Observing World Nature Conservation Day
The Smart Yards Co-op team welcomes you to join us in observing World Nature Conservation Day this Sunday, July 28.
Thirty years ago, in 1989, Bill McKibben wrote The End of Nature, the first book about climate change. He has just published a new book; it’s titled Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? McKibben says, 30 years ago, when I started writing about climate change, it was a distant threat. We were issuing a warning. Scientists knew that as we burned coal and gas and oil, we were putting carbon in the atmosphere. They knew the molecular structure of CO2-trapped heat. We didn’t know how fast and how hard it was going to pinch.
The thing that we’re doing now is so large that it fundamentally alters our prospects as a civilization, McKebben. Think about what we saw in our beautiful golden state last fall. Literally, in an hour, a city called Paradise turned literally into hell. You know, everybody who watched it could imagine dying in a car trapped in a road as they tried to get out of a forest fire. Why we did so little for so long? says McKibben and I think it has everything to do with the ascendant political ideology of this period, this sense that laissez-faire capitalism, unlike Cooperatives business models like Smart Yards Co-op with the principles of: Voluntary and Open Membership. Democratic Member Control. Member Economic Participation. Autonomy and Independence.
Education, Training and Information. Cooperation among Co-operatives. Concern for Community.
McKebben, In the last part of Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? asks is it too late to do anything about this and if we wanted to, what could we do? And here, he gives more hope. He says, over the last decade, the climate movement and other movements for justice, against inequality, have arise. There were two great inventions of the 20th century that might just save us in the 21st. The first was the solar panel. It’s magic on a kind of Hogwarts scale- you point a sheet of glass at the sun, and out the back flows light... See this story for The New Yorker. The other invention that holds out real hope, we at Smart Yards Co-op think, is the invention and growing interest of Worker-Owned Cooperative, people learning how to take the power to stand up to the mighty and the few. And so, now we’re at the point where we have no choice but to hope we can build movements big enough, loud enough, beautiful enough to challenge that power. That’s why, it’s incredibly moving and exciting to see young people doing the Green New Deal work, to see Greta Thunberg and her comrades, you know, 12-year-olds, out of school and talking articulately about these issue.
Fundamentally, the conservation of lands, habitats, soils, water, energy and the work of collaboration exemplify the premises of SYC’s work. We ensure that the plants, animals we are so fond of today are around for future generations to enjoy. Additionally, our permaculture gardens allow our members to work with the Smart Yard’s Team on the transformation of urban yards into beautiful outdoor living space for families, community and native habitats to enjoy.
This form of conservation is our commitment to the health and well being of the present and future generations. The Smart Yards Co-op team is grateful for your support and for doing your part to observe World Nature Conservation Day.