There’s a word in Innu-aimun that means the land and all the interconnected life that is apart of it. The word is nutshimit. The living world seems to be the best approximate translation we have in English. We often talk about saving the planet but the planet will be here. It’s the web of life we really want to save, including ourselves.
Last winter I read some articles on what scientists are telling us about climate change. You’d think we’d all know this. You’d think we’d be talking about it all the time. The information is widely available and vital for us to understand but somehow most of us are unaware of just how grave the problem is. I was until I did some serious reading. Then I panicked. I couldn’t look at my grandchildren without feeling terrified for what they will face as they grow up. It was overwhelming. I think that’s why we don’t know much about climate change or, if we do, we don’t talk about it. We can’t bear to think about it and we don’t want to upset people by bringing it up. I felt paralyzed and terribly depressed for a while after reading about it, but I gradually realized that taking action was the best way to deal with that. Last week I joined the Fridays for Future Climate Action Walk (photos above and below) and I plan to keep working on whatever I can to do something for the Living World. I’ll be posting here about things people can do and initiatives and possibilities that can make a difference.
I started this blog as a resource for active transportation and a way to tell the story of making one small city, St. John’s, more walkable and accessible. This is an important part of climate change strategy. A report by C40 Cities and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment suggests that “enabling next generation mobility” (which includes active transportation) is one of four key areas that could help cities achieve 90 to 100 percent of the emissions reductions needed by 2030. I plan to keep working on that and am looking forward to talking about it at the Decarbonizing Newfoundland and Labrador Conference that will be held here in St. John’s July 11-12.
The youngest and oldest strikers at the Fridays for Future walk last week.
Road Rage 