By Dave Toderick
It wouldn’t have been visible to you had you been in orbit around the earth, but October 10, 2010 was a special day for our planet.
Students at Maple Crest Early School in Fonthill plant a pear tree in the school's garden at a global work party to bring attention to the need to take meaningful action on climate change.
A total of 7,347 events were held in 188 countries, all with the aim of sending a message to our political leaders: “We’re getting to work to find solutions to the climate change crisis. So should you.”
People built energy efficient stoves in Guatemala, and water storage tanks in Peru. Workers planted and harvested at a former derelict site, now an urban garden in Germany. Volunteers repaired bicycles for free in New Zealand. Workers installed solar panels in the Maldives.
According to some, all of these people were wasting their time. In fact, they were actually doing harm because they were detracting attention from the real problems we face.
Among this group are some who are simply badly misinformed. They genuinely believe that the burning of fossil fuels by humans is not the reason the earth’s climate is changing. They don’t understand that climate experts have investigated and ruled out other climate forcings, such as some change in the relationship between the sun and the earth, or volcanoes.
But also among this group are some who do understand the science, and who are deliberately trying to mislead the general public. They are paid by the oil and gas industry.
Paid to confuse people into thinking that climate experts are divided on the issue when they are not. Paid to do their best to stop governments from taking the actions that are necessary to prevent the catastrophe that looms before us.
Students at Gordon Public School in Welland fight climate change by planting a magnolia tree donated by Welland 10-10-10.
And they have been extremely effective: many people, not really wanting to believe that the way they are living is destroying the world as we know it, are buying the message.
Many people. But not all.
Certainly not the people involved in those 7,000 plus events, which included a number held in Niagara.
At Grimsby Secondary School, SCAPE (Students Concerned About Planet Earth) called for electricity usage to be cut in half for the last school day before the October 10 weekend. On the same day, they promoted recycling among their peers to demonstrate how much landfill-bound waste could be reduced.
In St. Catharines, Omega Sigma Chi Sorority, aided by Walker Renewable Energy and the soil enhancer Biochar, were in Woodgate Park planting trees donated by Tree Amigos.
On the Friday before the long weekend, at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus of Niagara College, Niagara Environmental Corps, a student driven organization, and Niagara Sustainability Initiative, invited people to calculate their carbon footprint and learn ways to reduce it. The Louth Street, St. Catharines Canadian Tire donated energy efficient light bulbs for participants to take away. Native tree species were planted by Niagara College’s outdoor classroom as the culminating activity.
NOTL Sustainability Network hosted a number of 10/10/10 events. One was an “Eat Your Lawn” competition, where the winner of an essay contest received a cash price to help turn their yard into a vegetable garden. They organized NOTL’s first Green Drinks event, where environmentalists meet to network and socialize. They offered a Yoga class which included a talk about the purpose of the day. Finally, they invited cyclists to a “Park-in”, where they paid the parking fee and used the space to promote carbon-free transportation.
Welland 10/10/10, with the help of half a dozen Gordon School students, planted a magnolia tree in the school’s butterfly garden on October 7. The group followed up with a pear tree planting at Maple Crest Early School in Fonthill on October 22.
Also in Welland, at an event called “Putting the Party in the Global Work Party”, a group of friends joined me in making a music video of a song called “350”. Like the organization “350.org”, which planned 10/10/10, the song refers to the number of parts per million of carbon dioxide (CO2) that climate experts are saying is the safe limit.
For all of human history except for the last 200 years, the atmosphere contained about 275 ppm of CO2. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, that number has risen to about 390. Unless we get back to 350, we risk dire consequences. We need everyone’s help, including those who have been saying climate change isn’t anthropogenic. If they won’t help, they should at least get out of the way.
350 parts per million carbon in the atmosphere
350 parts per million carbon, and let’s be clear
It won’t be easy but it can be done
So let’s get working, let’s tell everyone
And while we’re at it, gonna have some fun
Taking back the atmosphere (from the song “350”, written for 10/10/10)
To learn more about 350.org, check out their website: http://www.350.org/. To watch the video of the song “350”, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRg2Dm8kKEY.
Dave Toderick is a resident of Niagara, a longtime educator, a musician and a frequent contributor to Niagara At Large.
(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to our greater binational Niagara region.)
Caption for Picture #1
Students at Gordon Public School in Welland got to work to fight climate change by digging the hole and planting a magnolia tree donated by Welland 10-10-10.
Caption for Picture #2
Students at Maple Crest Early School in Fonthill help Welland 10-10-10 plant a pear tree in the school’s garden at a global work party to bring attention to the need to take meaningful action on climate change.
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