Jon Corbett's Story

My name is Jon Corbett, I am an assistant professor in the Community, Culture and Global Studies unit at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, my field is resource management and sustainability. Through my research and teaching I have come to realize that climate change is the single most important issue facing society today. It is an issue that will directly impact our own lives - as well as those of our children, grandchildren and all future generations. I feel that it is vitally important to take every opportunity to raise awareness of this issue.

My story is about some recent work I have done with students at UBC O to discuss issues of sustainability on the campus. My students interviewed university administrators, faculty members and other students to try to get to grips with what it means to be a sustainable campus. They then created short films outlining the steps that UBC O needs to take to be a truly sustainable institution.

Wheels for Change is an open and encompassing initiative that encourages everyone to express their feelings about climate change, share their hopes and fears with others, and ultimately to bring about positive change. I am very excited about the Wheels for Change ride in July. I am encouraging my students to take part in the journey. I look forward to meeting many others, and perhaps even you, on this journey.

Judy Stockdale's story

Hi, my name is Judy Stockdale. I am 64 years old, I live in Enderby, BC, and I am one proud mother. This photo is of me on a bicycle trip to New Zealand where a friend and I cycled 1700 kms, and went from Bluff to Cape Reinga in 2003. A great way to travel and see a country. I love the pace.

I have felt strongly about environmental issues since Rachael Carr's "The Silent Spring" in the early 70's. I have had cloth shopping bags for thirty years, and I remember teaching school kids the 4 "R's" in the 1980's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reclaim. I remember thinking the most shocking thing about our misuse of Mother Earth was species extinction. Once they are gone, they are gone forever, whereas pollution, deforestation, ozone depletion, population explosion could all be fixed over time. Global warming is different.

Facing this issue will require a combined effort and commitment from everyone in every corner of the globe, and it all starts with each of us taking one small step. My wish is that we could have community stores that only sold local produce, or at least shops that indicated local produce. Maybe we could reduce our impact in this way and get more trucks off the road. Maybe others could express their wish for a more sustainable future, and who know where this might lead. A huge wish list for sustainability. Yeah! Meanwhile my husband and I farm and garden organically (Certified Organic), and we try to encourage wildlife and biodiversity through planting native flora. We carefully select who we donate our money to and who we support politically.

We try to maximize the effect we have politically, environmentally, and socially. There is lots more we could do, and that will be our challenge!

Robin Genthon's story

My name is Robin Genthon. I live in Vernon, where I work in the School District as an Aboriginal Education Assistant.

In our daily lives, there are many ways to care for the Earth, from biking, walking or car-pooling to turning off lights, not wasting water, buying locally grown organic foods and much more. We can recycle, re-use and more importantly, reduce the amount of garbage we generate by consuming less and purchasing items with less packaging. These are some of the things that my family does to show respect for the Earth.

I have noticed that my students are extremely conscientious about taking care of the Earth, and I would like to share a story about them. The other day we were making drums as part of the Aboriginal Education program, and we finished earlier than we expected. The traditional ways of the Aboriginal people promote living in harmony with the Earth and to have a great deal of gratitude and respect for all that she gives to us. So when I asked the children what they wanted to do with our extra time, they decided, with great enthusiasm, to go out into the neighborhood to clean up litter. I was so proud of their commitment to caring about the Earth and their awareness that tending to the Earth was tending to their future and their children's future and so on. The teachings are that you consider the next seven generations in all that you do and I was very honored to witness their generation doing just that! What a different world it would be if we all lived by these teachings!

Thank-you, Robin Genthon

Celia Auclair's Story

My name is Celia Auclair, I am 35 years old and I live in Vernon where I work as a caterer.

I grew up aware of global warming as I have a father that was preaching gloom and doom already in the early 80's. When I moved away from my dad I forgot about my dad's "apocalyptic" views. I became a tree planter and soon after focused on raising my family, growing a garden, feeding my children healthy food, etc. I don't own a TV and so I lost touch with current affairs on global warming, and with my family having a relatively light footprint on the planet, I didn't have the worries about the future that I used to have when growing up.

In May 2006, a friend invited me to go see Al Gore’s movie "An Inconvenient Truth" which played for 12 weeks straight at the Towne theatre in Vernon. It was like waking up from a state of dormancy. All of a sudden, what I knew as a child but didn't fully understand was explained to me in common language. The mountain of scientific evidence and the clear depiction of the process of warming, already going faster than first predicted... the chain reaction of events that are likely to follow... the fact that our population growth has exploded exponentially in the past 50 years... and the fact that I have 3 children under the age of 12 years...

Immediately it was clear to me that nothing was more important than to take action now, to start changing myself and to find ways to engage in positive action in order to offer hope to future generations. In the following months I started reading the literature and searching on the internet for more information. I also felt the call to connect with people abut this issue, so last December I did a cross-Canada road trip to visit and discuss my thoughts with friends and acquaintances.

The response I got from everyone was universal; people are very concerned. Whether they think that we can get out of this mess is another story, but they are concerned. Many are too busy with their kids, jobs, and routines to do much about it. They do their little part, and for most of them, it's not possible to live a fully sustainable way of life. However, their good intentions are there and many people would jump on board if the government took stronger leadership to address the problem straight on.

Upon my return, I met again with Mary whom I had first met last November. We agreed to start planning this BC-wide cycle tour for action on climate change.

If we remain passive, a runaway warming trend is unavoidable. I choose to take action; it's only by our collective action that we are going to create a good future for future generations. I also choose to promote sustainable living, as it is the ensemble of solutions that are needed to address climate change. I am full of enthusiasm about getting on the road on my bike this summer, and about the people, ideas and projects that we are going to encounter along the way.

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!