Where Can You Learn More?

Getting muddy tree planting with the Wellington Water Watchers.

Where did this craze for protecting the planet start? When did the journey that led to refusing fossil fuel products start? Let’s go back to 1993.

When I was in grade school I was assigned to do a project on polar bears. When I approached my uncle to help me with this, I was not expecting to be bewildered by the concept that the polar bears’ homes were melting! I would have said, “wtf” if I knew what that even meant in my tween years. Fast forward a few months later, that pre-teen was moved after seeing Free Willy on the big screen. At the end of the film a call-to-action popped up as Willy swam with his reunited family.

Free Willy. Dir. Simon Wincer. Warner Bros., 1993. Film.

It was a pull-at-the-heart-strings PSA to help the whales. It was backed by Michael Jackson’s tear-jerker, “Will You Be There” playing along the credits. Man, was I crying! But, I was happily surprised… I didn’t know that I had power to do anything. Being fuelled by the concern for the polar bears, the meting North Pole, and now the orcas, my drive to help was strong. I came home and begged my mom for all the money we had to just save the whales. Like myself, millions called the phone number.

All of us can make a difference. Update your lifestyle choices. Make brass, bold changes. Live simply and small. Refuse plastic products. Reduce waste. Reuse goods you own. Shop seasonally. Support local. Bike. Walk. Take public transit. Use your time and talents. Volunteer. Read politicians’ platforms. Vote! Share social posts for the good.

Most of us reading this are privileged enough to live in a first-world country like Canada, so believe it or not, you’re capable of great change! In fact, it’s your responsibility.

Here are the non-for-profits I support:

  • Council of Canadians: local chapters fighting social and environmental issues in your community
  • David Suzuki Foundation: national, non-for-profit helping protect and conserve the natural environment, and creating a sustainable Canada
  • Environmental Working Group: empowering people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment using research and education, they drive consumer choice and civic action
  • Greenpeace: non-partisan, global organization fighting for sustainable future
  • Wellington Water Watchers: Wellington County and area non-for-profit protecting, restoring, and conserving drinking water

Here are movies that will change your life, for the better:

Before The Flood, presented by National Geographic, features Leonardo DiCaprio on a journey traveling to five continents and the Arctic to witness climate change firsthand. 
The True Cost is a story about clothing. It’s about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically.
The Human Experiment tells the personal stories of people who believe their lives have been affected by chemicals and takes viewers to the front lines as activists go head-to-head with the powerful and well-funded chemical industry.
Stink! shines a stinky light on the chemicals that are found in everything you use, and how sadly, we’re learning, is intentional.
Cowspiracy talks about how animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones,” and virtually every other environmental ill.
The Game Changers is a revolutionary new documentary 
about meat, protein, and strength and how plant-based diets may be our only hope for the planet, you just didn’t happen to know how good it was for you.