It is twenty-five years since I was first alerted to our changing climate temperature and rising sea levels. Then, living a few blocks up from the shoreline in West Vancouver I frivolously said, “Oh good we’ll be waterfront.” Those thoughts didn’t last for long as I reflected on the fact that my generation would not be leaving a liveable planet for my grandchildren and their children and their children’s children. It’s not a legacy anyone would want to hand down to future generations.
Moving to Bowen twenty-three years ago was a game changer for me. In association with BILLS (Bowen Island Lifelong Learning Society) we began to look at our carbon footprint and how our behaviours today would impact the climate in the future. We looked at the impact in the area of the Salish Sea. It was enlightening to see how, when we make small changes in our lifestyle these changes can lead to reducing our carbon footprint resulting in more positive outcomes in the years to come.
Feelings of powerlessness can be overwhelming and lead to inaction. It is important to get past the inability to do anything to a place were we must do something to make a difference. Even a small change can make a big difference. In 2008 I joined a team that would change how things are done on Bowen. Knick Knack Nook was then but a dream. The dream has become a reality that has assisted in decreasing household items and clothing from ending up in the landfill. But it did more than that – it created a gathering place, a place of community connection. It became all and more than was envisioned. Interesting, again, how making a small change can lead to a big change.
To be good stewards of the monies raised at the Nook the goal was that the profits should go to composting on Bowen. We would be able to decrease our carbon footprint by keeping our organics on-island. On first moving to Bowen it seemed crazy to live on ‘a rock’ and put kitchen waste into the garbage. This was when I realized of the importance of composting. Why not take kitchen and yard waste, add a few red wigglers and voilà soil to add to ‘the rock’. Now we have an opportunity to do this on a larger scale on Bowen.
We can make a difference - each in our own way. It can be living like my grandparents generation lived, by “doing with what we have”, recycling, reusing, restyling new from old, buying only what is needed, reducing when we can and by making organics into precious soil. If each of us takes action in something we believe in, we are no longer powerless.
