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

Wed Jan 12 19:42:43 EST 2022

Thanks John,

In prep for the website, can you draft a few paragraphs about waste and 
recycling: What is it? What are the issues? and Learn more are the 
headings. I have a great photo to go with it that Alan Morgan sent me 
showing 50 bags of garbage vs 7 on a front lawn.

Thanks,

Susan K

On 1/12/2022 6:18 PM, John Jackson wrote:
> I agree with Kevin's comments about your article, Susan. It is 
> excellent, as always. It is really exciting to see the way you have 
> pulled together the specialness of GREN. I also agree with Kevin that 
> we must have the website open before the article is in the paper. 
> People will immediately go to check out the website - not a week or 
> more later.
>
> Also it would be great to put parts of your article on the front page 
> of the website because I think it would entice people to join GREN and 
> to come back to the website.
>
> By the way, Susan, you say that at some point GREN grew out of Seven 
> Generations Network. We were formed in 2008, fourteen years ago.
>
> John
>
>
> ------------------------------
> John Jackson
> 17 Major Street
> Kitchener N2H 4R1
> 519-744-7503
>
>
>
>
>> On Jan 12, 2022, at 5:17 PM, Kevin Thomason <kevthomason at gmail.com> 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Wow, Susan,
>>
>> This article is fantastic!  I don’t even have any edits for 
>> suggestions for it - it certainly makes GREN sound good and 
>> accurately cites the environmental activism we are going to need for 
>> the future success of our community.
>>
>> The only issue that I see is that somehow we are really going to have 
>> to get the www.gren.ca <http://www.gren.ca/> website live which is 
>> superfrustrating because yet again I ‘m still waiting for Scott to 
>> follow-up from my Friday email on the updates that I need to be able 
>> to load in the information that you have provided for each section.
>>
>> I would hate to have the article run and still not have had Scott 
>> even respond let alone get the website running that we so need.
>>
>> Let me know any thoughts or ideas and I will follow-up with Scott yet 
>> again tonight.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Kevin.
>>
>> P.S. Perhaps this is exactly how we get him to get this site done - 
>> share this draft article with him and perhaps he will understand the 
>> need to have it up and running by Jan 20th….
>>
>> -------------------------------------
>>
>> Kevin Thomason
>>
>> 1115 Cedar Grove Road
>> Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4
>>
>> Phone: (519) 888-0519
>> Mobile Phone/WhatsApp: (519) 240-1648
>> Twitter: @kthomason
>> E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com <mailto:kevinthomason at mac.com> or 
>> kevthomason at gmail.com
>>
>> -----------------------------------------
>>
>>> On Jan 12, 2022, at 4:50 PM, Susan Koswan 
>>> <susankoswan at execulink.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> 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.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Executive mailing list
>>> Executive at gren.ca
>>> http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/executive_gren.ca
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>
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