The Environment as an Afterthought - A Rant

I've always found it strange that people can so quickly dismiss environmental concerns.  I've been shocked and appalled when the governments we elect choose to do likewise.

I grew up in a city and I still live in a city.  In fact, there's a good chance I will always live in a city - more and more of us are living in them after all.  Yet, for all my time in a city, I've continually been amazed to find people who know nothing of the city they live in and have no desire to learn or to explore. 

As it relates to the environment, people are even less inclined to care.  For example, when suddenly the park/ravine/forest they used to play in is turned into a subdivision, they wonder how did this happen.  When the beach they used to visit and the water they used to swim in is suddenly contaminated with E.Coli they wonder how did this happen.  When people with breathing problems are told to stay in doors because of smog, they wonder how did this happen.  All this wonder, but always after the fact and always only for a fleeting moment.

That being said, there are many positives about living in a city and I wouldn't have it any other way.  That's just my personal preference.  My qualm is with the general disinterest and disregard for the environment around us and how we impact on it.

How is it harder to put an empty can of pop in the proper recycling bin as opposed to the garbage bin sitting right beside it?  And yet, look in a public garbage can and what do you often see?  Furthermore, you're not surprised to see it.  I've been told it's all about education.  Teach people and they will learn.  Indeed, there is some truth to that and I have no doubt that future generations that grow up with an environmental message in the classroom will be more environmentally-friendly than mine.  That being said, I remember being taught about recycling and learning about the environment more broadly in elementary school.

Regardless, I would instead argue that laziness and indifference better reflect our current state of affairs.  Recently, my co-worker and SCC's Water Campaigner, Celeste Côté, has been taking on the 25L / day Water Conservation Challenge (Click here to follow her progress).  On a daily basis, she has demonstrated - albeit perhaps to an extreme - that we needlessly waste literally hundreds of litres of water a day.

It would seem to be common sense that we should do even simple things like turning off the taps when we're not using them.  Yet, it's become easier in our minds to let the taps run.  Same goes for leaving the lights on, letting our cars idle unnecessarily for long periods of time, etc.

Worse still, these issues have in many instances become polarized to the point where I'm sure if this rant were posted elsewhere I would be called all sorts of names.  Common sense has seemingly gone out the window.

It is for this reason that I am not surprised by the Government of Canada's latest budget.  A decade-old Canadian foundation that studied climate change no longer receiving funding (Read article here) or environmental reviews for energy projects being moved from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to the National Energy Board (Read article here) are just two of the latest stories (Read SCC's Press Release on the budget here).   I understand the challenging economic times, but I also understand the challenging environmental times.  Nevertheless, Environment Canada has long been the poor member in the family that is the Canadian government (as is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. and the United Nations Environment Programme is to the United Nations for that matter).

Unfortunately, I long ago learned that concerns about the environment do not translate into electoral consequences for parties that do nothing. 

Worse still, we celebrate the bad and ignore the good meaning there is little incentive for environmental action.  When something goes wrong, it becomes a news story.  When a forest doesn't get cut down, people don't notice - until it's cut down. 

So let me end by saying this: To all that recycle, that are conscious of their water usage, their energy usage, and who value their environmental surroundings, well done.

Rant over.