction card. Some may not care about our current plight, but most of us feel the instinctive pull to try to do the right thing. But where do you start?

Let’s start with understanding how we got here. A friend recently laid it out this way, and it’s simply the cold truth of the matter – we’re in this mess because we’re using too much stuff. That’s right – stuff. Steel, fish, wood, oil, plastic, copper, fertilizers, cars, iPods, silicone breast implants - all of it. We’re drowning in stuff, and the byproducts of using this stuff to make other stuff. It’s a stuff-a-palooza gone horribly wrong.

The biggest, and most important step we all can make is to consume less stuff. I’m not suggesting that we go back to the loincloth and live in caves, but it’s a darn sight smarter than what we’re doing right now. We’ve got to scale back the amount of stuff that we consume. That starts with being less greedy, less needy, and more self-sufficient. Grandparents and great-grandparents are very helpful in providing guidance on this.

The next most important thing to look at is your housing situation. This also affects personal transportation, so it’s a biggie. If you live in the suburbs in a huge house for two, I’m sure it’s dawned on you that maybe that’s not sustainable living. You’re right – it’s not. The average single person needs only about 600 square feet to live, and the average family of four needs only about 1500 square feet to have a good home. Urban density is the way of the future.

The good thing is that urban density clusters make accessing transit easier, driving less necessary and can allow for commuting by bike and even, dare to dream, walking to work. The days of commuting by car from the suburbs will one day be talked about like the days our grandparents used to walk five miles to get to school. In the snow. With a headwind. But it will be talked about for a different reason. Not because commuting from the suburbs is so hard (though it’s arguable that two hours per day at the wheel of a car is), but because it’s one of the most inefficient methods of transportation, and one of the biggest consumers of stuff. Building communities next to our places of employ is going to become more and more important.

The last thing on houses is turn the thermostat down, put it on a timer, unplug your idle appliances, build using natural and sustainable materials where possible, and shower with others when possible/desirable. Yes, doing the right thing can even be fun!

After that, the next thing to check in on is your food. As much as we all love our steak, our Mahi Mahi and a leg of lamb, these foods aren’t really helping us. But again, nobody’s advocating you go vegan or eat your yard trimmings. Try eating no meat one day of the week. Some people are going vegetarian on Mondays, which isn’t a bad idea when you think of it. Mondays are generally pretty blah, so why not take all your lumps in one day? By eating no meat for one day per week, we can save 14% of our corn crops, and can scale back about 4-5% of our carbon emissions. No kidding. What a difference that would make. And to be honest, it’s pretty easy to go meat free for one day. Here’s what a menu for Mondays could look like:

Breakfast – Oatmeal with berries, lemon juice.
Snack – Apple and almond butter.
Lunch – Salad or Soup or a Cheese Quesadilla.
Snack – Nachos and salsa.
Dinner – Red beans and rice with onions, broccoli and peppers.

Not that bad for just one day a week. And that’s just for starters - it’s possible to eat that way more often than one day per week, and there’s the added benefit that it’s good for your health. Choosing organic ingredients, buying from your local farmer’s market and growing your own food will provide even more benefits to our long-term survival on this planet. Yes you can!

The last thing here to keep in mind is, well, our minds. Turn off your TV, recycle those trashy magazines, get out of the arcade and get off the Internet after you’ve done what you need to do. Media is quite literally dumbing us down, and we’re acting as willing participants in the whole deal. Take back your mental space. Flex that brain. Go to a community event that covers something that really interests you. Sit down with a friend and tell each other stories. Sit down with your kids and read them a story. Go ask your grandparents to tell you a story and then listen to them. I mean REALLY listen to them. Join a book club. Join a chess club. Join a hiking club. Heck, start a club even. You might just be surprised by who shows up. Write letters to politicians and business leaders telling them to focus on renewable energy. Do whatever you’re passionate about. But most importantly, free your mind. It’s way more interesting and you’ll feel more in control of your own destiny.

Now folks, I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t mean to be preachy in telling you what you should do. But I know enough to be able to tell you right now that we are deluded if we think we can keep coasting along and things are going to sort themselves out. Einstein defined insanity by describing a person who kept doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result each time. We’re insane if we think we don’t have to change. This is our evolutionary moment!

Now what does this have to do with audacity? Well, since we’re in the middle of a great extinction, we have to be bold. We have to act with audacity. For in audacity we will find hope. And hope fuels change. And change brings us a better day.

I’m sorry I can’t offer you a guarantee of this, nor can I construct a mathematical model that will predict exactly how this will happen. That part is a bit of an unknown. But I do know a story that is inevitably and simply true. This story is about someone very close to us – much closer than you’d think.

The story goes like this. A long time ago, before humans built pyramids and invented no-foam soy lattes, there were a bunch of apes that lived in a jungle. These apes sought the shelter that the trees in the jungle offered. They foraged for their meals from the jungle floor and in the tree branches, all the while trying to avoid the many predators that wanted to eat them for their Monday dinner. It wasn’t the best living, but it worked. Then one day, one of these apes decided that it was getting too dangerous in the jungle, that predators could catch them too easily, and that they really didn’t have anywhere else to go when they got to the end of their favourite branch. This ape realized that it was time to take matters into its own hands. This ape dared to dream of a better life outside the jungle.

So, all by itself, this bold little ape stepped out from the jungle, and onto the flat and dry grass of the savannah. The other apes gasped! “You’re going to go out and live on the savannah?!?!” they cried. “Ha! What a joke! You’ll run right back in here – you’ll see.” But that ape kept stepping, one foot after the other, with so many thoughts going through its head: fear, freedom, self-doubt, and excitement at the thought of the wild unknown. That ape kept going and going, never turning back and never wavering from what it believed was possible – a better life and a better world. The other apes watched from the trees. “What a crazy ape,” they said, as they laughed and played with their pre-historic iPods and Game Boys. “There’s nothing wrong with how we’re living right now,” they said “and besides, living out on the savannah would just be too difficult.”

Well, that brave little ape walked out onto the savannah and never looked back. Those visionary first steps started the hunter-gatherer society, which paved the way for the agrarian society and eventually our modern civilization. It’s been said that Plato, Galileo, Mozart, Picasso and Hawking are some of the greatest minds that this planet has ever seen. I would argue that the greatest mind of all was that audacious little ape, who dreamed, believed and followed through on a vision for a better world. And nothing would get in his way.

I tell this story not to be simplistic or glib. I tell it because it helps to remind us of what is possible, and what can happen when we take our first steps to building a better world. Changing our lifestyles can be a scary proposition, and can cause us to doubt ourselves, especially when we get ridiculed or derided by others. But if you’re serious about using less stuff, serious about living and eating more sustainably, and serious about putting your mind to work for yourself and not for the man, then you need to remember that ape.

Remember that it’s hard to be a leader. That it’s scary to chart a new course. That it’s difficult to believe in yourself when others mock you. But remember that if you’re not getting laughed at, you’re probably not doing it right. And remember also that by having the courage of your convictions, a better life is possible. All it takes is a few of us apes to be bold, to be audacious. If you look very closely, you’ll see that in those audacious, first steps there exists the greatest hope of all. And that, my friends, is the hope of audacity.

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