Small acts add up to big change

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/07/2017 (3346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A drinking straw is a small thing, but small things matter.

Thirty Winnipeg dining establishments recently pledged to withhold straws unless customers ask for them. They’re doing it because plastic straws don’t compost and contain poisonous chemicals that can contaminate land and water.

A cigarette butt is a small thing, but, again, small things matter.

Free Press contributor John Longhurst wrote a column about how he confronted a stranger who, while waiting for a bus, flicked her cigarette butt onto the ground. “Who’s going to pick that up?” Longhurst asked her three times. (Seriously, smokers — who’s going to pick that up? July 4).

Longhurst researched the issue and found that cigarette butts are among the most commonly discarded waste products in the world, and one to two-thirds of smokers toss their butts on the ground. Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate and a non-biodegradable plastic, which can take up to 25 years to decompose. In water, the butts leach a toxic chemical.

Was Longhurst rude to challenge a stranger over something as small as a single cigarette butt, or was he displaying the type of street-level activism necessary to startle humankind into realizing we are on the brink of soiling our nest beyond the point of recovery, and it’s the only nest we have?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other G20 leaders meet in Hamburg, Germany, today and Saturday, with climate change on the agenda. That’s not a small thing, but we ordinary citizens have little direct influence on G20 decisions. Rather than fret about world leaders breaking commitments on climate change, we can personally notch a small victory, such as leaving our car in the driveway for two days each week and cycling, busing or carpooling.

U.S. President Donald Trump is a big thing, especially in his own mind. His regressive stance on environmental issues is a big concern, but, for practical purposes, Canadian citizens can’t change Trump. While he has become a conversation staple in Winnipeg social situations (“Did you see what he tweeted today?”), all our indignation about Trump will not help the planet.

But there are small things we can do that will make a difference.

We can go to the grocery store with reusable bags instead of using the store’s plastic bags, which don’t break down in landfills and which leach dangerous chemicals.

At stores, we can choose brands that have less packaging or brands that use packaging made with sustainable materials.

We can garden and buy produce grown locally, instead of buying produce shipped thousands of kilometres.

We can take our own mugs to Tim Hortons and Starbucks, instead of using their disposable cups. For some caffeine lovers, that can save hundreds of cardboard cups each year.

If we want to be part of the solution, such small actions are the initiation rites.

An inspiring result of doing small things right is that it tends to catch on with people within our orbit of influence. When we recycle and compost, for example, it’s noticed and sometimes copied by family, friends and neighbours.

To witness a large community of people doing it right, check out this weekend’s Winnipeg Folk Festival, where tens of thousands of people try to celebrate, not desecrate, the natural environment.

Last year, for the first time, the total amount of compost at the festival outweighed landfill waste. Cups, cutlery and packaging are all compostable. Plastic bottles of water are banned and festival-goers take their own BFA-free bottles and stand in line to refill at taps.

Food-booth customers pay a deposit on reusable plates that is refunded when the plate is scraped clean and returned. Many of the food and beverage choices are fair trade and organically grown.

It would be wonderful if, after the festival ends and the folkies return to their real lives on Monday, their zeal was contagious and ignited a wider understanding that, indeed, small things matter.

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.