Sustainable Cobourg
‘ We are the change!’
You’ve come to the right place if you’re interested in changing the world! If you believe that small changes can bring huge benefits to our planet, like never ever using single use plastic bottles when other alternatives are possible, like supporting farmers that produce organic food, like planting trees, like getting fossil fuel consumption down, like making your own cleaning products, like making sure that as little as possible goes to landfills ( that there is no such thing as garbage) , like protecting the first medicine:WATER, like repairing instead of replacing, well you need to join our community!
Let’s do this together and be the change we want to see!
Demystifying Sustainability
The idea of ‘sustainability’, is not one dimensional, yet, at its core, it is simple.
It simply asks that we think about whether or not what we’re doing can be continued in perpetuity, responsibly, so as never to compromise the ability to continue.
To illustrate, consider a forest being felled for its lumber. Should that practice continue if no thought has been given to the forest’s regeneration? If it is nevertheless continued, the result is there will be no more trees and therefore felling cannot go on, hence, the practice is unsustainable.
This is integral to sustainable thinking as it has a lens that looks to the future. However, it also requires that we take in the fact that every action we undertake has consequences, that are both foreseen and unforeseen.
Our planet is what allows life. That is the air, water, earth, and energy it creates sustains all life forms. It has done so for millennia. These four elements are inter-related and interdependent. If one element is compromised, all others are as well.
When the fine-tuned balance that has evolved is jeopardized by a ‘sudden’ change in their interdependence, species can be affected, negatively. (i.e. hence the disappearance of the dinosaurs).
Understanding our part in this balancing act is now critical for our survival. What we do, what we support our governments to move forward with, all have either a negative or positive impact on this fine-tuned balance.
In 2007 The International Panel on Climate Change stated that these changes were unequivocally Anthropogenic, meaning human caused. If that is true, then it seems that we can also be the cause to undo the trajectory of higher global temperatures that increased Greenhouse Gases have created by changing our behaviours to reduce them. CO2 and methane are 2 of the GHG that we, as individuals can target. And even if we are not the cause, we can still accept the challenge to help bring about the balance that has been compromised.
We are the change.
“Sustainability” is a state where we meet the demands placed on our planet by people and commerce without compromising or infringing on the earth’s capacity to provide for future generations. It includes strategic dimensions of human/planet interactions classified as environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic resilience. Also expressed in the simple terms of a golden rule for society.
– G. Ludorf-Weaver (President of Sustainable Cobourg)
Acknowledgement
Our thanks to our previous M.P. Kim Rudd and the Federal Liberal Government for helping with funding from “Horizons for Seniors”
