Julia Lissau's Story

I am greatly concerned about the global warming crisis and try to do what I can to minimize my footprint on the planet in hopes that there will be some quality to the future of those generations who will follow. We owe our earth for the gift of being able to live here and should act accordingly to protect it – and that means being assertive about climate change. A few personal examples…

I cycle as much as possible for shopping, visiting and meetings – even in winter (as long as roads are not icy and the temperatures are not less than -1 Celsius). I never idle if I do have to drive, and ask vehicle idlers to turn engines off and tell them why. At home, water use is around 4.5 cubic meters every 3 months for 2 of us, except for 3 - 4 summer food garden months. It is not hard to do. All shower and dish water is saved and used to flush the toilet. Except in the heat of summer we follow the “if it’s yellow let it mellow; if it’s brown flush it down” rule as it seems so gluttonous to waste high quality drinking water to flush a toilet. Vernon’s grey water is only re-used once but in Europe they can re-use treated water at least 8 times before returning clean water to the river it came from. We, here, have a lot of rethinking to do on resource waste. An ice cream pail under each tap saves hand washing and veggie washing water for re-use as well. We do only one full laundry load a week using a water efficient machine and use a laundry line for drying all year round. We conserve much of our roof rain water for garden use and when the dry months hit, have a trickle system and heavy mulching to minimize water use for our large, organic, high yield food garden. I scrounge all over town for 60+ bags of clean leaves each year for the mulch. We live minimally, purchasing second hand as much as possible, or not buying if it is a ‘want’ and not a ‘need’. We recycle so much that I could put out garbage once a month and still not fill a shopping bag! Home is small so there’s no need to furnish extra rooms (what a money saver!) and there’s not a lot of time needed for cleaning! (I’d rather read a book!) Having lived and worked in a third world country, I know how little a person can live with and still be happy and healthy.

Lizanne Chicanot's Story

My first great experience on a bike was when I was in grade 6. My mom signed me up for a bike camp and I got hooked. Instead of singing camp tunes and staying in log cabins, we got to go on a week long bike trip through the Ottawa Valley. After that I just thought of myself as a biker.

When I was in high school in Ottawa I used to commute all year long across town to school. The snow just made it more exciting! My first teaching job was in the Northwest Territories where I would occasionally ride across a little arm of Great Slave Lake on my mountain bike. Now I live in Beautiful BC and as much as possible (OK I've turned into a bit of a fair weather cyclist!) I cycle to work along the Galloping Goose/Lochside trail (probably the best commute to work in the world!).

I'm excited to join up with Mary and crew for a portion of the Wheels for Change trip. I'll start in Hope which kind of has a poetic ring to it.... especially given the climate change situation.... and it's also pretty flat terrain after that which I won't complain about! I'm really looking forward to the bike ride and to meeting all the other cycling folks who are also dedicated to raising awareness of climate change!

Lizanne Chicanot
Vice Principal at Royal Oak Middle School
Victoria, BC

Gordon Forsyth's Story

I am taking the Kelowna to Vernon ride on Sunday, July 8. My attempt to change the climate is to only drive when necessary. When I get off work I usually get my bike out, and I always cycle to work on Saturdays. I also encourage my family and friends to do the same. I am currently on a cycling coalition to get more people on their bikes and I was also on a Bike to Work Week committee and I am also part of Car Free Day. I am a firm beleiver that if everybody did this we could eliminate our emissions by 10% by 2012.

Monique Richoux's Story

Well, here's my dirty little secret: I am not really a cyclist! I used to cycle a lot while growing up in Armstrong, but when I moved to Vancouver to go to university, I tried biking once or twice and was terrified. All that traffic! Later, when I met my future husband, I didn't even own a bike but we wanted to do a bit of biking and he had two bikes - a mountain bike and a BMX. I laughed my head off when I saw a full grown man riding a BMX. But his mountain bike felt too big and awkward for me. I tried his BMX - and was hooked. When I was pregnant with our first son he gave me my own BMX - and that's what I still ride, badly, along with my sons, who are 8 and 5 and show me up on a regular basis. I will swallow my fears and my pride and I WILL show up to ride on my little BMX with my son (no gears but oh, so maneuverable), and this is why:

I have realized that climate change is not some kind of possibility. It is not something that my children can spend their lives trying to stop. It will be too late if we haven't taken serious measures by the time they are old enough to vote. I used to think that by living as sustainably as I possibly can (consuming less, buying only organic food, growing what we can, driving as little as possible, etc.) that I can do my part and make a difference. And yet when I watched An Inconvenient Truth and saw the ice falling away, I realized that my actions alone are not enough. They are important and they are good, but they are not enough. I have been aware of and worrying about environmental devastation for 20 years now - and it is not enough. (The warning cry was first shouted in 1962 by Rachel Carson, and 45 years later we still aren't "getting it" in any large-scale way). Some people worry that attending to climate change will cause a massive loss of jobs in Canada. I say this is an illusion. Climate Change itself will cause job loss, along with massive life loss. When all the trees die from bugs that start multiplying exponentially (as the pine bark beetle already has been doing) there will certainly be a loss of jobs, not to mention all the other losses that accompany that. The oil fields won't last forever either - why not phase out that form of power now before our very lives are threatened?

