Resolve to Teach a Child

Dear Partners in Green,

I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year! I am hopeful that at the end of 2020 you will look back on the year with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for having kept your New Year’s resolutions pertaining to Climate Change. If you have fallen short in 2019, this is a new beginning—a clean slate.

But how best can we ensure that these resolutions will not fall by the wayside? How can our new way of living become a habit?

Here are some thoughts:

• Make resolutions that are well thought out and attainable.
• Recommit yourself to limiting your consumption. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
• Plan ahead. For example, carry that extra tote bag in your pocket or handbag; do multiple errands in one trip to reduce auto emissions.
• Keep up on climate news so that it remains at the forefront of your mind.
• Even if you can’t always be environmentally prudent, at least acknowledge the effect of your actions. For example, airline flights leave an immense carbon footprint.
• Do not keep your resolutions to yourself. Find one or more friends who share your concern. Join a group or organization committed to Climate Care.
• Make joining that group one of your resolutions—a very important one!
• Reward yourself if you feel you are making progress. Treat yourself to something that you enjoy—eco-friendly, of course.
• Assess how you are doing. Keep a journal, write a poem, or perhaps a lament.
• Don’t be hard on yourself if you have fallen short—just recommit and keep going. Remember, change is a process.

*It is easy to become discouraged, especially when those around you seem oblivious to the gravity of the situation. That is why it is important to join with other like-minded people to encourage one another in your individual efforts, and also to come together in a grass-roots organization to address the environmental challenges faced by your community, neighborhood, and certain social groups.

Following is a short but powerful poem by Mary Oliver.

Watching a Documentary about Polar Bears
Trying to Survive on the Melting Ice Floes

That God had a plan, I do not doubt.
But what if His plan was, that we would do better?

With our New Year’s resolutions, I am hopeful that we will do better, but there is one more that has immense promise and is guaranteed to reach far into the future. We can resolve to teach a child about care and appreciation for our natural world.

Please share this little video with the children in your life.

Again, wishing you a Happy, Healthy, and beautifully Green New Year!

Thank you for being on this journey.
Beth

References:

Oliver, Mary. Red Bird. Boston: Beacon Press, 2008.