Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: If we are to see a better and cleaner future, small steps are no longer enough

Sep 15, 2020 | 9:49 AM

IT’S TOUGH TO SINGLE OUT GOOD NEWS these days. It feels like every morning since the new year has started, we are waking up to yet another day of bleak stories of our world, each morphing into an appropriate level of stress and concern for what’s to come.

However, last week brought in some better news for our province. One is about the protection from logging of 353,000 hectares of B.C.’s old-growth forests. That seems like a lot until you learn how much of B.C.’s old-growth forests are being logged daily.

Old-growth forests are vital to sustaining life. They are more efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide than new forests which, in the present day context, makes clearcutting of the most puzzling and self-destructing activities. Every new strategy should prioritize protecting what we have because while making sure that long-term sustainable logging jobs are being created.

The second piece of good news is about the newly approved ban of single-use plastics in a few municipalities in B.C. and with further promises of allowing others to do the same independently.

That’s great, but how do you define single-use items? Used once and thrown away, or purchased for many uses but breaking soon after purchase due to poor quality? Think toys, party favours in particular, household items, countless trinkets sold in dollar stores but oh, so many things that you see in other retail stores — many of which are not necessarily cheap to buy but they are made cheaply. It’s an expansive list.

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Then of course we’re back to talking about banning straws. Don’t get me wrong, they need to be gone since yesterday. Plastic bags, too.

On top of it we now have disposable masks and gloves, too, to worry about. Reports and photos of wildlife getting tangled in our pandemic litter are popping up in social media. Please cut the loop off of masks before throwing them out.

The thing is, though, no ban is going to solve our big garbage and pollution problem. It’s the scale of our consumerism, fueled by the myth of perpetual growth economy that creates a lifestyle which leaves a lot of waste in its wake.

The only way out is to change the way we live; we ought to make our way back to the cradle-to-grave philosophy where objects are made to last and fixing them costs less than buying a new one. Would that still keep people employed and everyone able to support themselves and their families?

I dare say yes, but only if we assess our needs and wants and satisfy the first, rather than cater to the latter as if we have ten planets to mine for resources and pollute as we do so, but also when we dispose of what we consider garbage.

So yes, let’s revisit the viability — or lack thereof — of single-use items, but not stop at what we have become used to think of as such. Let’s be reminded of, and teach our children too, the value of long-lasting items, the value of repurposing and the preciousness of finite resources.

Truly, this year has been disastrous in so many ways, but it has also given us opportunities to value the things that cost nothing but are priceless: caring for each other, time with our loved ones, health and social liberties, including the right to peacefully protest for trampled human rights.

Let’s keep the good stories coming. Let’s protect our environment, transition to a more fulfilling lifestyle where we choose simplicity over consumerism, and of course, let’s curb our wasteful habits.

We can find our way out of this mess and we’ll be better for it.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.