Gratitude makes the journey better. Kindness, too.

Tag: environment Page 7 of 13

The Case of Environmental Conundrums

Initially published as a column in NewsKamloops on Friday March 25, 2016. 

Last Friday I was inside the Grand Hall at TRU listening, alongside a large crowd, the preliminary conclusions regarding the Ajax mine. Among chuckles drawn by the word ‘tundra’ used to describe some of the Kamloops landscape, serious concerns were brought forth.

Yes, the city and its surroundings will be affected. ‘Not insignificant’ became the refrain throughout the presentation. There will be dust (the 94 percent mitigation plan sounded like a silly joke) and there will be increased noise levels, particulate matter pollution and vibrations that might see homes closest to the site affected. There will some serious impact on the wildlife in the area, as well as the salmon in the Thompson River. And there is lots more.

So far, that was well-spent money one could say, though the process is not over and the proponent promises to add facts that will fill in the gaps and showcase the positive.

A recent scandal over serious environmental offenses by the same KGHM in Chile brings up a matter that has to be discussed, not just in regards to the Ajax mine but many other projects in our province.

Why is it that many of these corporations promise to adhere to world-class standards while developing their projects in Canada while their presence in other parts of the world points to the opposite? What transformations occur once they set foot on Canadian soil and if their ethics are so strong to keep their promises, why not start with the areas where the said violations are happening?

The recent approval of the Woodfibre LNG project in Squamish and the potential approval of Pacific NorthWest LNG proposed by Petronas near Lelu Island are but two more examples of why we need to reassess our priorities.

That many people are willing to forgo the serious threat that is climate change and the immediate environmental threats to their area in the face of corporate promising is baffling. Resources that come with a huge carbon footprint are best left in the ground at this point in time and the focus placed on sustainable energies that will create job opportunities and economic growth without the environmental toll.

Our province has what it takes to become an example of sustainability and mindful resource management that questions and carefully assesses corporate interest and with a focus on people and the environment.

Yet reality points to the opposite and moreover, it points to major media outlets being silent about it. The recently approved Side C project that is meant to provide energy mostly for the fracking projects in the area is worrisome on many levels. It will cost a lot to build, it will destroy vital farming land and its energy will be mostly feeding the fracking industry in the area.

As of now, there are people who have entered a hunger strike, one of them 11 days ago, determined to bring attention to the issue. Their desperate cry has yet to make the headlines. We can call them extremists and we can judge their ways, yet the bottom line is that they stand up for a world that belongs to us all. The least they deserve is to be acknowledged.

That is one of today’s dilemmas: people who stand for the environment, questioning either a mine, a dam, or an LNG plant that will see one of the most important salmon habitats in British Columbia threatened, are classified as troublemakers while their signaling of potential problems is not only backed up by scientific facts and reports, but also by increasing concerns over climate change which no matter how positive one is, it becomes borderline delusional to think it less serious than it is.

On the other hand, the recent media focus on the Ghomeshi trial and as of yesterday on the protesters that are not agreeing with the judge’s decision, should make us shake our heads and wonder about the topsy-turvy situation we are privy to. Some protesters are better suited for the news than others.

Things would look considerably different if the current provincial government’s agenda included trustworthy approaches to such issues, yet that is barely the case.

The Mount Polley disaster (classified as one of the worst disaster in Canadian mining history) got Imperial Metals into the headlines for a while; a review was conducted and a ‘poor practice’ stamp was applied to it in the end, with no serious consequences for the company. Moreover, four more mines in the north-west BC will have similar tailings pond constructions and in case you’ve been wondering, Imperial Metals owns one of them.

Yes, the Alaskans have every right to be concerned, and everyone living in BC should. Any accidents similar to Mount Polley would endanger the watersheds in the area, and accidents may happen especially when the corporate money-saving agenda precludes the concerns for the environment.

