Reflections
By Bonnie Hutchinson
The little town that decided
The little town that decided
At last count in 2013, the town was 75 per cent of the way to its goal. Preliminary results from a more recent count suggest the town is even closer, with its carbon footprint down by another 22 per cent.
Four things they’ve learned: 1. Start with hope. The man who was inspired to convince the community to reduce its carbon footprint began by telling neighbours about a town in the UK who had reduced its carbon footprint. To his surprise, neighbours bought in.
2. Start small. Enthusiastic neighbours began by convincing others to switch to LED light bulbs. They started trading ideas about how to reduce household carbon footprint.
3. Build momentum. One couple was renovating, and decided to research green technology. Others caught on. A big jump came when the community hall was renovated. Its carbon footprint was reduced by 96 per cent and its need for purchased energy by 91 per cent – not only an environmental benefit, but a cost saving to the whole town.
4. Celebrate every improvement. One woman said, “This community celebrates everything – every little accomplishment, it doesn’t matter how small. And it celebrates together. It’s a wonderful way to live.”
One day when I didn’t even know I was thinking about it, a thought flitted into my mind. I hesitate even to “say” it out loud, it’s so far-fetched. But here it is.
What if every city, town and county or municipal district became...self-sufficient in food? Self-sufficient in energy? And had a zero environmental footprint? What if? When I began to imagine what would happen for the province and country and even world if every community took this on, my mind started reverberating.
I began to think it’s possible to turn around the planetary damage that is not just looming, but already happening.
Do I know how to make this happen? No. But I do know one thing. The starting point is, we have to decide.
***
Back in 1993, as a chain smoker from the age of 14, I was “planning” to quit smoking. I picked a specific date. In the weeks before that date, I asked everyone I knew who’d quit smoking how they did it.
I heard lots of helpful techniques, but the most useful comment came from my brother. He said, “You’re not ready.” I acknowledged that might be accurate.
Then he said, “You have to decide. That’s it. All the stuff about the patch, or cigarettes without nicotine – that’s just BS. You have to decide. And once you decide, that’s it. That’s how you quit.” He was right. And I did.
So, we’re addicted to stuff that turns out to be bad for us, like cigarettes, which at one time had even medical doctors promoting them (really – I’ve seen the ads) and corporations trying to trash the evidence that smoking harms people’s health.
Now we’re collectively addicted to stuff that turns out to be harmful to the planet that’s the only home our species has. Corporations and others are trying to trash the evidence that says we have a problem and we might have to change in ways that will likely cause discomfort or even pain while we adjust.
We can’t count on governments or corporations to solve this. We have to decide.
And we can more likely influence our own communities than impact governments or corporations. They will follow when they perceive it to be in their self-interest.
***
Like the little town of Eden Mills, once we decide, we will begin to figure out how, one step at a time. We can start small, build momentum and celebrate small and then larger successes.
Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.”
We have nothing to lose by deciding to give it a shot.
***
I’d love to hear from you! If you have comments about this column or suggestions for future topics, send a note to Bonnie@BonnieHutchinson.com. I’ll happily reply within one business day.
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Four things they’ve learned: 1. Start with hope. The man who was inspired to convince the community to reduce its carbon footprint began by telling neighbours about a town in the UK who had reduced its carbon footprint. To his surprise, neighbours bought in.
2. Start small. Enthusiastic neighbours began by convincing others to switch to LED light bulbs. They started trading ideas about how to reduce household carbon footprint.
3. Build momentum. One couple was renovating, and decided to research green technology. Others caught on. A big jump came when the community hall was renovated. Its carbon footprint was reduced by 96 per cent and its need for purchased energy by 91 per cent – not only an environmental benefit, but a cost saving to the whole town.
4. Celebrate every improvement. One woman said, “This community celebrates everything – every little accomplishment, it doesn’t matter how small. And it celebrates together. It’s a wonderful way to live.”
One day when I didn’t even know I was thinking about it, a thought flitted into my mind. I hesitate even to “say” it out loud, it’s so far-fetched. But here it is.
What if every city, town and county or municipal district became...self-sufficient in food? Self-sufficient in energy? And had a zero environmental footprint? What if? When I began to imagine what would happen for the province and country and even world if every community took this on, my mind started reverberating.
I began to think it’s possible to turn around the planetary damage that is not just looming, but already happening.
Do I know how to make this happen? No. But I do know one thing. The starting point is, we have to decide.
***
Back in 1993, as a chain smoker from the age of 14, I was “planning” to quit smoking. I picked a specific date. In the weeks before that date, I asked everyone I knew who’d quit smoking how they did it.
I heard lots of helpful techniques, but the most useful comment came from my brother. He said, “You’re not ready.” I acknowledged that might be accurate.
Then he said, “You have to decide. That’s it. All the stuff about the patch, or cigarettes without nicotine – that’s just BS. You have to decide. And once you decide, that’s it. That’s how you quit.” He was right. And I did.
So, we’re addicted to stuff that turns out to be bad for us, like cigarettes, which at one time had even medical doctors promoting them (really – I’ve seen the ads) and corporations trying to trash the evidence that smoking harms people’s health.
Now we’re collectively addicted to stuff that turns out to be harmful to the planet that’s the only home our species has. Corporations and others are trying to trash the evidence that says we have a problem and we might have to change in ways that will likely cause discomfort or even pain while we adjust.
We can’t count on governments or corporations to solve this. We have to decide.
And we can more likely influence our own communities than impact governments or corporations. They will follow when they perceive it to be in their self-interest.
***
Like the little town of Eden Mills, once we decide, we will begin to figure out how, one step at a time. We can start small, build momentum and celebrate small and then larger successes.
Wayne Gretzky famously said, “You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.”
We have nothing to lose by deciding to give it a shot.
***
I’d love to hear from you! If you have comments about this column or suggestions for future topics, send a note to Bonnie@BonnieHutchinson.com. I’ll happily reply within one business day.
