Keeping Community Top of Mind
Hi dear readers! Welcome to this week’s Wednesday Wins. This week, it’s all about community.
Last week, I offered up stories filled with hope and light. Given our still-sort-of-dark times (metaphorically and actually) I wanted to follow up on that with some stories featuring community success. We’ll run the gamut this week, from seafood, fossil fuels, to glass straws and what it means to re-think sustainability.
AND, because Christmas is only 9 freaking days away (I know, I can’t believe it either), I’ve also added a link from one of my local non-profits on ideas for low-waste gift wrapping.
With that, let’s hear these community stories!
1. Community-Based Seafood (Go Local or Go Home)
Here’s the deal: seafood may be delicious, but fish stocks around the world are suffering from our collective penchant for omega fatty acids. We really, really need to get a handle on our consumption, and no – farm raised salmon in open pens is probably not the answer.
What could be a worthy solution? Community-based seafood shares! A friend on Instagram shared this with me and it made my ocean-loving heart sing.
Skipper Otto is a BC-based company working hard to keep small-scale fisheries alive and thriving. They’ve been around since 2008 and their goal this entire time has been to help independent fishers get fair prices for their catch. Not only that, but they connect consumers directly with these fishers: no middle men.
As with all things, it seems, the little guys keep getting the short end of the stick, getting bought out or ridden out of town by big corporations. This is especially prevalent in the world of fishing and it’s ruthless. I used to live on the coast of Maine and in the Northeast, this is a big issue. Fisheries there are a way of life and a staple economy, but they too have suffered under corporate buy-outs, complicated catch-share regulations, and the like.
Here in BC, Skipper Otto has endeavoured to provide a service that eliminates the middle muck. From their website:
“We’ve cut out huge swathes of the supply chain providing you with complete transparency around what we are catching, where, and how. We educate consumers around important issues in fisheries, and are rebuilding robust local food systems and communities.
Skipper Otto
Ultimately, we should all eat less seafood, it’s true. But for those times when the craving calls…support local, independent operations. Your community will thank you!
2. New Future with Less Fossil Fuels in New York State
This was the Tweet that caught my eye and made my eyebrows rise. What the what? My home state, divesting from fossil fuels?! How does that even work?
Well as it turns out, in New York there’s something called the New York Common Retirement Fund. This fund “holds and invests the pensions of more than a million state and local government employees and retirees.” (Kristin Toussaint, Fast Company). In its lifetime, The Fund has invested in oil and gas…as much as US $12 billion. Yowza. But earlier this month, it announced that by 2040, it will have fully divested from these sources.
Here’s what that all means, according to Fast Company:
“Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced December 9 that the state will pull its $226 billion pension fund out of the “riskiest” oil and gas companies by 2025, and completely decarbonize the portfolio by 2040.”
Fast Company
This is a big deal, as people at every level across the planet are facing the very real and very negative impacts of climate change. And, it’s taken the work of people at every level to get here. Community activism, grassroots work, civic engagement, it all matters.
I’d have loved to see a deadline by 2030, but hey, it’s a step in the right direction!
3. It’s Time to Re-Think the Way We Do Things
Nw more than ever, we need to “rethink” how we tackle the major issues of our time. The global pandemic has wrecked a lot of havoc this year, but it’s also exposed many things that haven’t been working so well in our systems. Now is our opportunity to readjust (or, to drop a word that’s getting a lot of use this year…pivot) priorities and re-imagine solutions.
One Canadian-based organization, Rethink Sustainability Initiatives, is doing just that, with their Step UP! program. They’ve come up with three initiatives tackling three major issues challenging our world: food, development, and climate. The goal of these initiatives? Well, there’s two: discover realistic and scalable solutions to specific, major challenges AND get these solutions in the hands of key stakeholders across sectors and actually, uh, use ’em. It’s all hands on deck!
The Initiatives:
- Food Security Action Initiative
- Reimagined Future of Commercial Buildings
- Net Zero Footprint Climate Action
What’s neat about these initiatives is that they’re tackling things at the community-level and globally. And they’re linking each to relevant Sustainable Development Goals. Oh and in case you’re thinking this is just another flash in the pan, think again: there are deliverables. Which means, there will be ways to keep up with these initiatives and track progress. Time to Step UP.
4. Glass Straw Community
If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning, you’ll know that I have a “thing” for glass straws. And, specifically, one company in particular: Glass Dharma.
Glass Dharma has been part of my journey towards plastic-free living since I started this blog 10 years ago. My first plastic “swaps” were glass straws and a bamboo cutlery kit! Through Glass Dharma, I’ve been able to connect with so many plastic-free people and bloggers. Also through them, I’ve converted several friends into glass-straw lovers themselves. 😇
A small company based in Fort Bragg, California, Glass Dharma is the brainchild of husband and wife team, David Leonhardt and Gail Johnson. They’ve been around since 2007. I would hazard a guess that this makes them pioneers in the glass straw space. Since 2007 of course, knowledge about plastic pollution has grown tremendously and so has the glass straw market. Now, there are loads of companies making straws and it’s become mainstream.
But still, I love my “Simple Elegance” straws with a fiery passion.
Here’s the kicker: by the end of this year, their straws will become collectors items. That’s right: after 13 years, Glass Dharma is retiring!
The news was bittersweet: on one hand, I’m sad. The company that helped bring me into the world of plastic-free livin’ will be no longer. But, on the other hand, David and Gail deserve to enjoy the fruits of their labour. They helped start a movement and it has been wild to see it take off.
To celebrate their retirement, they’re offering 50% off all online sales* and I would highly suggest taking a look. Not only will you drink more water (water is just so much more exciting when sipped through glass!) you’ll be doing the planet a favour and sending two very stellar humans off into a very well-deserved retirement. Congratulations, Glass Dharma! We will miss you!
*(No, this is not an ad…just words from a very, very contented customer!)
5. Keep Christmas Clutter-Free
If you’re expecting a “gift guide” in this section, think again. There are so many out there, I thought it best to talk about another aspect of holiday gifts: the wrapping. We go through a lot of wrapping paper around this time of year, and most of it ends up in the trash. Even if it’s recycled, it’s still a lot of material and these days, it’s sort of unnecessary. I know, I know…wrapping paper is fun and festive!
But there’s a better way.
Green Okanagan, a local non-profit in my area, put together a cute guide to low-waste wrapping for gifts and I think they’ve wrapped up the issue quite nicely.😉 My favourite? “Items you already have.” I’ve wrapped all my gifts with old newspapers and twine, plus cutouts from magazines to add pizzazz. Take a gander at the graphic below for more ideas.
And that’s all, folks! These stories remind me of the power of community. It is so important, now more than ever, to support our own communities in any way we can!
I’ll see you next week for another round of Wednesday Wins. In the meantime, if you have a story to share, a “win” if you will, please reach out! I’d love to hear about it. 🙂
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