Step 11 in Going Green: Deal with Your 'Green Guilt'

We've created our societies in such a way that 'going green' is 'alternative'. It is 'other'. It is not the standard.

That means to go green, you must go against the grain.

Of course, we are all starting to realize the inherent MADNESS of our current way of doing things.

I just read recently that, collectively, in the world, we have used up all of our yearly resources for 2015.  We are taking more than we can replenish. We are in 'ecological' debt.

This was the actual headline on the Weather Channel: We've Used up Earth's 2015 Resources in Less Than 8 Months!

This was on the Weather Channel, a mainstream media outlet, not some so-called hippy-dippy-Earth-lovin' (I use those words with respect) blog site (like mine, hee hee).

So you can see just by that, that environmental consciousness is becoming less 'other' and more standard.

But it still is far from mainstream.

Solar panels are still a novelty. My car still runs on gas. So does my furnace.

We may recycle, but the things we buy typically come with WAY more packaging then is necessary. Set in plastic, wrapped in plastic, sometimes even stuck in a plastic bag (though that is changing, most people around here bring their own cloth bags, at least to the grocery store).

I didn't even think to question these things until a few months ago. Lots of people still don't question the inherent 'rightness' of gas furnaces and Shell stations.

But once you've realized the high ecological price that comes with those 'conveniences', every time you use them...you will feel 'green guilt'.

There is an overwhelming sense of responsibility that comes with an awareness of our ecological mess.

A need to do the right thing. 

Doing the 'wrong thing', even though it may be necessary at the moment because there aren't a lot of options (or any option) other wise, still feels 'wrong'.

I say embrace this sense of wrongness! Embrace the guilt! It is what will motivate you to gravitate towards other choices and step outside the circle of convenience, as you are able.

It isn't a comfortable feeling.

But it is useful. 

Soon, as more and more people make similar gestures, that which is inconvenient will become convenient. That which is 'alternative' will become mainstream.

The shift will happen. It is happening.

Those who aren't paying attention will wake up in five years to find solar panels on top of Home Depots and on airports...wait, I think that's happening now!

There is still power in individual actions. I know we live in a cynical age, but I do believe that inherent power still exists.

Individual + individual + individual + individual = a crowd.

Crowd + crowd + crowd = country.

Country + country + country = world.

Societies are created by humans. They can be changed by humans.

We are an ingenious species, awash with creative power. 

We can change things, if we want to. We can also make it easier for others to change, too.

By being the change we wish to see...

(I've been waiting for a blog post to reference that quote!)

Step 10 in Going Green: Write a Letter to the Editor!

Today I wrote a Letter To The Editor about Climate Change...and sent it off to 4 different newspapers.

When you become, as I did, a Climate Reality Leader, writing a letter to the newspaper is a suggested form of activism.

As a writer, I'm amazed I hadn't thought of this before. I'm a writer. Of course I can write a letter communicating the need for climate action NOW!

Naturally, I had to see this as a challenge to my writing abilities.

Could I write succinctly? (150 words, 250 words). Could I reference the relevancy of the Pope's recent Encyclical, President Obama recent climate change plan, and Al Gore's Climate Reality conference? Could I appeal to voters of the upcoming national election in Canada? Could I come across as rational, persuasive, even, perhaps, a little funny? (For this is a serious topic seriously lacking in levity and perhaps the seriousness puts people off?)

Could I use eye catching words like 'zombie hoards'?

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking ZOMBIE HOARDS do not have anything to do with climate change. And of course, technically, you are right.

When it comes to the effects of climate change, zombie hoards are not on the list.

Let me repeat this just so I'm clear: climate change does NOT create zombies.

However, if you consider the amount of cultural and social anxiety that currently centres on zombies--the TV shoes, movies, books, and blogs that fret and worry about the sudden onset of the zombie apocalypse, how we would survive such an apocalypse, etc...

Doesn't it make you wonder?

