All posts by stephanie

With the upcoming Canadian Federal election now called, I have added a page of info/resources etc related to the election, the Green Party and electoral reform. I will be adding to the page as additional info comes up throughout the election. 🙂

Hi all,

I am currently working on reorganizing the website – aiming to make pages and sections neater and tidier, with information easier to find. Please be patient over the next days (or longer) as things move around. Thank you! 🙂

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190909-why-flight-shame-is-making-people-swap-planes-for-trains

I admit that I have flown a lot, including a lot of trips across the Atlantic – at one stage in my life, I was averaging two return trips per year. In my circles, depending on what projects people are working on, that average can be much higher.

So, reducing/eliminating flights is tough, but being hard doesn’t make it any less essential. Regardless of the prevalence of super cheap airlines – or the nice ones, for those who have the money – the cost of flying is much higher than the actual ticket price.

In Canada, I have long been frustrated with the fact that train travel is not more affordable. In my opinion, our big systems should be making it easier to do the right thing, not harder. Therefore, if the lower emissions train trip was cheaper than an equivalent flight, I think that would help create a significant shift in behaviours, patterns and trends.

Until then, the right thing will not necessarily be the easiest or the cheapest, but it is still the right thing to do. 🙂

I love this post https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/how-do-we-get-better-at-failure/ and the idea that organizations need to be much more open about failures, and using this to lead to changes. I have seen a variety of situations in which openness to admit failures is important. That includes, but is not limited to

• apathy (maybe things aren’t perfect, but it’s how it’s always been done) and
• resistance (This is how we have always done it, and we are not going to consider changing our ways.)

Some failures are more open (eg failed to account for an anticipated cost in the budget). Others, though are more subtle and harder to change. For example, sometimes, what got an org to where they are is not what is needed to move them forward. For example, a new organization might operate with a very lean staff and key positions all being held by the CEO/ED. However, after time, that structure needs to change, and the CEO/ED will need to hand over key positions to someone else, or risk the long-term viability of the organization.

In countless ways, what an organization/project needed in the past will not fully reflect what is needed in the future – so depending on the past, and repeating, will never get the best results. However, I see this coming up a lot – holding on to certain ways of doing things and failing to try new things, and thus creating a failure itself, since the old ways aren’t always relevant for the present or the future. Somehow, I think, organizations need more ways to check in and note those things – basically “That may have served us well in the past, but it isn’t what we need moving forward.”

I also like the idea of making check ins more frequent. Instead of this being something that is done once a year (or every few years, or more), I see value in making this a regular, key part of how organizations operate. Increased openness to learning and growing can only help. 🙂

We are, without a doubt, at a point at which hope, without action, is meaningless to our children. We need action. That includes the kinds that are easy (like remembering to bring a grocery bag.) However, it also includes significant steps that will not be convenient or easy. It requires radical changes to our lives – not just once, but every year, for the foreseeable future. It requires changes to how we eat, how we live, how we get around and who we elect to government.

There are various numbers being put out – and I’m not going to focus on all of the specifics here, just the overview.

The Green Party believes Canada should commit to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels by 2025. Our long-term target should be to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, with further cuts to greenhouse gas emissions of at least 80% to 90%, compared to 1990

https://www.greenparty.ca/en/backgrounder/2015-06-14/green-party%E2%80%99s-climate-change-plan (from 2015)

The plan targets 60 per cent GHG reductions against 2005 levels by 2030 and zero emissions by 2050. (Green Party, Canada, 2019)

https://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-release/2019-05-16/elizabeth-may-unveils-mission-possible-%E2%80%93-green-climate-action-plan (2019)

This is a call that we must take seriously. A reduction of over 50% in only a few years is what we are being asked to do. Thinking about that practically that means:

• radically overhauling transportation and other sectors
• electing governments with exceptionally strong climate action plans (Greens, in Canada – in my opinion)
• changing our own personal choices
  • If our house is 50% bigger than it needs to be, for example, downsizing is a way to reduce our emissions – a smaller, equally efficient house is less space to heat and cool.
  • Making a variety of changes to how we eat (plant-based, local, organic as much as possible.)
  • Transitioning away from gas-powered items as quickly as possible (vehicles, lawn mowers etc).
• Realizing that we don’t have the luxury to pick and choose anymore. We all have to do our best, in every sector, knowing that some changes will be easier, and others will be harder. Some we might be able to make a lot of progress on right away and others might take a bit more planning, but we can get there, and we need to try.

I believe that we can do this – if we genuinely work together to make the changes that are needed. Let’s do this together! 🙂

Sometimes, in conversations around making the changes that are necessary for a cleaner, better environment, I hear people talk about any given change and, referring either to themselves or society generally, say “Well, maybe people could make that change, but it would take decades. Nobody can make that change fast, like the science is asking us to do.”

Here is my response: We have all had decades – starting back before I was born, and decades before my kids were born. Like a student who procrastinates all term and then has to do all of their work in the last week of the term, the opportunity to do things more gradually was there, and it wasn’t taken. Now, we have decades of work to do and we have to get it done. There are no extensions available.

It’s time to act – removing fossil fuel subsidies, adding major subsidies to renewables to speed the transition, switching to a local and heavily plant-based diet, living in smaller and more energy efficient homes, getting gas guzzling vehicles off the roads, flying less, reducing emissions in all areas, electing leaders (like Elizabeth May and the Green Party) who will put climate action at the top of the agenda, knowing that some changes will be relatively easy and some will be harder. We need to meet (and exceed) the major climate agreement targets – and we need to do it fast. I believe that it can be done – all it requires is the will to step out of our comfort zone, make the changes and do the right thing.

Toronto Star: Elizabeth May: We have had decades to stop the climate crisis. The era of procrastination must end.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/09/03/elizabeth-may-we-have-had-decades-to-stop-the-climate-crisis-the-era-of-procrastination-must-end.html

https://www.change.org/p/doug-ford-end-discriminatory-funding-for-catholic-public-private-schools-in-ontario

As we start a new school year, this petition has now reached over 2,500 signatures. That is a significant milestone, but we still have a long ways to go to bring about a long past-due change. Please help me, by signing and sharing this petition in your circles. Thank you! 🙂

Please sign this Change.org petition to support EV’s in Canada – and share widely. Thank you! 🙂

How much destruction is needed for us to take climate change seriously?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/03/how-much-destruction-is-needed-for-us-to-take-climate-change-seriously?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_WordPress

Great video on the importance of making sure that teens get enough sleep. Fairly short, and very informative. Well worth watching. 🙂

Fortunately, personally, we don’t have any really early start times in our family (school starts shortly after 8 for our teens) – but nudging things later would still be of benefit, I think. It’s still before the 8:30 start that she suggests for the earliest recommended start time. Worth taking a serious look at how to adjust our systems to help our teens stay healthy and well-rested.