If weak mining regulations in this case allow for questionable projects like that to exist and more to be built, then it is only logical to inquire about the promised world-class standards that corporations are to provide as they carry on with resource exploration projects in our province. Is that in the best interest of our province? As for the employment deal, a handful of jobs in each case (100 annually for Woodfibre LNG in Squamish and 500 or so here at home for Ajax) can sound promising but will hardly sweeten the bitter environmental pill that comes with each of these projects.

The question we have to ask ourselves is simple: what’s worth more to us? Not as individuals but as people sharing the place we call home, the only one we have and the one we have to stand for. There are things that can get people enraged over, some awfully trivial at times (just check the news) and yet the biggest one of all has become the elephant in the room. It’s high time we attend to it, even as a conversation to start with. Everything is at risk if we don’t.

Why Address Bad Driving

Initially published as a column in NewsKamloops on Friday March 11, 2016. 

It happened on March 2nd and it almost slipped under the radar. A tractor-trailer that was carrying diesel fuel crashed on Highway 16 in Mt. Robson Provincial Park, spilling at least 20,000 litres of its load into the Fraser River and the surrounding area.

Now, 20,000 litres is not insignificant. Since the full load was 50,000 litres, your guess is as good as mine as to how much might’ve actually spilled after all. A lot of it dissipated below detectable levels 24 kilometers or so from the accident site, according to the BC Ministry of Environment quoted by a local newspaper.

That is bad news, if only the big media would’ve made it so. Not to sensationalize, not to create fear but to raise an important question regarding road safety and one of the dreadful consequences of poor driving.

The Fraser River is the longest river in British Columbia, one of the most productive salmon rivers in the world and the site of the largest Sockeye run in the world. Hardly the place that a spill will leave no trace.

In general, diesel sinks quickly and cold temperatures make the cleanup more troublesome. Our iconic fish have been challenged lately by issues related to climate change, such as low water levels and warmer than usual water temperatures, which make them susceptible to diseases and parasites. Nature is resilient, we know that, yet over 20,000 litres of diesel fuel is no small thing on top of everything else. Time will tell.

There’s only that much crying we can do over spilled diesel though once an accident has happened. Any environmental incident deserves attention, and this one deserves more than it got, yet today’s column will focus more on what caused it rather than its ill effects.

It is believed that speed and early morning slippery road conditions were the reason for the above accident. An inquiry is under way.

Speed is nothing new unfortunately. I mentioned speeding tractor trailers in previous column. I have seen many going over the speed limit on various highways, some even tailgating and changing lanes as if the vehicle was a sports car rather than a heavy truck.

That some crash occasionally and disaster ensues is sad but predictable. Then again, poor driving is not reserved to trucks alone.

Getting behind the wheel is a huge responsibility and anything that increases the risk of an accident has to become the subject of discussion among all of us who drive, because of what is at stake. We have to do more before the worst happens.

A closer to home example: Tuesday evening around 6pm found me about to step out on the crosswalk at the intersection of Lansdowne and 4th. The pedestrian sign shone bright so I checked for cars and then I started to cross. The first car turning left (incorrectly so into the far right lane of the one way street) that almost ran me over seemed about to slow down and allow me to cross but then it didn’t. It came really close, hence the ‘almost’ part. I am no slow walker, so it made me wonder about people who walk slower by default such as the elderly or parents with young children.

I darted forward to avoid the car but found myself in front of a second car turning left (at least turning into the correct lane) that … well, almost hit me. A bit of a bad joke if you ask me. Between the first driver turning incorrectly into the more distant lane and the second turning into the correct one, there was barely any room to run for my life. If you’re wondering about the required eye contact with the driver, the answer is yes for the first car. Not that it helped much.

Sobering indeed. I had a similar experience in broad daylight at Lansdowne and 6th two years ago. Sadly, I am hardly alone. Just this month two teenagers were hit while on a crossing on Westsyde Road, and if you check local news archives, many pedestrians had close encounters especially on Lansdowne and many ended up being struck.

Whatever the cause of poor driving is, consequences can be and often are horrifying, which is why the discussion cannot be postponed. Whether speed, distracted driving due to cell phones, or impaired driving due to tiredness, drug or alcohol consumption, accidents keep happening and we have to find a way to prevent them.

