Let's be the change

Good Morning my name is Christine Watts and I am a member of Westwood's Social Justice Committee. The committee is considering focusing on environmental issues this year. I want to tell you why this is important to me and after the meditation you are invited to write any ideas you have on the posters on the wall as to what we can do as a congregation to address environmental issues.

Quote from "Be the Change Symposium":

"According to a majority of the world's experts, there is now overwhelming evidence that our modern society is headed for a catastrophe. Leading scientists are telling us that the impact of our industrial system, and the sudden expansion of humanity's ability to harvest the common bounty of our planet for short-term gain, may actually be upsetting the balance of our highly complex and fragile web of life."

We are living and depending on an amazing living blue green planet yet we are neglecting it. We are too busy enjoying our electronic toys, mass entertainment and wonderful luxuries such as commuter vehicles that make Smart Cars look like dinky toys... they aren't ... no really...., family holidays that would put Christopher Columbus to shame and tea and oranges that come all the way from China. We act like all we need is money and without consequences we can get whatever we want. But money will not buy clean air (unless you want to wear an oxygen tank) and technology will not refreeze the ice-caps.

There is something inherently wrong with our way of living but up to now we have chosen to ignore the signs. Who hasn't been appalled by the yellow haze hanging over our cities, or sadness or grief over the loss of a favorite natural area or the extinction of yet another species? Who hasn't felt stressed, overworked, isolated or had unexplained depression? Who doesn't suffer from or feel guilty about the gap between the rich and poor? Why is the number of environmental sensitivities and asthma cases increasing? And what about the cancers we are getting?

Not only are North Americans suffering from our non-sustainable lifestyle but sadly millions in developing countries are suffering from our exploitation of their resources to maintain our destructive lifestyle. For example, developing countries where the majority of people used to work their own land to feed their families are now dependent on North American owned plantations that send food or coffee to the North while the inhabitants barely have the resources they need to feed their own families.

Inherent and necessary for a sustainable society is a high degree of self-sufficiency for all countries, all cities, all people. We must learn to improve our neighbourhoods and cities without extracting the resources of other countries or taking from the next generation at the cost of their quality of life.

We must re-examine and rethink everything we do in life. What am I supporting with my money, what am I not supporting, how important is it that I travel, where do I work, what do I eat, What are my options for renewable energy? We must examine everything we use, everything we throw away.

I am excited about the prospect of reducing our energy consumption and becoming sustainable because I think it would result in a much better quality of life for everyone.

It is important for each of us to have a vision. I wonder what your vision is. My vision is a society where we no longer are dependent on big corporations which have no interest in the quality of our communities and often boom or bust resulting in instability, and unemployment. A lot of my vision is similar to what North America was like before suburbia but better because we have human rights charters, are more educated and have better means of communication. Europe is much closer to my vision than we are.

We will do much more locally. We will have local grocery stores, repair shops, craft shops, cafes, restaurants, bakeries and hardware stores. Students would be in walking distance to school. There would be a community compost, and what about public composting toilets, and community greenhouses and gardens where there is currently only grass. And craft guilds, and community workshops.

Because of this we will know our neighbours better and feel a sense of belonging and a sense of purpose that especially the youth and elderly would benefit from. Those who are unable to drive, the young, the old, the poor, the handicapped won't feel marginalized as public transit would be the main form of transportation for everyone and much of anyone's needs would be found locally anyway.

Our local communities would become places where we shop, study, garden, meet people, enjoy beauty and the arts, walk, work and relax. That which we nurture will nurture us. We won't feel the need to "get away" for a holiday.

We know that the reason the U.S. is killing people in the Middle East is for oil and the reason we are turning parts of Alberta into a wasteland is also for the short term use of oil. It is urgent that we change our lifestyle.

Not for the sake of the 7th generation, not for the sake of our grandchildren. For the sake of you and me and our children today.

How can we, as a congregation, take advantage of the fact that we are not just one person but 90 strong and even stronger if we partner with UCE or get our family and friends involved as well. If one person can change the world what can a whole congregation do?

Christine Watts
May 25, 2008

Added to archive September 5, 2008