food for thought

mike and i managed to score seats to see

david suzuki speak at his cross-canada campus lecture series tonight. talk about awesome - he's an incredible speaker with a ton of information and advice on how to not only implement sustainable change in your individual lives, but also to spread it.

he covered the whole gamut of eco-information, along with a forecast of the outlook for the environment and humankind as a whole and what we can do to affect change individually, as well as within society and the world. he highlighted the importance of voicing your opinion to your local politicians and, more importantly, to exercise your right to vote. it's a fact: politicians don't listen to anyone except those who actually get out to cast their ballots. (it's just a shame that voter turnout is so low lately - particularly for yesterday's election. 59%?! come on guys, are you freakin kidding me? man up! you can't blame your parents entirely for the state of the environment if you didn't even show up at the polls to elicit political change when it was every inch within your constitutional rights to do so.)

it's scary (but important) stuff. for a species that's survived and propagated based on it's intellect and ability to plan for the future, we've certainly opted to ignore our instincts when it comes to our future existence on earth. when exactly was the moment that we sped past the point of no return with reckless abandon? when did we become so consumed in our quest for more/faster/richer that we've disregarded any warnings to slow down? it's disgusting how short-sighted humans can be.

the points that suzuki mentions on his site are simple little things that aren't going to change your life drastically, but could be part of a crucial step to helping us stop this speeding train before it's completely off the tracks. i've a few things that i'm going to try out, including working a meatless day into my week and finding ways to reduce energy consumption. my lil meatball car is a fuel efficient vehicle and i currently take the bus to work (which also saves me a lot of money). his recommended points aren't ridiculously hard. check them out. which ones do you think you can implement this week?

and oh - for God's sake, get out there and vote already.