How do we address this? As pedestrians we need to educate ourselves and our children about safe crossing. That will lower the risk but it does not eliminate it completely.

What about when we are behind the wheel? Reading through many documents discussing the issue of road safety, suggestions range from education of drivers through all means necessary, to enforcing speed limits on the highways and within city limits, to having adequate consequences for those found guilty rather a mere slap on the wrist. Consequences could include revoking a person’s right to drive temporarily or permanently, depending on the degree of harm caused.

Statistics alone (see below), though not as updated as they should be, can add numbers to facts.

  • From 2004 to 2008, 13 percent of fatalities in Canada have been pedestrians and out of all of them, 33 percent were struck by a driver who had committed a traffic infraction prior to the crash.
  • According to Transport Canada, over 20 percent of fatalities that occurred from 2001 to 2005 involved heavy commercial trucks.

Bottom line: no one gets on the road with the intention of causing an accident that could injure or kill people, or cause irreparable damage, so reminders about what our responsibilities as drivers are should be all over the place. Safe driving makes for a safe world. We all want that.

What do you think would make for safer driving in Kamloops?

The Land, The People and The Economy

Originally published as a column on NewsKamloops on Friday March 4, 2016. 

On Tuesday night I was part of a group of people who gathered at TRU to watch the documentary ‘Fractured Land’ featuring Caleb Behn, an indigenous young man who is both a lawyer and an activist. His Goliath is the fracking industry in the BC Northeast and the possible development – unless something happens to halt the project – of the site C dam, which will add more insult to the injury already hurting the area.

It was hard not to shift in your seat as the show drew to an end and left everyone wondering what the best way to do things is after all. People have a love-hate relationship with fossil fuels, more so in the areas where the consequences of taking them out of the ground is seen in declining health, an increased rate of birth defects and also in the way their immediate natural world is affected.

Is leaving everything in the ground the solution? That’s naiveté at its best. Not because it is a bad idea but because we are still dependent on fossil fuels and the industry will not hang its hat any time soon. A smooth enough transition to renewable energy sounds commendable but… our leaders are still talking pipelines, fracking wells are still being drilled and an environmental black-eye like site C dam project is still to become reality.

The recent Paris meeting COP21 had many nations, especially island dwellers who are literally in harm’s way, trace the lines in the sand in regards to what temperature increase their now fragile worlds can tolerate before tipping point(s) becomes evident. That is, in less palatable terms, the point of no return.

But once the colourful sparkles of fireworks died off and the champagne glasses were put away, the New Year came with some uncomfortable surprises. It’s getting hot, scientists warn, and it’s getting shifty, weather pattern-wise, as is the case on the East coast. At the time of this writing on Thursday, March 3, the latest measurements showed that the average temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere have pushed through the 2 degrees Celsius above the usual (normal) values.

You know it’s getting hot when the Iditarod organizers have to haul in snow to make up for the missing white matter. That’s snow proofing and it cannot do more than be a Band-Aid solution.

That uncomfortable shifting in one’s seat again. But all is not lost. If it’s hot in one spot only many will carry on with their lives as if nothing is happening. If it’s hot in most places, people start to notice and action follows. There’s hope.

Luckily the dreary news coincides with the wrapping up of the Globe 2016 Leadership Summit in Vancouver. The conclusions included plans to phase out coal, reduce the methane emissions generated by the oil and gas industry and a province-specific carbon pricing scheme.

It sounds optimistic though the pipelines stay for now, which is not optimistic. Nor is the existent dialogue between the present government and oil companies regarding Arctic drilling, but if enough eyes are on it, perhaps public consultations will become a must and thus we will have a chance to speak up.

We are but a country among many contributing to the rise in greenhouse gases and though our contribution is low compared to other countries such as the US and China, the undeniable reality of intersecting economies should understandably push our present leadership towards finding solutions to reflect the present environmental challenges (yes, trade partnerships signed by the previous and present government can get in the way).

But there is a bright side too. Climate change has become a topic, a hot one and not just in environmental circles. Dialogue brings hope and it brings solutions.

