| Re: Consumer offers solution to fighting pollution, by Stephane Massinon, Rant & Rave, Oct. 16 - 22, 2003
It is disappointing yet again to see another person point the finger at someone else to blame. Why is it that individuals can't take responsibility for their own contributions to Canada's pollution problems?
According to David Suzuki, Canadians currently produce about 700 megatonnes of greenhouse gases per year, much of it from wasteful energy use. This is about two per cent of the total global emissions, coming from a country with about half of one per cent of the world's population" (www.davidsuzuki.org/climate_change/kyoto/kyoto_protocol.asp).
No one asked citizens of Canada to completely rid themselves of everything that they owned in order to make Canada's Kyoto target. The government is simply trying to encourage people to make smarter choices as consumers. Buying those compact fluorescent lights, programmable thermostats and push-mowers can help to reduce your personal contribution to greenhouse gases by a significant amount. It also helps you as a consumer save money in the long run.
Organizations like the Clean Air Foundation have been working with Home Depot to provide cheaper energy efficient products to help and encourage Canadians to reduce their personal energy use. From my standpoint there is plenty that a person can do – it is whether or not you are willing to do it. As Ghandi so eloquently stated, "you must be the change you wish to see in the world."
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