Eco-Journal, v.17.2 March/April 2007Eco-Journal, v.17.2 March/April 2007
Family Centre of Winnipeg staff formed an Environmental Committee to push for change. Photo by Steve Rauh
By Anne Lindsey
We have three new additions to the Climate Change Honour Roll this month. They illustrate three different approaches to the issue of climate change, demonstrating that you don’t have to be an environmental superstar like David Suzuki to start taking action.
In related news, CBC Radio’s Noon Show liked the concept of Climate Champions so much that they started their own search. So far, Dameon Wall has interviewed two rural Manitobans on the show, and there will be more! We’ve also noticed that even if they don’t use the term “Climate Champions”, other media outlets are also on the hunt for Manitobans making a difference.
Unplug and Recycle
Some folks are just getting started, often because they’ve seen, and been affected by, Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth. One such person is Viktoria Westgate, a staff person for the Social Planning Council. Viktoria credits the film with really giving her the impetus for starting to change things in her home. She acknowledges that her family, including three kids aged 6, 15 and 19, are just at the beginning of their journey. They started by unplugging every electrical appliance that is not currently in use. This may sound elementary, but significant amounts of energy are wasted by appliances in the “standby” mode: one International Energy Agency study showed that in a typical US home, standby losses account for about 5% of residential electricity consumption! In fact, the British government is poised to outlaw standby switches on appliances (UK losses are closer to 8%).
More attention to waste
The other major change in the Westgate household has been to pay more attention to their waste management habits—the family has reversed their “garbage to recycling” ratio to one in which the blue box gets much more use than the trash can. For Viktoria, it was a matter of talking about the issue at home, and placing the recycling box in a more convenient location. It doesn’t hurt that her 6 year old is also very quick to point out garbage “mistakes”. The family is also now using more environmentally-friendly cleaning products, and they have plans for more action in the summer.
Long time commitment
Another climate champion family—this one much further along on the environmental path—is that of Tim Brandt, Di Harms and their 14-year-old son, Daniel. These folks began their odyssey about 10 years ago in their Warsaw Avenue home, when Di led them in digging up their front lawn so they could start producing some of their own food. (With most of the food consumed by Canadians traveling some 2000 miles from farm to plate, this is not an insignificant step). One thing led to another, and when Tim closed his business to spend more time at home with Daniel, he realized there were many things they could do to live more lightly and to live more economically besides. For example, using an efficient wood burning fireplace insert, fueled almost entirely with scavenged wood (tree trimmings, waste pallets, unpainted and untreated renovation and construction waste) has cut their natural gas consumption considerably, and hanging the laundry year round means they don’t need to use a clothes dryer.
Bicycle advocates
Tim gave up his driver’s license some time ago, preferring to use his bicycle for all of his transportation needs. He and Daniel are ardent bicycling advocates, and have built a handy bike cart for transporting all kinds of things around town, and even outside of town. Come Folk Festival time, you’ll see the family pedaling out to Birds Hill with their camping gear in tow. Tim is currently working on a cart that will allow him to transport his canoe out of town! This family also takes an award for using water efficiently, with their system of using household grey water and rain barrels for the garden, and bath water for toilet flushing. You can hear Daniel and Tim every week on their radio show, Roots and Berries, on CKUW FM.
Workplace action
Our third champion this time around is Steve Rauh, a Family Therapist at the Family Centre of Winnipeg. Steve has led an effort to raise awareness amongst his colleagues at this social service agency about climate change, beginning with a presentation from Climate Change Connection, and a showing of An Inconvenient Truth. The movie galvanized this group into action. Many are showing up to meet as an Environment Committee to discuss what they can do to reduce emissions, both as individuals and as an agency. The Committee believes that their work on climate change is of major significance to families, including the ones they work with on a daily basis. They also believe that it is a matter of social and moral responsibility for the agency to operate in a way that minimizes its contribution to the problem.
A public discussion
They’ve hosted City Councillor Jenny Gerbasi, who talked about the importance of citizenship, and why it’s important to be in touch with elected officials about our concerns, and they undertook a major letter-writing campaign as a result of the session. They’ve also held a “100 Mile Lunch” demonstrating that it’s possible to find excellent food from local producers, while reducing the impact of those fossil-fuel-consuming “food miles”. (See Paul Chorney’s article on p.11 of this issue). As a long time activist and environmentalist, Steve believes that it’s critical to talk to friends and neighbours, colleagues and congregations, to make the dialogue about climate change a truly public discussion. He’s showing how to put this belief into action at his workplace, and encourages others to start their own climate change action workplace groups.
Are you a climate champion? Let us know what actions you have been taking, whether they are recent or longer term. Contact Anne at 947-6511 to tell your story!