Protecting the environment does not have to be the deadly enemy of economic growth, our PM Justin Trudeau said not long ago. The green energy sector can create jobs while honouring the commitment towards our beautiful blue dot, and it can assist, at a large scale, our transition to renewable energy sources that will see us on a more hopeful trajectory as a planet.

One thing is clear though. Economic growth can easily transition into being powered by greed rather than morals pertaining to the benefit of us all, and when it does, ill effects become ignored or concealed. Here’s to hoping that we have learned enough from the past and present in order to make the future a better one where greed need not apply, not if survival is intended.

As for doing something at an individual level, I have been told repeatedly, that will not help much. True, but it will save us from occasional despair and it will lead to a shift in how we think at community level, which counts.

Children Matter. Period.

Originally published as a column in NewsKamloops on Friday, February 19, 2016. 

momentsThere is nothing scarier or more upsetting for a parent than to feel helpless as he or she watch their child struggle with something they do not have the key to solve.

Last night found me wrestling thoughts of helplessness as I laid next to my youngest whose asthma flared up again a couple of days ago after a long dormancy. His breathing was my worry metronome.

Yes, for a while it did not bother him. As much as I would like to say that I almost forget it exists, that is not the case.

Whenever I pass by the hospital I think of it, whenever I see a cat I think of it (yes, it is cat-triggered yet ever new episode makes us wonder whether other allergens will become dreadful asthma triggers as well), and though I am not a pessimist by nature, the memory of his raspy breaths can easily demolish the earnest smile I could muster on a good day.

Something switches forever inside one’s heart when their child is born. You can’t quite identify it to put it in proper words but the short of it is ‘I’ll do anything to keep you alive and thriving’. And then, every now and then, we are put to test.

It’s humbling to realize how powerless we are when that happens. We turn to prayers and hope-building thoughts, we toss in our beds and renew the promise ‘whatever it takes’ and then we don’t let go, no matter what.

In my experience, the most important thing that happens when such occurrences bring us to our knees is to know that you are not alone. Many people are though and that is something no one should hide, but expose so it will not happen again.

As we went through a day of whizzing and monitoring the little guy, reaching for the puffer when needed, my thoughts traveled, as they often do, to all parents out there to struggle with not knowing what the future holds. We really are in this together.

There are degrees of uncertainty, as many as there are affections. There is though that common denominator that joins all parents: the worrying, the occasional relief just to get your strength back, the never-ending hope and the knowledge of how vital it is to not be alone as you face it all.

While some serious health problems occur just because and the cause is almost impossible to pinpoint, hence we resort to saying ‘genetic causes’ and leave it at that, while still not giving up the fight, others are avoidable and, worst of all, caused by human action. Irresponsible action that is. And that is simply unforgivable. That is something we need to know about, act upon and learn from.

Case in point number one: Flint, Michigan. If you’ve been reading the news about the town of almost 100,000 where people have been drinking lead-laden water for long enough to face serious health consequences, it is hard not to be horrified when you think of the dreadful reality that the parents of those thousands of children are facing.

Someone, somewhere (and it is not hard to know where as inquiries take place) decided to save money while putting people at risk. As always with any risks we take when it comes to a population group, the most affected will be children. Their small growing bodies can only take so much, and many of the consequences are irreversible.

Lead poisoning is one of them. Even small amounts can wreak havoc with a child’s body (with an adult’s too but the scale is different and for the scope of this column I choose to focus on children’s issues) causing irreversible damage. Ditto for unborn children.

A case that should serve as a reminder that our children are vulnerable and though resilience is one of their stellar qualities, they can only do so much when their health is becoming the subject of a Russian roulette game played by people who have the power to make decisions.

Case in point number two. The hydrocephalic babies born lately in Brazil and other areas of South America where a GM mosquito species resides and is being thought to spread the Zika virus, which many scientists believe to be causing the birth defects observed recently. Some environmentalists’ groups point to a pesticide called pyroproxyfen which was sprayed in order to kill the mosquito larvae in some areas as the culprit.