There are plenty of ways in which we can all live sustainably with our needs met, through industries that perhaps we haven't even invented yet, industries that support a restorative form of commerce rather than the destructive form that we currently operate under. For those of us dependent on our cars - lets remember that we are an ingenious species - very intelligent, very creative. We CAN start re-imagining our world, while there is a livable world left to re-imagine. Consider our dependence on oxygen alone: "Oxygen has hovered around 21 per cent of the atmosphere, a propitious level, since 25 per cent oxygen could well ignite the atmosphere; if the atmosphere contained only 15 per cent oxygen, it would be lethal to life." David Suzuki, The Sacred Balance, p. 49. So what will happen to this balance as we keep releasing carbon into the atmosphere? I don't want to find out. Realizing that I actually have to do something about it has been hard for me - I have shed tears and lost sleep. Denial is so much easier. Easier but deadly (ala The Matrix).

Here is one last quote that really hit me, that has moved me to go on the actual ROAD on my little bike, with my child:
"Author Ivan Illich has pointed out that the average American is involved with his or her automobile - working in order to buy it, actually driving it, getting it repaired and so on - for sixteen hundred hours a year. This means when all car mileage in a given year is divided by the time spend supporting the car, the average car owner is traveling at an average speed of five miles per hour. To attain the speed of a bicycle, we are devastating our cities, air, lungs, and lives, while bringing on the threat of global warming." Paul Hawkin, The Ecology of Commerce (1993),

One last note - I think it's important that we not be fooled by the Conservative government's "green plan". They had in their hands a not-too-bad plan, Bill C-30 which was drafted up with the input and cooperation of all parties. When they backed out of it I protested to my MP. He replied that the opposition made it too hard to implement. That is rubbish. The current plan is a smokescreen, one that people such as David Suzuki and Al Gore have seen through (and stated so publicly). We need to see through it as well. It is not enough. So let's get on our bikes and see how big a statement we can make, together, as Canadians.

(And if you haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth yet - go watch it now!)

Helen and Patricia's Story

Hi everybody, my name is Helen. My partner Patricia and I decided to celebrate our 7 year anniversary on the Wheels for Change ride! We met in Vancouver at a women's dance, and were thrown together again when someone asked me to pick up a woman named Patricia (with a car-share vehicle) for a hike. I made her a tofu and avocado sandwich, and the rest is, well, I'll tell you more when we get to know each other...

A few years ago, we moved to Hornby Island to get off the grid, but only lasted 2 1/2 months. That's another story. We've been in Brentwood Bay for four years, about an hour's bike ride from Victoria.

Our response to Climate Change is a booklet called Recipe for a Cool Planet: How to be Happy & Healthy on a Low-carbon Diet.
http://www.recipeforacoolplanet.com
Writing it inspired us to sell the SUV we were gifted, and travel exclusively by bike and car-share. Here's one of the drawings illustrated by Patricia.

Looking forward to meeting everyone. - Helen

PS - if you know of any potential advertising sponsors for the book, please let us know:
Tel: (250) 544-2064; Email: patriciahairdesign@hotmail.com

Joyce Henderson's Story

My name is Joyce Henderson and I live in Salmon Arm. I look at our history – the treatment of the Japanese in the 1940s and of the Aboriginal children in the residential schools and think, “How could intelligent, thinking people allow this to happen?”. Then I wonder what we are doing now that our grandchildren will look back and say “How could intelligent people allow this to happen?” I think it will be the way we continually use our resources and abuse our environment.

My time living in Kenya and Ghana have made me aware of the need to conserve water and electricity – so conserving those two resources, recycling and using cloth shopping bags have been a normal part of my life. Lately I have been consciously using my car as little as possible and eating local foods when possible.

I am involved in Wheels for Change because it is an opportunity for citizens to become informed and involved in climate change – and to make an impact with municipal and provincial governments re what needs to be done to influence climate change.

James Skwarok's Story

Hi there! My name is James Skwarok. Some of you might know me as Mr. Floatie or more recently as CO2 Man. I’m an activist and elementary school substitute teacher in Victoria, BC. Currently, I run two non-profits: www.poopvictoria.ca and www.co2ies.ca. The CO2ies are a group of citizens of all ages who are using humour and embarrassment to help pressure our federal government into setting firm caps on greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. We may not be fully aware of its effects right now, but why wait until it’s too late? Just look how a warmer climate has allowed the pine beetle to ravage BC’s forests. Since our federal government is moving at a snail’s pace to reduce greenhouse gases, we have to get together to show them we want action now. Our children deserve courageous decisions by our leaders, not promises of “intensity based targets” which actually allow overall greenhouse gas emissions to rise.

I joined Wheels for Change because I believe this citizen action will help show our provincial and federal government that we want them to larger steps now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Wheels for Change is something whole families and communities can do together. By acting together, our message will be stronger. I’m really looking forward to biking the last part of the trip with everyone!