Mary Stockdale's Story

My name is Mary Stockdale. I am 40 yrs old, and I live in Vernon, BC. I am married to Jon Corbett, and we have two children: Emma, 10 yrs old, and Tom, 7 yrs old. My career is in community-based forestry, and I have worked overseas in many tropical countries as well as in BC.

In recent years, I have come to the belief that climate change is the most important issue of our time - what a responsibility it is to know that we only have a few years to act before irreversible and 'run-away' warming trends are set in motion. I have decided to stop pursuing my career full-time in order to do whatever I can on this issue.

We try as a family to reduce our impact on the environment by living close to downtown, cycling everywhere we can, buying local food, maximizing energy efficiency in the house, hanging our laundry up to dry, and so on, but I am convinced that the solution lies in collective as well as individual action. A major shift in our society will be needed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to the recommended level, and this will require us to get together and let our politicians know that we want them to take whatever action is necessary, now. This is why I am co-organizing this Wheels for Change campaign, as one means of keeping the momentum growing locally, provincially and nationally.

I also keep myself busy trying to effect change locally by co-editing a biweekly column on sustainability issues in our local newspaper; involving myself in local organizations such as Vernon's Sustainable Environmental Network Society and the Vernon Cycling Advisory Committee, and teaching a course at the University of British Columbia - Okanagan branch on applying traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to developing a more sustainable way of living in the Okanagan region.

My final, inspirational, comment is that I believe that moving towards sustainability can be a positive change for all of us, for so many different reasons - better health, more meaningful work, improved diet, increased creativity, stronger connections to others, and more. Let's take this immense challenge on with everything we've got - this beautiful world and our children deserve it!