Activism can take many forms

Before COVID-19, I liked seeing big crowds of people at climate marches carrying witty signs. Some of my favourites are:

■ So bad even an introvert is here

■ You’ll die of old age; I’ll die of climate change

■ If you’re waiting for a sign; this is it

■ Don’t be a fossil fool

■ I’m sure the dinosaurs thought they had time

■ This planet is hotter than my new boyfriend

■ There is no Plan(et) B

In the absence of big gatherings we can still make personal changes that start to add up. Reep Green Solutions is always my go-to if I’m looking for information and guidance on how to make a difference.

Meeting in person may be on hold for local public interest environmental groups, but the work isn’t. The Grand River Environmental Network, or GREN, is one of these groups and I’m proud to be part of this work.

GREN began in 2008, with roots stretching back to the Seven Generations Network, based on the Indigenous understanding that our current actions have an impact far into the future. As much as we tried to make our acronym GREEN, it turns out GREN was perfect, because a gren is a bough or branch of a tree.

The strength of GREN comes from the shared purpose of our members to be “a proactive voice for the environment in the Grand River watershed.” GREN members come from all walks of life, and have different skills and strengths to share.

Our members have joined marches and protests, but environmental activism can take many forms. One critical role is to counterbalance private interest lobbyists and land speculators. This usually means reading hundreds of pages of reports and studies, monitoring council meeting agendas for red flags, sitting on environment committees, meeting with politicians and staff, and submitting our own responses to areas of concern.

Although many of us joined GREN to seek help and guidance on one specific issue, we all know that “everything is connected.” It doesn’t matter whether it’s transportation, housing, urban sprawl or cutting down trees, every land use decision will impact the others. At the core is protecting our precious aquifers and ensuring that these decisions do not jeopardize our future.

GREN partners with other local groups to host election forums focusing on environmental issues. The most recent was during the last federal election in conjunction with the national public interest group GreenPac’s 100 Debates on the Environment. This was an important community effort to ensure protecting our environment and addressing climate change is always on the radar in our electoral process. With both a provincial and municipal election in 2022, and so little time left to cut our greenhouse gas emissions, these debates are critical.

Past public forums have been focused on caring for our precious ground and surface water. The region has greatly improved its stewardship, but continued vigilance is critical because our water supply has been threatened multiple times by industrial and agricultural pollution. In some cases, such as in Elmira, cleanup is ongoing, decades after the contamination was first identified.

There is a place for everyone with GREN. It can be protests and marches for extroverts, or the quieter arena for introverts of reading and writing reports, petitions, performing website maintenance, writing to politicians, organizing or chairing meetings, taking meeting minutes, or participating in thoughtful discussion and problem solving.

One of the benefits for me is learning what partner groups such as the Nith Valley EcoBoosters are doing. Their next event is a free, public webinar called “Let’s Talk: Plastics Unwrapped” on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. After you register you get the link to the documentary “The Story of Plastic” in preparation for the webinar .

And if you haven’t yet, check out GREN’s new website, gren.ca, to find an issue that moves you.