galaward Sep 27, 2007 9:41 am

Hello out there,

Sorry this is long - I'm new to this list, and am so thankful it's here. I'm a former newspaper reporter turned music teacher. Someone asked me if I missed being able to shape public opinion. I had to laugh. *It is now, as an ex-journalist, that I can express my opinion publicly* - something I've been doing often. I've been able to do more for the environment since quitting the paper in 2005, then I ever did as a managed employee. After the Al Gore movie, a lot of fruitless arguments I'd had with folks over the years evaporated into thick air. Kilotons of personal energy were freed up to actually do something. So I started printing off green ribbons to distribute in the repertory theatre lobby, and signing people onto a mailing list. Out of this came a group of 30 people willing to do a relay from the Annapolis Valley to the N.S. provincial legislature - walking, biking, and on the final leg, public transit - to get public witness in handing copies of the DVD (and green ribbons) to govt. We got a bit of print and radio publicity, and I've continued to parlay this into speaking opportunities.

One day last February the entire federal opposition wore green ribbons to the House of Commons - too bad they didn't keep it up. I had an e-newsletter going for a while, but it was a one-man band. So I can't say the green ribbons have taken off. There are too many others ribbons out there. (Although if there was a cause that deserved a ribbon, the environment would be it.) The magnetic bumper ribbons were printed with *the three easiest* *lifestyle changes*: buy local (food miles are a biggie), stop idling (it'll save you money), recycle more (and buy less) ... One town councillor announced we would become the first idle-free town in North America. I am not sure this has happened yet. But* the feds have free anti-idling signage and literature available (to order at the Natural Resources Canada website), *and* *I've been distributing it ...* * I would like to see more of the no-idling pressure stickers and literature being distributed by parking lot attendants - esp. at obvious govt. installations. Recently while waiting to take the ferry to St. John's, Nfld., I marvelled at the dozens of cars idling in the toll booth line. The toll officers should be distributing anti-idling brochures. At construction sites, what would it take for somebody who would otherwise be leaning on a shovel to walk down the line of cars with booklets, kindly requesting people turn the key? This is so easy, and such a no-brainer, and I'm often caught without a stack of the booklets .... As Edward Abbey wrote, you want to be careful not to burn out, because after all, you want to *outlive the bastards ... * And this is very well and fine until you realize that if you ever eat hot dogs or drive a car, then you're pretty much one of them. I know lifestyle change has to be bottom-up and top-down ... probably our best hope of fostering permanent lifestyle change is educating kids, and getting kids to educate their parents. *Beyond the political arena, we need ordinary volunteers to get into* *schools and Sunday Schools* (where there is at least some values-based education left - ask the kids - God and Mother Earth are in the same bathtub.) *The excellent programs at **www.eartheducation.org*