It Takes A Million Small Changes To The Change World

I recently heard a quote that really struck a chord with me.

Last week I was at the  kickoff dinner for Grace Episcopal Church's Capital Campaign.  Bishop Tom Shaw was the keynote speaker,  and he said something that really resonated with me.  It  spoke to my fundamental beliefs about how I'm living my life, how I'm raising my children and how I choose to spend my time.  I believe that unless we want our children to live on a planet that is unbearably hot, with not enough food to go around, that everyone must do what they can to reduce the carbon in the atmosphere, to prevent more drastic climate change and to protect our environment.

He said:

I don't think that one person changes very much in this world, I think about someone like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Mahatma Ghandi and they have done extraordinary things to change this world, but in fact, what they did and what they said, nothing would have happened unless there were hundreds and thousands and millions of people that heard their call, and were willing to sacrifice in the ways that they could sacrifice, to bring justice to a new level in the world.  Major things with the environment, major things in our life, are not going to change just because somebody gives a good speech, or somebody protests. Major changes come because ordinary people like us, in a little community like this, do our part.

This statement was very meaningful to me, because I firmly believe that while it is important that governments make policies and regulations, and it is important that large businesses and organizations make changes, it is also very important that every one of us do what we can to minimize our impact on the environment.   There are so many ways that we can do this that it is possible for us to pick and choose, and make the changes that work for our lives.  I believe that eventually there will be cultural shift, as everyone makes changes and as that happens, the changes will become easier to make, and no longer changes, but a way of life. 

Bishop Shaw really spoke to this in me.

Grace Church hasn't had a capital campaign since 1955, and if you come into the church, you'll see what affect that has had on the building.  The back wall is crumbling and you may have noticed that the church bells haven't rung regularly in over 20 years.   I'm particularly interested in this Capital Campaign because they're not stopping with building repairs.  Environmental stewardship is very important to the Grace Church Congregation and part of this capital campaign is going to help pay for upgrading the antiquated heating system from oil to gas and converting the lighting from 300W incandescent bulbs to LED lighting.  

Grace Church doesn't see these changes just as money saving steps, but as an example of some of the many steps we can take to do our share to reduce our cardon output and avert climate change.  To further educate our community, earlier this spring we held a series of environmentally focussed discussions at the church with great speakers like Joseph Asaya, Marion Stoddart, and Deborah Brown from the EPA who spoke on enviornmental justice issues.

I believe that climate change and the enviornment are things that are affected by every person on earth and I hope you will join me in making a difference by taking a few - or many - steps to reducing your impact.