Take Action: Areas of action

Water

Our most precious resource and a basic human right, water should be used respectfully. Although in Canada water is plentiful, we share it with 15 million other species, and when it comes out of our taps, plenty of electricity and resources have been used to suck it up from lakes and rivers, treat it to make it drinkable, and deliver it to our homes. So why waste a drop? Ultimately, how we use water is an issue of respect, for we have borne witness to the tragic circumstances that 2 billion of the world's people must face as they lack access to clean water.

Food

Every food choice (of every day!) offers opportunities to make yourself and your planet a little healthier.

Media

Media and advertising permeate all areas of our lives. Therefore we must look critically at how the media reinforces our consumer culture, and at the unsustainable and often unattainable ideals that are presented by mainstream media as the "norm".

Energy

Approximately 23,000,000,000 tonnes of CO2 are spewed into the Earth's atmosphere every year. That's more than 700 tonnes every second! Overconsumption of energy contributes to this, as we need to burn more coal or oil and build more hydro dams and nuclear power plants to meet our increasing demand. This all contributes to climate change. Here are some brighter ideas:

Transportation

Canada is the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita, with individuals accounting for one quarter of the emissions - largely due to driving cars. It's time we get out of our SUVs and onto public transit and bicycles. Pedal away!

  • 1st choice: Bike or walk
  • 2nd choice: Public Transit
  • 3rd choice: Car pool (if you must drive, consider a hybrid or other low-emission vehicle) Honda Canada lends Civic Hybrids to support our bike tours.  These cars get 4.3 - 4.7L/100km and reduce fewer harmful pollutants.
  • For long distance travel: taking the bus is better than taking the train, and both are better than flying

Waste

We don't need to treat this planet as our personal landfill. Every product has a life cycle: it comes from the earth, and must one day return to it.

  • Rethink: do I need this?
  • Refuse: "No, I don't need a bag (I brought my own)."
  • Restore: try to fix things instead of just throwing them out.
  • Reduce: get library books instead of buying
  • Compost
  • Buy yourself a keeper, or luna pads
  • Re-use: milk bags, paper, etc.
  • Re-cycle!

Clothing

The average North American spends $2400 per year on new clothes alone! Not only does this consumption use countless unnecessary resources, but the labour conditions in which many of our clothes are made are downright nasty! If you do need new duds:

Money

Not buying anything is unrealistic; stopping excess buying is essential! When you do buy something make sure you are aware of the votes you are casting with your dollars.

Gifts

Commercialism distorts our culture by turning every event into a reason to consume. Anthropologists say that holidays reflect a culture's values; in North America every holiday is a sales event.

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