Are we sublimating our panic, fear and worry about a REAL, scientifically proven catastrophe currently sitting on our doorstep (climate change) by pouring our attention into a hypothetical, fictional scenario about a zombie-based catastrophe?

It's easier to deal with pretend worlds, after all. Easier to plan our pretend zombie survival kit then to consider the real impacts of climate change, some of which we are experiencing now...like drought, wild fires, super storms, flash floods, and so on.

Is that perhaps why zombies are so popular right now? Climate change anxiety narratives posing as zombie fiction?

Now, I love zombie tales and I would never suggest writers stop writing them.

But I would suggest that perhaps we turn our attention away from The Walking Dead et al for a moment...and face the real crisis on our hands 'dead' on. (Get it? ha ha. Further attempts at 'levity'. I'm trying.)

Otherwise we will all be like that poor group cornered by zombies in the shopping mall, scrambling together a strategy on the fly...

I don't know about you, but I certainly do not want to be scrambling about for a solution after the crap has hit the fan. Especially, when, with some effort and fore thought, we can stop the climate change catastrophe in its tracks right now.  (Namely, stop the fossil fuels, switch to renewal energy).

We don't even have to reach that point of scrambling in a corner.

Plus, we know what usually happens to that group in the shopping mall, don't we?

Just think of that analogy if you're wondering what to do about climate change. What more impetus do you need? Demand climate action now!

By the way, here's the long version of my Letter:

This November, in Paris, world leaders will meet to discuss climate change.

Climate change is a pressing issue. I’m amazed more people aren’t talking about it in their everyday lives, given it could change the world as we know it on so many levels. It is right there with zombie hoards in terms of apocalyptic impact—but, alas, unlike zombies, it is not fictional.

It is a scientific reality, one that is fast becoming ours. Not just for the ‘future generations’. This impacts everyone, world wide, right now.

It’s uncomfortable to consider environmental catastrophe but evidence of climate change related extreme weather events are happening now, all around us, hurting humanity.

The Pope recognized this in his recent Encyclical. President Obama recognized this when he recently debuted his plan to fight climate change. Al Gore presented numerous examples of climate change related devastation at his Climate Reality Leadership Conference I went to this past July in Toronto.

Search the Internet for the science of climate change, you will see for yourself.

The good news? It can be halted. But urgent action is required. We need strong leadership and commitment on all levels of government to stop fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy sources.

Climate change is not going to go away and I’d rather have someone at the helm with a plan, than someone scrambling to create one once it’s too late. We need climate action now.

Consider this when you cast your vote at the upcoming national election. 

Here's hoping one of the paper's publishes it! And doesn't edit it beyond recognition!

Step 9 in Going Green: Make Connections, Use Your Strengths

In the aftermath of the Climate Reality Leadership conference held in Toronto this past July, I have been experiencing a rather dramatic creative renaissance.

I love it when I get a creative flashes. They are extremely satisfying.

I have them in teaching, in writing, and now, in my foray into environmental activism.

Usually, it starts with the mental line: wouldn't it be cool if...

And then an idea comes to me. In a rush. It feels like a rush, too. I get mental goosebumps. I sometimes freeze in motion like a dog picking up a scent. Then I might jump up and down mentally, like a toddler that has to pee...

Often, once the idea takes shape, I will experience a type of 'well, of course'. Like it was something I knew but had forgotten. It feels like it was built into the fabric of the universe and utterly 'meant to be'.

Okay, getting out of the realm of the metaphysical...and into the practical. Here are the ideas that came to me, in order of their appearance...

1. Teachers Connecting to Environmentalists

When I was at the conference, I kept asking people I met: 'would you consider being a guest speaker in my classroom via Skype?" I received enthusiastic yeses to my requests.

But when I got home I realized...this could be so much bigger.

I only spoke to a handful of people. There were 600 attendees at the Toronto conference. Maybe they would like to be a guest in my classroom? Or any classroom?