The answers are still not in, the debates are still raging. The reality that mothers of babies born with severe birth defects – many of them with limited access to funds that would help them care for their babies as they grow and face innumerable challenges – is a hard one to fathom. And the actual one they are left with.

The two cases and so many more remind me of these things: with our actions today we influence the fate of our children and their children. In how we plan our life and theirs we can make choices that honour the role we were given, as their protectors, to the best of our ability, and their defenders, in face of those who attempt to make bad choices.

It’s coming down to this: as much as we can, in raising our children – and the Earth village are all included here – we have to give it all. We have to keep our actions in line with the promise that matched the love we felt when we first laid eyes on our children.

Whether it pertains to digging mines or building pipelines, or to allowing the quality of air to increase as sales of new cars soar, there is but one way to do it right: the health of people comes first, children first of all.

In everything that we do at the community level, city and planet, we have to be mindful. Sometimes we really only have one shot to make it right. For them, for their future, for honouring ourselves and those who once cared the same for us.

The Bond We Cannot Let Go Of

Originally published as a column in NewsKamloops on January 30, 2016. 

Day with boysThe sky was painted in yellow light and beautiful white and blue clouds as the sun was setting in Kamloops. No sign of new snow, just the old hardened dirty banks by the sides of the road, some already transformed into dirty rivulets by the day’s warm air.

Just minutes ago we had left behind at Stake Lake a blizzard so thick and fast it felt unreal. Between getting out of our boots after a day of skiing and warming up next to the woodstove, we were in winter wonderland. ‘That came so sudden,’ both boys said as they ran outside on the cabin porch to look at the white curtain draping ever so fast over the surrounding trails and lake.

We had opted to play some today. After a shorter than usual day of school we took off into the hills, prompted by the morning warm breeze that had the awnings drum a premature spring dripping song.

The trails of hard snow with their surface melted by the midday sun made for some challenging terrain for young kids unaccustomed yet to all the skiing tricks, but it sure compensated in opportunities to bring our school talks with us in the middle of the woods.

Icy tracks on slopes that make you slide backwards again and again offer a wealth of physics observations, aside from the terrible annoyance of finding yourself subject to forces opposing your actual will.

So much to learn from as we followed trails, green and blue, and had clomps of falling snow missing us by mere seconds. The more ‘why’s sprout out of an outing, the clearer the message that if we allow our children to get separated from the great outdoors, a whole lot of learning disappears. For us too.

We all have much to lose if that happens.

We need to see trees to remember why we have to have many of them, countless, and we need to see forests in order to protect them from excessive and irrational logging.

We need to breathe fresh air and see the blue sky in order to be in unison as a community asking that the project that would bring a mine too close to Kamloops be reconsidered. Or that more areas are made available for walking and biking, which will slow us down enough to realize the preciousness of clean air and the beauty of a place where clean air matters.

We need to head out with our children to see the magic of the endless spaces our province is blessed with. Every season has its magic, but winter holds a special place in the hierarchy of wonders as it provides us with stories otherwise invisible: tracks of all sizes left by animals, big and small. It makes visible a world that we are easily forgetting in the rush of everyday life.

It is easy to forget that it is all shared land, easy to take for granted all that the invisible others make happen, easy to forget that we are not the tip of this wonderful world, but part of it, with a duty to try our hardest to keep it in balance.

The delicate and at the same time sturdy features of nature are available to us in Kamloops just steps away from home, wherever home happens to be. On any given day as you go for a walk, stop and take a look around. The vast spaces we have so much of are but an open-end invite to take yourself and your family out there and see the secrets nature so willingly shares if only we make time for it.

The icy slopes near Stake Lake were reason for intense frustration in our little guy at times, but then again, life is like that. If you’re out there, you learn that too.

Ups and downs, bumps and bruises, hope and laughter, frustrations bunched up like a ribbon that wraps around your mood too tight, there is nothing like taking a day off and finding yourself far from your everyday life and staring at shreds of clouds careening over tree tops as if to taunt you… Slow and fast redefined, time as you know it disappearing, and woods silent enough to bring the worries inside your heart down to a whisper. It matters to know that feeling.

