Martina and myself at Chasse Galerie in Trois-Rivières, Québec, June 2009.
I’ve been integrating climate conscious actions into my days for as long as I can remember: trying to view documents on screen instead of printing and printing double-sided if required to print, regarding plastic water bottles with disdain, and using cloth grocery bags even before I was being charged for plastic ones. However, when my good friend, Martina Nowak, informed me that she was planning to traverse the 9306 km that make up Canada by bicycle in an effort to raise awareness about climate change, I began to reconsider my limited knowledge about the environmental issues my reducing, reusing, and recycling were to target.
Since then, I have made an effort to attempt to understand the great big world of sustainability, carbon emissions, and climate change, and while I’m no expert, I am more informed. I am in no position to preach on the environment, except to say that I love it and we all should, but Martina’s blog has a handy list of sites you can use for some self-engagement. We all may not be able to promote recycling by cycling for months like Martina, but positive change will not be found until every conscious person at least joins the race (Not funny? Okay, sorry).
On a very related note, Martina will be here in Toronto on Friday, and I am so excited to host her at my place for the long weekend. She’s one of a group of cyclists who are a part of Pedal for the Planet, and they’ve been zipping all over Canada for the past two months. If you’re interested, there are a number of events in Toronto, including a rally in Queen’s Park on September 3rd and a free film screening that same night at Hart House. Come out and show your support for the Super Cyclists!