Maybe other teachers besides myself might like to talk to them?

How can I get them all to meet one another? Wouldn't it be cool if...

• There was digital space with a list of environmentalists from all walks of life who were interested in connecting digitally with classrooms...
• Teachers could use this site to find interesting people, 'ordinary' people who are doing extraordinary things...
• It could have wide application across grades and across curriculum...
• I could add some lesson plan suggestions on how to facilitate this...

As such, my Eco-Teacher Network idea was born! It is still in the planning phase but my ultimate goal is to create a digital document (website?) that will facilitate this teacher-eco community connection!

2. Environmentalist Connecting to Readers
.
At the Climate Reality conference, there was moment when we all got to share our stories at the table groups, stories about how we came to be interested in environmental action, how we came to be at the conference. (I wrote about these a bit in a previous post).

I got inspired by this. Wouldn't it be cool if...

• I could interview this diverse group of interesting people and document those moments of 'green awakening'? 
• How did they become environmentalists? Was there a catalyst? A defining moment?
• Was there an inner shift that happened inside when they realized the importance of the environment and that action must be taken?

I could turn this into an anthology! 

How inspiring to read about people making changes in their life! It's the very embodiment of what this 'going green' blog is about, just writ larger and wider!

And so my Green Awakenings Anthology idea was born! I'm currently in the process of interviewing and writing up entries! It might be a blog, a book, or both! (Probably a blog, first--so stay tuned!)

The entries don't necessarily have to relate to climate change. I intend for it to reach beyond Climate Reality Leaders. So I am eager to find other 'ordinary people' who are similarly green inspired!

(If this strikes your fancy, and you think you would be a good candidate, please email me: julieajohnson@rogers.com or contact me on Twitter: @julieejohnsonn)


3. Environmentalists Connecting to Viewers

Fast on the heels of the above idea came this:

Wouldn't it be cool if...

• I could also interview environmentalist live, on the web, on a webcast, and, using my Twitter skills, introduce them to my 1900 followers?

It would be a half hour show, an informal chat between myself and my guest. We could talk about how they came to be interested in the environment, what steps they've taken to 'go green', what environmental action others can take, what specific environmental issues are they concerned about...

Then I would send it out into the internet to inspire others!

And so my weekly Hill of Greens Webcast idea was born!

(Looking for guest speakers! Please let me know if you are interested!)

Sooooo...pretty awesome, eh?

Have you noticed a thread running through all of these?

I am a green match maker! 

Not in a romantic sense, but as in: 'I am an operator at the switch board of ideas'.

I want to take the eco ideas from as many diverse people as possible and connect them to as many diverse people as possible.

What an amazing realization, that:

Sharing and connecting on a personal level is in itself a form of environmental activism!

This caters to my strengths. As a teacher, I am used to facilitating conversation, zeroing in on concepts, bringing them to the fore. As a writer, in the written venue, I do that, too. I know how to edit ideas down to its essence.

I had no idea these particular facets of myself could be put to use this way!

I AM SO EXCITED!

I remember what Al Gore said at the conference.

"We can live lives with an extra layer of meaning"

This is how this feels to me. Like a new layer of myself has been discovered (or, rather, recovered...like it was built into the fabric of the universe and utterly meant to be...I just had to find it...)

Al Gore also said:

'Your passion in undertaking this work, is the truth-force that will move others' #@algore #CRinCanada @ClimateReality

— Julie Johnson (@JulieeJohnsonn) July 10, 2015

I feel that truth force. I want that truth force to flow through me and beyond me and through others and into others...

I spoke with a fellow CR Leader Nan Foster via FB this week about this and she said somethings that really resonated:

The activism all comes from conversation. That authentic connection between people...that is our strength.

I can feel the inspiring power of connection. This is how you counter Climate Change insomnia and the like. By joining up and joining in and just plain joining.

