“We don’t have to do the same thing, but we all must do something.”
These words were repeated three times in a row at an event I attended last April and they resound in my ears to this day.
“We don’t have to do the same thing, but we all must do something.”
Since this event, a whole slew of disturbing, environmentally-unsound stuff has hit the fan. BP filled up the Gulf Coast like it was a trucker’s empty tank; the U.S. Senate killed any hopes of passing any effective climate legislation this year; and the weather — well, this summer brought so many natural disasters, you’d think Mother Nature was trying to tell us something.
Combine that with our asthma-inducing air pollution and BPA-laced health defects and then tell me we’re not digging ourselves into a giant,hell-on-Earth hole.
We know we have to make a change. We know that if we don’t, our unhealthy habits will ravage our pocketbooks, health and environment. There’s too much work to be done for us to sit idly on our
more-than-capable hands.
Fortunately, many Americans are already taking steps to improve their own communities, from increasing neighborhood garden plots to protesting mountaintop removal mining.
Although seemingly small, these actions speak loudly on the people’s agenda, which then becomes the local politician’s agenda, and so on, until it grows to such a high importance that Congress itself must address the issue.
Grass roots efforts don’t just affect politicians however, many companies are responding to consumer demands for healthier, eco-friendly products, such as high fructose corn syrup-free Heinz ketchup and Sara Lee breads, as well as the bevy of uber-fuel-efficient cars coming from Toyota, Hyundai and Honda.
Here in Eugene, the University’s Climate Justice League, Helios Resource Network, Zeitgeist Lane County and other local groups will host an event Sunday that will include a bike-powered concert in the University’s EMU Amphitheater, as well as a work party for Camas Ridge School, which will also include installing a covered bike rack and building an outdoor classroom.
This “think globally, act locally” event is just one of thousands around the world scheduled for 10/10/10, a day www.350.org touts as a “global work party.”
Sure, we won’t stop global warming nor solve the world’s hunger crisis, but such steps (that could eventually lead to such accomplishments) must start somewhere, sometime. Why not here and now?
“We don’t have to do the same thing, but we all must do something.”
I hope to see the people of Eugene this Sunday, as on any other day, out doing something to improve
our community.
For more information on the aforementioned event, visit “Eugene 10/10/10 Global Work Party!” on Facebook.
 
Monica Christoffels
ASUO Climate Justice League
[email protected]