Our sacred bond with nature is not one we can afford to let go of. There is simply no replacement. No app for that either, there’ll never be one. We owe this big secret to our children, sooner than later, because that’s what’s going to keep their world alive.

To Frack Or Not To Frack

Originally published as a column in NewsKamloops on January 15, 2016. 

Amidst the welcome news of the Kinder Morgan and Enbridge pipelines being shut down by the BC government, the fact that fracking is still considered an acceptable process for extracting natural gas is somewhat baffling.

After all, the earthquake that rattled Fox Creek, Alta., and a large area surrounding it, was no small matter. At 4.8 magnitude, the earthquake was serious enough to make the Alberta Energy Regulator close the operation indefinitely. The decision is a wise one and the earthquake a cautionary tale that no one should be allowed to downplay.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, comes with many risks. High-pressure fluid – as much as half a million litters of water with additives – is injected into deep wells in order to crack rocks and force out the natural gas trapped in the shale.

Aside from an increased risk of earthquakes (231 triggered by the shale gas industry between August 2013 and October 2014) that seem to increase in magnitude as more wells are being dug, fracking comes with a high risk of water contamination.

While some can argue that the province needs its natural gas project to continue in order to secure revenue and provide jobs, the controversial operations are bound to put some areas of BC and the people who live there at considerable risk.

The recent Fox Creek earthquake, as well as the two that occurred in British Columbia last year, share some commonalities: they were all caused by fracking and registered over 4 on the seismic scale. Hence the temporary (short or long-term) closing of the operations, yet unfortunately not severe enough to cause a re-evaluation of the process.

That many people in the area where fracking operations occur, as well as environmentalists, are showing great concern is only natural.

After all, natural gas giant Petronas, the company behind the huge LNG developments in BC, was discovered to have a poor reputation when it comes to safety matters. Not exactly what the public wants to hear about an industry that has been mushrooming in northeastern British Columbia.

And mushrooming is the right term indeed, as more than 7,300 wells have been drilled since 2005 in British Columbia. The trouble is, the more wells they dig and the more additive-treated water is pumped into them to release the gas, the higher the risk of earthquakes and leakage of toxic and carcinogenic compounds (yes, they are) into fresh aquifers. We can figure out ways to exist without natural gas, but there is no way we can ever exist without water. Which means that we have to preserve what we have at all costs rather than have so much of it used by industries that do not honour a green-energy commitment, nor admit the putative health and environmental effects they inflict.

 

As if an increased risk of earthquakes and water contamination is not enough, adding the release of methane into the atmosphere as yet another fracking side-effect (a 2013 report pointed out that the actual release is 70 percent higher than initially thought), should make us all wonder why fracking is allowed to continue the way it does.

After all, as with an oil spill in a pristine area, the effects of fracking can greatly affect a community. In Hudson’s Hope, BC, the site of five fracking wells and also the place of a continuous landslide which people blame on the fracking operation, the reality is as dark as could be, water-wise.

The only source of water for the community is contaminated with heavy metals, not that anyone claims responsibility for it. A report by the B.C.’s Oil and Gas Commission stated that the area has naturally occurring metals and is prone to land instability. How conveniently impaired one could say. Yet sarcasm aside, the reality is a sad one. The water advisory is still on and it’ll probably be for a while. People cannot use the creek the way they used to for generations.

Fracking is still happening near Hudson’s Hope and while the residents blame it for their water problems, truth is hard to come by when big money is at stake.

Call it cliché if you will, but human health and the health of the environment are priceless. And we just don’t have the luxury to spare any at this point. Nor should we be gullible enough to allow companies to convince us that fracking comes with low risks hence it should continue. The price in the long run (or not so long) could be a devastating one and the future generations, as well as the present one, deserve better.

The Ripple Effect

Originally published as a column in NewsKamloops on December 4, 2015. 