Ok, I just got mental goosebumps again!

PS. The other ideas that I have are creative writing pieces:
-my cli fi mystery, which I started in the Spring
-a graphic novel version of my sitcom idea from this comic: a group of activists, striving to make change...

Step 8 in Going Green: Remain Calm! Remember Al Gore: 'Despair is not an option'!

Since attending the Climate Reality Conference in Toronto in early July I have experienced, a couple of times now, a particular kind of insomnia I have decided to call CLIMATE CHANGE INSOMNIA.

This is what's happening: I can't get to sleep because I'm worrying about climate change.

Once you have fully opened your eyes to the facts of climate change--which, to put it frankly, is apocalyptic in nature, right up there with nuclear Armageddon and zombie hoards--it is hard to 'forget it'.

It's there. In your brain.

I will never, ever forget as long as live the vibe in that conference room in Toronto on July 9 when Al Gore, master of the slide show, gave his presentation.

If you've seen An Inconvenient Truth (which you must, it is right up there with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring as part of Environmental Activism 101), then you will get the gist of it.

What I saw in Toronto was the revised version, updated for 2015. This includes lots and lots of current examples of how climate change is happening NOW.

Not in a few years, not 'in the future'.

NOW. NOW. NOW.

He starts his presentation with a view of the Earth from Space. Several views of it. Our precious home. Our 'pale blue dot'. Look at it! That's all we've got.

Then he shows you: see how thin the atmosphere is? Like the peel on an apple. That is what protects us.

Then: a systemic, scientific look at how global warming works.

How the proliferation of green house gases in the atmosphere work to trap in more and more of the sun's heat (infrared radiation), thereby trapping in more and more warmth.

How temperatures have been steadily rising over time, how those temperature's correlate to our increased carbon emissions (with a specific focus on fossil fuels).

How that temperature increase affects various aspects of the Earth's systems, resulting in extreme weather events (each one relentlessly clarified, and explained, and backed by examples, earth wide):

Floods, droughts, wildfires, big storms, melting ice and rising seas, increased health concerns, food and water scarcity, rising food costs, climate refugees, regional instability!

"Human sacrifice! Cats and dogs living together! Mass hysteria!"

(Sorry, had to put that Ghostbusters movie quote in, in a attempt to lighten the mood!).

"Climate Change is a medical emergency" #CRinCanada Disease vectors change, affecting animals and humans

— Julie Johnson (@JulieeJohnsonn) July 9, 2015

'The cost of carbon: wildfire, floods, extinctions, drought, storms, climate refugees, instability, famine, water scarcity...' #CRinCanada

— Julie Johnson (@JulieeJohnsonn) July 9, 2015

Al Gore is a good natured soul. He knew this part of his presentation was gloomy and sad. He told us at the beginning to hold onto our hats: the good news was coming at the end! The last half was about the progress being made! So just wait: it ends on a high note!

But, as he was walking us through this first part, it was like the air had been sucked out of the room. 

The seriousness of what we were facing, the depth and breath (indeed, the global scale) of what we were facing, the damage and devastation already wrought--I know I was not alone in thinking:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

There was no getting around the fact: damage has been done.

Al Gore even said that: Damage has been done.

He's been working tirelessly, devotedly, all these years on this, trying to get people to see what's happening right before their eyes...

How frustrating to have to admit that, so far, humanity can't get its act together enough to save itself from its own destruction!

But...here's the good news! 

His presentation switched gears to show the progress being made: the decrease in the number of coal plants in the USA, the increase in renewable energy sources world wide, how those increases were surpassing their projections, similar to the way cell phones have grown way past their projected levels of use...

Renewal energy is on the rise! The days of fossil fuels are numbered! 

The future trajectory was quite clear. Things are changing!

'Cause for celebration and joy' @algore re: increase in renewal energy sources across the globe #CRinCanada

— Julie Johnson (@JulieeJohnsonn) July 9, 2015

But...and here's the kicker: will the change be soon enough?

