“Some of us may wear hearing aids, but we’re all willing to listen.”
Robson Valley seniors talk climate change
By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
Last Tuesday, about a dozen local seniors gathered in Dunster for a day of discussion and crafting as part of the Seniors Day of Climate Action.
Dunster was just one of over 70 communities with discussion groups across Canada on the day of action, which was organized by Seniors for Climate, a nationwide collective of seniors concerned about climate change.
Dunster local Nancy Taylor decided to organize the event when she received an email about the day of action from the Seniors for Climate mailing list, she told attendees. She met with Seniors for Climate organizers over a video call and came away with questions to guide Robson Valley seniors in a discussion on ways to address climate change on a local level.
Most of the communities that hosted discussion groups for the Seniors Day of Climate Action are clustered around major metropolitan areas like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal – Dunster was one of just a handful of rural communities where discussion groups took place. In an interview with The Goat, Taylor said she wasn’t surprised that there was interest in combating climate change among Robson Valley seniors.
“Unlike the stereotype of rural communities, a lot of really interesting people live here in Dunster and the Robson Valley in general. A lot of hippies,” Taylor joked. “A lot of us have had experience being activists. We came of age in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s when things were really changing [with] the women’s movement and the anti-war movement.”
Climate change affects everybody, from bustling cities to idyllic rural areas like Dunster – that’s why Taylor believes it is crucial for rural communities to address climate change the best they can.
“And climate change is different for people in rural communities,” she added. “I think we’re closer to the elements of water, fire, air, and soil. You’re closer to the earth.”
One small step
Attendees of the discussion group appreciated the chance to talk about how they could combat pollution and greenhouse gas emissions on a local level, and found a feeling of community as they expressed their concerns with fellow valley residents.
Valemount resident Rhondi Hurlbut told The Goat she hopes the federal government will take more action against climate change, but in the meantime, she’s doing what she can to reduce waste: she avoids using plastic bags, and opts for products made of recycled materials when she can.
“Concentrating on the small things, like reducing consumption, is huge,” she said. “I think we can do things locally and individually, but the bigger scale [change] has to come from policy.”
Hurlbut heard about the day of action through Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet, another nationwide initiative to organize seniors who want to address climate change. She said initiatives like the day of action are a valuable way to raise awareness of those small steps that individuals can take to reduce their carbon and waste footprints.
Likewise, McBride resident Barbara Jackson felt the discussion group was a good outlet for her frustrations around waste and overconsumption, particularly with single-use plastic bags. She first noticed the ubiquity of plastic bags – and the resulting plastic waste – while working at the McBride Anglican-United Church’s thrift store, where customers were once given plastic bags with every purchase.
“I went to the library and looked for a book about how to end using plastic,” she told The Goat. “And I started looking at everything [plastic] in my house, and it just boggled my mind – it wasn’t just the plastic bags.”
Still, the project of reducing one’s environmental footprint begins with a single step, so Jackson hopes to connect with her neighbours and reduce the whole community’s use of plastic bags.
“I think we could be aware of those little changes, and instead of complaining about them, we could be a community that recognizes that while it’s a little inconvenient, it’s one step,” she said. “If we could get our whole community to do that, it would be huge.”
Jackson raised her concerns about plastic bags to the group, and other attendees pitched ways to turn the day’s discussion into concrete action. Taylor jotted down their ideas, which included holding a valley-wide Earth Day cleanup, organizing more carpool groups, and holding discussion sessions on a monthly basis. She took note of everyone who attended to add them to an email list later, so the group can keep in touch.
Participants rounded off the discussion with a conversation on how seniors in particular can contribute to the climate movement, and the fruitfulness of working with younger activists.
“Some of us may wear hearing aids, but I think we’re all willing to listen,” Jackson said of the value of intergenerational collaboration. “That’s what I think is most important.”
