Last week on CKNW 980, Jill Bennett asked our own BCIT Director of Sustainability, Dr. Jennie Moore what individuals can do in response to BC’s most destructive wildfire season on record.
Jennie was asked “what can we can do in our communities to make them more ecologically sustainable?”
Jennie started by stating that “First and foremost, in order for us to be ecologically sustainable, we have to operate all our human activities – including our global economy – within the ecological parameters that sustain all life.” This natural capital includes the fossil fuels that developed over millions of years that we are digging up and burning, the old growth forests that we are harvesting that have been functioning for hundreds of years, and the oceans that are producing a lot of our oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. These important parts of our ecosystems act as critical sinks for our carbon dioxide waste. She went on to explain that “we have been operating like these are infinite resources, but they are not. The waste sinks are filling up faster than our ability to mitigate this waste.“
Our cities were built on this assumption of infinite oil, so we have sprawling cities and our economy is geared towards undervaluing these resources.
Asked what we can each do as individuals and cities, Jennie said “It is always possible to take action as individuals, and simultaneously we need to take action at the global level.” Our collective goal is a factor 10 reduction in our energy and materials consumption.
She noted that systems change measures are critical. We need to improve our economy which is different from growing it. Improving it means actually factoring in these costs; and we need ‘Ecocities’ where we can work, live and play in areas where we don’t need cars.
At the individual level, Jennie suggested:
- Getting involved and understanding political party platforms on these issues
- Driving less
- Eating less high-carbon foods (especially red meat)
- Consuming fewer disposable products (that cannot be repaired)
Jennie’s provided a call to action: “things are going to get quite a bit worse before they get better, but if we don’t start acting now they’re never going to get better.”
Listen to the cost of wildfire season
September 12, 2023
by Cora Hallsworth