The fossil fuel industry isn't going down without a fight, that's for sure. It's quite clear the whole grumbling around 'is climate change true?' comes from their deeply lined pockets.

It must take some seriously heavy-handed sugar coating on their behalf to swallow that particular pill and not have any after taste. Don't they like awake at night, wondering: what if we're wrong?

Because if it turns out climate change scientists are wrong then all we get is some clean air and a more responsible ethos towards the environment...but if the climate denial-ists are wrong...then, oh boy, things are going to get freakishly terrible around here...

Surely they must have their own form of insomnia?

Don't they realize that as they lie awake in denial and I lie awake in despair we are all lying awake on the same planet? 

We live here together.

"Despair is not an option." Denial isn't an option, either.

Let's get it together, people!

Environmental consciousness can no longer be a choice. We no longer have that as a luxury. 

Let's accelerate the shift to renewable energy! Exercise your democratic rights! Urge your elected leaders: stop subsidizing fossil fuels! Stop investing in it! Promote greener, cleaner technology instead!

So at last I can centre my insomnia back on more mundane matters, like interpersonal anxieties, routine parenting concerns, work quibbles, existential questions, and why the heck can't I find a literary agent for my Regency mystery novel?

Enough with this apocalyptic stuff!


PS. Having undergone the Climate Reality Leadership training, I am now authorized to present Al Gore's slide show to interested parties! I can do this via the web or in person! Please let me know if you are interested! Twitter @julieejohnsonn

PPS. If you are interested in becoming a Climate Reality Leader, please go to https://www.climaterealityproject.org/or find them on Twitter @ClimateReality

PPPS: I tried to 'live tweet' the event, quoting speakers and Al Gore as they happened (I've included a few samples above). Search back in my Twitter feed to get a feel for the event! @julieejohnsonn

Step 7 in Going Green: (Re) Connect with Nature! (Plus more thoughts on Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Training)

I feel like the English language is lacking in nuance when it comes to nature.

The romantic poets on the nineteenth century had one term for it: the sublime.

But they were talking about that sudden burst of spiritual transcendence-ecstasy that occurs when faced with nature's magnificence. The dramatic view that would send you to the 'ever lasting universe of things' (as Percy Shelley puts it in Mont Blanc).

• What about the open curiosity one experiences while heading into the woods on a hike?
• What about the quiet contemplation that occurs when staring out to open water?
• What about the excitement/fear of being in an open field while a storm is heading towards you and you can smell it on the air?
• What about the serenity of gazing at the moon in the sky? Or the quick leap in the pulse when it emerges from behind a cloud?

Look! The moon! Tonight it's a sickle moon and sharp as a knife point!

We need more words to describe these moments!

This idea came to me when I was reflecting upon my experience a few weeks ago at the Climate Reality Leadership training in Toronto (hosted by Al Gore).

At one point in the conference, we were encouraged to 'share our stories' with our table mates. That is, share our stories about why we had come to be at this conference.

This was a very interesting exercise! Like me, every one there had experienced an inner shift at some point in their lives. Something inside that said 'I need to do something about the environment'. I need to protect it, speak about it, paint it, write about it, advocate on its behalf.

Everyone had their own story to tell about what had caused the shift inside.

Perhaps the most dramatic example that I heard came from one of the conference speakers, who used to work for the oil and gas industry but became so upset with what was going on that he switched careers. He now works for the David Suzuki Foundation.

As to my table group, what really struck me was how many of us expressed a connection to nature. 'I grew up in nature' 'I like being in nature' 'I want to protect nature'.

I paraphrase, but it was a concept oft repeated: nature is important to me,

I kinda always knew that for myself but I hadn't really said it out loud before.

