To The Editor:
The climate activist Greta Thunberg once said “we are done traveling” (by plane mostly). In 2019, she avoided flying by taking a train journey through Europe in April and setting sail to New York in August.
I am not done traveling. I plan on flying next year to see my siblings whom I have not seen for two years. And, I still drive to town too often.
I applaud the efforts of The Committee for Climate Action Plan, but I am reluctant to take action myself. I find it hard to change my way of life. I would rather the government agencies do it all for us, but I know we should do more on our own to protect the environment. For example, we should reduce our use of plastic and, whenever possible, favour paper bags over plastic bags. Government agencies could help local recycling centers accept plastic #4 and #6.
I like happy-ending stories, so I don’t want to know how farm animals are treated before landing on my plate. It hurts to see photos of starving children, desperate migrants, plastic waste in the ocean, oil spills, deforestation, water shortages, endangered wildlife species, greenhouse gas emissions, and violent protests.
Before instant news, I did not know much about global warming. Now I want to take climate action more seriously and do better.
Every individual action is important. As in the film ‘The Matrix’, we can either face reality or continue living in a World of Make
Believe. Now that we know better, climate action is a no brainer and might save us from extinction – or at least delay it.
Joëlle Claudon
St. Eugène
