We are fast approaching an important date on our calendar, Earth Day, April 22nd! Created in 1970, this day serves as an important yearly reminder that we have a responsibility to conserve and protect the environment we live in.
According to https://www.earthday.org, the Earth Day movement inspires millions of people in 192 countries to take actions to safeguard and fight for a brighter future by planting trees, providing education, organizing cleanups and launching other green initiatives. Impressive as this worldwide effort is, we must remember that it all starts with us as individuals. As individuals, we must not lose sight of the fact that we need to act on more than just one day of the year.
Individually, we need to evaluate our own daily actions while recognizing that what we do today will have a huge impact on the generations that follow us, and we see that a change in the way we do things is necessary to protect the future of those generations. We will need the commitment and determination to make it happen. This Earth Day is the perfect time to make sustainability a personal challenge; a time to evaluate our lifestyles, identify those things that need to be changed, and make the commitment to act. The collective individual efforts of many is a powerful resource to make changes on a truly world-wide scale.
Sustainable Orillia is in the process of planning several events this year, including the ongoing challenge to reduce carbon emissions by riding your bike instead of driving to work – beginning with Sustainable Orillia’s bike challenge (Sustainable Spokes Healthy Folks) extending over a four-week period in May/June. You’ll find more information on the Sustainable Spokes event in this newsletter. Later, in July we will be hosting the 6th annual ‘All Electric Vehicle’ show. There’ll be more information available on this popular event soon, plus on several other relevant programs promoting sustainable living across Orillia and our neighbouring communities. Stay tuned to the Sustainable Orillia website https://sustainableorillia.ca/ for details as they are posted and plan to attend and participate.
Dave VanAlstyne