I grew up in a variety of small towns in Ontario. Nature was literally at my back door. I played outside all the time, riding bikes, making forts out of sticks and pine needles or snow. We lived along side lakes, rivers. I spent every summer at a beach, in the water.

Even when we moved to a (mid sized) city, it was on Lake Ontario and our house was steps away from a natural beach.

Oh, the many days of my adolescence, walking that beach, staring out into the wind at the water, and thinking deep thoughts about the latest high-school drama!

(That experience in itself needs its own term. What word can we create for a teenage form of nature-soothed-angst?).

When I think about it, all my life nature has been there, a consoling presence in the background.

This past Spring, around the time I started this blog, I also started taking what I call the 'nature pic of the day' and posting it on Twitter. I started looking around me, really looking, and snapping photos with my phone of whatever aspect of 'ordinary nature' struck my fancy. The sky that day, a tree trunk, the view from the lake (yes, again I live near a lake).

I hadn't made the connection to this blog, I just started taking photos 'for fun'--but now I realize: my appreciation of my natural environment and this blog are the same impulse differently realized.

With words, with images, I feel the need to document how an average, ordinary person (ie: me) can appreciate the ultimate preciousness of our natural world, and thus, promote that compulsion within myself--and perhaps within you?--to see it properly safe guarded.

That moment of realizing the preciousness of our natural world? That inner shift inside that calls one to take action on its behalf?

 We need specific words for it!

(I propose eco-empathy for the first, green-epiphany for the later. What do you think?)

PS. Recent studies have shown the importance of nature on our psychological well being. Science is documenting that which has long been known. Nature is awesome!

PPS. If this post hasn't made it clear yet, go outside and make friends with nature!

Step 6 in Going Green: Take Action: Go Petitioning! (Al Gore's Climate Reality Project)

So I was at the beach with my family today and beyond thinking normal thoughts like isn't this a nice day and I wonder what I'll make for dinner I'm thinking:

I wonder if anyone here would sign my petition?

You see, I just spent 2 days at the Climate Reality Leadership Corp conference in Toronto. Al Gore spoke, as did numerous guest speakers. It was a revelation. And an affirmation of my new direction, my 'going green' transformation.

I am now officially a Climate Reality Leader and I have the certificate signed by Al Gore himself to prove it!

This is just an amazing turn of events for little 'ol me who started this little 'ol blog a few months ago and you can be sure there will be more blog posts to be posted here about it as I unpack this intense but deliriously fabulous event.

Anyway. But first, let's talk about the petitioning!

After the conference, there was a Day of Action, where upon several attendees gathered in small groups about Toronto and practiced our petitioning skills.

If a year ago, if you would have said that I would be standing on a busy street corner in Toronto calling out to assorted passer-bys: could you sign a petition to help stop climate change? I would have coughed up my water through my nose in startled bafflement.

First, because I haven't asked for petition signatures since I manned the Amnesty International booth in the concourse of my high-school. So it had been awhile.

Second, because a year ago I was in a different head space. I was still recovering from an illness, and the zone of my outward perspective was centred on family, work, and polishing up the final draft of my mystery novel.

Somehow, since then, my mentality has shifted very dramatically. I have gained in good health--the foundation for any enterprise--and have gradually broadened my range--broadened it farther than I ever could have imagined--

I started this blog because I'd reached an internal tipping point, a space inside that said 'I can't just sit here and do nothing'. That spark has now grown into a raging flame because:

