I recently attended a seminar where ayahuasca, a traditional brew of the Amazon has been linked with management of motor neuron disease. Back in September, on my way home from an acupuncture conference in Europe, we traveled through Amsterdam. When in Amsterdam, many tourist feel obliged to try some weed (I got a headache for my troubles). My colleague commented that I have built up my street cred and my young adult offsprings would be impressed with how cool mum was. I replied that I had to be Greta Thunberg to impress them.

Greta

Not all of us can or want to be like Greta but all of us can help improve our climate situation. Don’t leave it to the big boys to change policy; don’t wait for the ‘plastic bag ban’; don’t blame someone else for the current bushfire crisis.

Climate change and Bushfires

The current bushfire season is horrific and there’s many more months of hot, dry weather to come. It has been heartwarming to see how our community have rallied to provide the support that’s needed. Donations and fundraisers; volunteers in fire fighting; logistics; rebuilding and caring for our precious wildlife and livestock to name a few. Many of the veterinary volunteers are taking time off or using their rostered days off to help where needed. Australians are good at this. Our sense of community and mateship are strong.

The Blame game

However, we also have a tendency to point the finger at someone/ something else. Whether it is the politicians not doing enough; the Greens; the lack of controlled burns; taking cattle off the high country…you’ve seen it in the media.

Doing your bit…

Let’s empower ourselves to do our bit for the climate. There will be knockers out there that say what difference would it make. We’re not going to know till we try are we? Especially if ‘we’ means all of us. We can all be ‘doers’, not just critics or admirers. Try leaving the house by foot or bike instead of the car to go somewhere. Even if it’s once a week. It’s good exercise if nothing else. We’ve seen the consequence of our current lifestyle…It’s a no brainer what will happen if we continue on our merry way.