[GREN-Exec] DRAFT S Koswan column on GREN for Jan 20

[Susan Koswan]

Hi John, Kevin, Greg, Susan B,

I thought it was time to write about GREN. Please provide any changes or 
feedback for this draft before Jan 15. And I'm hoping (Kevin?) that the 
GREN website will be live by then.

Thanks,

Susan K


Grand River Environmental Network

By Susan Koswan

  Submitted for Jan 20, 2022

  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.

  Local public interest environmental groups aren’t meeting in person 
right now, but the work doesn’t stop. A group I’ve been involved with 
since it began is the Grand River Environmental Network or GREN.

  GREN began as the Seven Generations Network, based on the indigenous 
understanding that our current actions have an impact far into the 
future. At some point during the ebb and flow of this group, we became 
the Grand River Environmental Network. 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’s 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 writing and submitting our own 
responses to areas of concern.

  Although many of us joined GREN to seek help and guidance on a 
specific issue, we all know that “everything is connected.” It doesn’t 
matter whether it’s transportation, housing, urban sprawl, building on 
farmland, 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 carbon emissions, these debates are critical.

  Other public forums, like To Conserve and Protect, have been focused 
on how to protect our precious ground and surface water. The region has 
a terrible history of industrial pollution. From Elmira to Cambridge, 
the mighty and historical Grand River has been contaminated multiple 
times, and some of that cleanup work continues to this day, more than 30 
years after the fact.

  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, website maintenance, writing 
politicians, organizing or chairing meetings, taking meeting minutes, or 
thoughtful discussion and problem solving.

  One of the benefits for me is learning what partner groups like The 
Nith Valley EcoBoosters <https://www.nvecoboosters.com/> are doing. 
Their next event is a free, public webinar Let’s Talk: Plastics 
Unwrapped on Feb 3 at 7 pm. After you register, you get the link to the 
documentary The Story of Plastic in preparation for the webinar discussion.

And don’t forget to check out www.gren.ca <http://www.gren.ca> to find 
an issue that moves you.
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