• I just sat in a huge conference room with 600ish people all dedicated heart and soul to improving the environment;
• I had numerous conversations with people there who shared their stories of how, like me, something tipped internally, prompting them into action;
• These people come from all walks of life (business folks, educators, artists, parents, students) 
• Many of them travelled from far away to be there, such was their dedication (from other provinces, from the US, from the Caribbean, from Asia, from Africa...);
• I heard Al Gore speak, many times in fact, and it is impossible to do that and NOT be inspired by his tirelessness, his kindness, his humour, his vast experience and knowledge, his impassioned plea to enact change, and his relentless optimism re: the positive changes currently taking place (dramatic increases in renewal energy, for example)
• I heard others speak, like:
• Ian Bruce from the David Suzuki Foundation
• Keith Brooks from Environmental Defence Canada, 
• Glenn McGillivray from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, 
• Dr. Normand Mousseau from University Montreal and Sustainable Canada Dialogues
• Chief M. Bryan LaForme, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation,
• Dr. Henry Pollack from the University of Michigan
• Cara Pike, from Climate Access
• Merran Smith, from Clean Energy Canada
• Celine Bak, Analytica Advisors
• Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne

It is impossible to walk away from that kind of intense conviction and positivity and NOT want to stand on a street corner and call out to others with enthusiasm.

And so: off I went with my group to gather petitions from passerby's near the exits of the Bloor/Yonge subway station!

(This was an overwhelmingly positive experience by the way: not everyone signed, obviously, but several who did thanked me for what I was doing, thanked me for taking action.)

This has changed my overall perspective, it seems.

So now, when I'm in a crowd at the beach, the strangers all around me no longer seem like strangers but instead:

*potential allies*

The people at the beach today: would they want to sign my petition?

That lady in the polka dots. Would she sign it? That guy in the black swim trunks? Would he sign it?

(One thing I also realized while petitioning in Toronto: you can't assume based on appearances who will sign it.)

How about that couple tossing the beach ball around? Would they sign it?

How do I know if I don't ask?!

I guess I better bring it next time!

I wonder if I should start carrying the petition around in my purse?!

If I'm in a public space, I can use it!

So I think I need to start using it.

PS. This is the petition online. TAKE CLIMATE ACTION NOW! DEMAND WORLD LEADERS SIGN A STRONG AGREEMENT AT THE PARIS CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS IN DECEMBER!

So go and sign it already!

Step 5 in Going Green: Take Action Part 3: Internet Activism!

When you are exploring something new in this day and age, one of the things you must do is...turn to the internet!

The internet has a seemingly limitless supply of media reports that will tell you how bad things are going environmentally.

I used to tune those out because they were so distressing.  Now I see them as a necessary wake up call.

But if you just stop there, at all the dire warnings, you may experience feelings of impotence and despair...and just want to tune them out again...

So it is necessary to find the flip side, and to see how the internet can be a tool of action!

There are an INCREDIBLE number of people actively mobilizing to change things. It is heartening to see the energy, motivation, and action being taken on any number of causes. These are all over social media!

(Go find them! Here's a start: @DavidSuzukiFDN @WWFCanada @350Canada @GreenpeaceCA @ecojustice_ca @350 @HuffPostGreen @algore @climatereality @queenofgreen @CANBarrie and the list goes on...)

I wish we saw more of this on the traditional news outlets.

These people/organizations are inspiring. They make you want to say: I can do that. I will do that.

Many of these causes make it easy for you to support them. You can fill out an on-line petition! It will take you two seconds! You will just have to be prepared to give your personal contact information.

You will have to openly, publicly align yourself.

This is a great move for any newbie greenie!

Typing in your name is a bold step, an affirmation, a declaration: "I SUPPORT THIS CALL OF ACTION! And here's my email address, so you know where to find me!"

This can feel invigorating!

I myself have now sent off several of these petitions and it felt great!

I think my local MP knows who I am now. He is not of a party I associate with Eco activism, but his (form?) emails in response to me are always polite. (Looks like I can strike up a conversation at the next local community event with the words: "I'm Julie Johnson, I keep emailing you about environmental concerns via those on-line petitions...")

However, once you do it so many time over, you can feel a little bit like...can I do more? What else can I do?

Also, you can feel splintered, like your activism energy is being diffused across too many causes...there are so many causes...it can start to get to feel overwhelming again...

I think the next step is: finding a focus.

You'll hear more about that in the next blog post!