Taking Climate Action to the Streets!

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Show Notes

addressing the climate crisis

We know for certain that addressing the Climate Crisis is an urgent concern across the world. We need government at the federal and state level to take action and individuals to come together and have their voices heard. To do that, groups across the country are organizing walks, protests, and rallies to make a strong statement that we must effectively address the climate crisis now.

I attended one of these rallies in my current community of Columbia, Missouri. A Rally and Walk for the Climate organized by Mid-Missouri Peaceworks and co-sponsored by:

Taking Climate Action to the Streets

I was able to stop a few of the attendees to this event to chat briefly about why it was important for them to be there and what they would like you to know about the climate crisis and taking climate action. I want to thank them for their input and their work in their own lives and the community to work towards a more sustainable, equitable life for all. Christine’s perspective especially inspired me at the end of her interview, but let me know what you loved hearing most in the comments of the show notes or on social media! I hope you find this inspiring and are encouraged to connect with your community and with climate actions taking place in your area.

I do want to mention that there is wind and commotion in the audio version of this podcast – but hey, it’s a rally, and we did the best we could! Click here if you would like to watch the video on Youtube of these interviews. I appreciate you taking the time to hear what your fellow neighbors have to say regardless of the circumstances! (Below is the transcript of the podcast interviews.)

I also want to thank my lovely sister Leslie for helping me out on this – Leslie, I couldn’t do it without you.

Laura W

Sustainability Coordinator at peaceworks

We put on this event every year to promote climate awareness. We will march through town with signs and banners and get people asking questions about what’s going on with the climate. Asking questions is probably the most important thing you can get people to do these days. A lot of people are unaware of how dire the situation is for the climate. Most of the people who are young are very concerned about it. And then you have people who’ve been living on this earth for 50 years who don’t think there’s much of a problem yet and aren’t concerned about what’s going to happen 20 years from now.

People are not going to watch a different news channel. And they’re probably not going to hear much about it on the news. So going to their door explaining what’s happening on this earth, and how we can put the brakes on and some of the things that are human-caused is the important thing.
We’re not going to reach our goals unless the community is trying to reach those goals to reduce carbon per household is going to take everybody participating.

Trying to reduce your own carbon footprint is what every person can do. And that can be a little action, or it can be a big action. Now, some people don’t have a car anymore. Some people don’t fly on planes anymore. Things that are very carbon extreme are things that if you can reduce that your life, you’re doing a big thing.

If you are climate woke, you need to talk to your neighbors because it’s likely they don’t know what you know. And sharing that information is about the best thing you can do.

To get involved with Mid Missouri Peaceworks visit their website or Facebook

Annalisa

Community Member

My name is Annalisa. And I am here today to help raise awareness for climate change because it’s something that’s really important for people today to be aware of, and especially for people in the future.

To take climate action for me, as an individual has just been making changes in my lifestyle, such as, like my diet, I made changes with energy usage and stuff like that. Just things that I can do as an individual to help, you know, do small things to make a small difference.

I would say the things that we do affect each other in so many ways, and that includes whether or not your neighbor is getting clean air, clean water.

So I think that making changes in your life, whether big or small is definitely necessary when it comes to the health and welfare of your neighbor. We need to look out for each other.

Christine D

sierra club

I’m Christine D, and today I’m with Sierra Club. I think it’s important to keep the momentum going. We represent this larger pool of people who really are concerned about the environment, and who will who do want to do something, and they want to support the efforts, and we’re the largest, the oldest environmental organization in the United States. And so yeah, so we’ve, it’s important to give people a voice, and we are that voice for a lot of people.

A big part of what we do as Sierra Club is, is we educate people, and we have a lot of information on what you can do in your home, in your, your daily life and your transportation, in the products you choose to purchase, and how that makes such a difference. You know, and how it does affect climate. So we have a lot of available resources for people to learn and learn what to do and how to do things.

Another branch is outings. So we take people out into the local natural areas to show them, you know like there’s a creek, a local Creek that’s being threatened with development – Gans Creek. And development is great, we have to live somewhere. But when we have such a treasure like Gans Creek that is in a kind of a fragile ecosystem, you know, very subject to erosion. That wipes out habitats for certain organisms – flora, fauna.

That’s the concern we have about any development. How are we holding back that water so that in giving it a chance to soak in? And are we building too close to these fragile areas that really need to be more protected?

And then trying to find other ways of not using a private automobile public transportation, I’ve used a bird I use a bicycle. Depending on if I do use an automobile, by golly, I’m going to go to the grocery store, I’m going to go to the hardware store, I’m going to go to the drugstore, I’m going to the post office. All of my errands in one fell swoop so that I minimize the number of trips.

Something that keeps going through my head is you know because it’s kind of depressing the last year or two. And you know, we came to Sierra Club, we keep doing this and progress is slow – it’s faster than it used to be 30 – 40 years ago.

But when I get down I think you know, life is a miracle. It really is. I mean, you think about everything that had to happen to bring you and you and I are here, sharing this moment in time and space. You know, in the beauty around us. This is an absolute miracle. It is so beautiful. And this earth is so rich. I picked persimmons today. I had tomatoes out of my garden, you know, it’s so incredible. And the earth kind of loves us, you know, it is prepared itself. And here we are. And there are generations that are there waiting on us to do the right thing.

And the less we use now, the less we use in every aspect of life. We have to think about what we’re buying, do we really need that? You know, how we’re traveling, do we really need to do that? The less we waste, the less we use, we’re leaving that like if it’s fossil fuel, we’re leaving it in the ground. I mean, they’re gonna need, they might need a little oil in 1000 years, you know, it won’t hurt, absolutely doesn’t hurt, to leave that there for them. Leave them some resources, leave it in the bank for the next generations. And, you know, a lot of people say, “I don’t want to give up my lifestyle.”

Well, you know, what happiness does not, is not dependent on material possessions, or even the grandiose house we may have, and a simpler life, more generous life, I think, can be just as satisfying and beautiful and happy, and maybe even happier, and more satisfying than the life of gluttony and wealth.

To get involved with the Sierra Club please visit their website.