BeautyIt was cold on Sunday. Midday came with gifts of sunshine as over one hundred people gathered for the Climate Rally at Riverside Park. Not a big crowd by many people’s standards, but enough to make a dent of some sort.

Among lots of green paper hearts with inspiring messages directed to the City Council, and people smiling as they had green hearts painted on their cheeks (or noses), hope reigned supreme.

Indeed, there is something about that recognition of a need to act together towards the greater good if the greater good is to be achieved at all. There is no question that the road is a bumpy one; global well-being is a tall order. Yet what choice do we have?

It has come to the point in time when we can no longer push the dirt under the rug and pretend the day can be filled with happy thoughts only (hope is happy, come to think of it, isn’t it?) but we have to take the proverbial bull by the horns and act.

In face of a challenging world climate, environmental, social and political, the one logical thing to do is to approach the said bull not individually but together. Strength is in numbers, and to that I’d add that inspiration and courage are as well. from times past until today, the concept of togetherness is one that helps build bridges where bridges have never been built and helps us climb mountains that any of us individually would find impossible to climb.

It felt good to see that on Sunday. Frozen feet and noses notwithstanding, a great heart was formed on the shores of the quiet, old-as-the-world Thompson River, and the rally ended with smiles. Now for the actual work.

Yes, as good and fuzzy the feeling, there’s lots of work ahead. Rally or not, the world is still warming up and that’s bad, but also good because we can use the heat in more constructive ways. Species are still disappearing (some faster than others) and yet there’s a heap of good people out there striving to share the word on saving them, starting petitions and raising awareness, adding clarity to our view of the world like never before.

There are many acute issues in the world. From climate-related to multiple war-plagued areas and the resulting humanitarian crises, clarity is perhaps what we need to acknowledge that unless we tackle them together, neither will be properly fixed.

The Paris-derived ‘Keep it in the ground’ campaign is the very case in point. India’s PM has launched an international solar alliance of over 120 countries, many of them developing countries where some of the people will go from no power to solar power and all the benefits that electricity brings along.

Environmental issues and poverty can be solved as the complex interwoven problem they have become. Killing two birds with one shot, except that in this case we would be fixing the said birds with one cure. That could save future unrest and maybe even wars.

It would not be boasting if we were to say that we’re witnessing history being made these days. Big in how we invest ourselves in saving the world and its people too. Big in how we make compassion and responsibility stand out, big in how big our hearts grow as we hold onto each other in order to breathe new life into the togetherness concept.

In times of unrest, whatever the nature of it is, usually more than one as everything is connected after all, finding solutions is an act of courage and a reminder that uniting over big warm-hearted purposes gives meaning to life itself, saving it at the same time.

Then again, big goals can appear intimidating at first. Which is why pursuing change in small steps and fixing the world, mindset-wise, starts in our own backyard.

BC has again, and infamously so, placed first on the child poverty list in Canada. This year again, 1 in 5 children in British Columbia are living below the poverty level. That is unacceptable. There is no sugar coating for this one.

In the days of thrift stores bulging with used items, landfills inundated with usable things and still lots of food finding its way in the garbage, the only word that can describe the situation, much to our shame, is “unacceptable”. Unacceptable indeed.

But many good deeds happen as there are many people putting money, time and consideration towards addressing the problem. It goes without saying that the provincial government has to step up to the plate and do the hard work on that end too.

Things are changing and for the better. Having knowledge is where we start. So let’s consider us walking the path already.

We can do it. Change how we treat the environment, put food on children’s plates and offer low-income families (single parents too) the gift of dignity. Address mental issues, understand the needs of those affected in our community and country-wide and press on to help war and disaster-affected people, the millions of them: those effected by the crisis in Syria and Iraq, those without homes and little food in Nepal, the tens of thousands in Sudan who are on the brink of famine.

Kindness begets kindness and we are all better when that happens. A single drop that falls in a lake will create ripples that will travel farther then we see with our eyes. The same with kindness. Our world deserves it. We, as its people, deserve it too.

In keeping mindful we are not living in fear but in hope. In unity over goals that honour life as we know it in all its entirety, we become better. Humbly so.

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