ARTICLE:

Global warming. Marine life. Forests. Wilderness. Endangered species. Environment.

These are the key themes that we are facing today in our journey to become sustainable global citizens — to be at one with the earth without taking away any more from it.

The Sierra Club of British Columbia is a non-profit organization that seeks to find realistic solutions for these dilemmas of the modern age. Sustainability Television is well-matched in its partnership with Sierra Club, as they share a common philosophy of social, economic and environmental prosperity under the guidance of sustainable choices and ideas.

Most recently, the Sierra Club has been petitioning to abandon a coal mining project located at the Flathead Mountain site. What it would entail is the extraction of nearly 40 million tones of coal, but at the cost of dumping 325 million tones of carbon-based waste rock into Foisey Creek, endangering the already-precarious transboundary river that is both a United National World Heritage site and a Biosphere reserve.

Alongside other Canadian and American conservation groups, Cline Mining deserves appause for it's decision to terminate this coal-seeking project.

That’s only one of the projects Sierra Club is fighting to save.

With the prediction that we have at most 20 years to change our ways before global warming is irreversible, the underlying philosophy is to change the way we think about our relationship to resources NOW.

Sierra CERles is an interactive, interpersonal club to help individuals and businesses reduce their carbon emission. With the help of others within their municipalities, people can measure their carbon footprint and have the guidance to actually change and take a step in the direction to reduce greenhouse gases, encourage the development and implementation of renewable energy sources and to find solutions that work.

A Special Place Campaign

While human beings inhabit the land, the Sierra Club has a strong vendetta against the destruction that human industrial and fishing activities have had on the sea.

On the North Coast Ocean, Sierra Club is striving for a legislature as a part of Canada’s Ocean Act to protect the people and aquatic life in this area. It is a vibrant ecosystem that harbours otters, giant kelp and even glass sponge reefs almost 10,000 years old!

When it comes to sustainable fishing, the best thing you can do as an individual is to “vote with your wallet.” What this translates into is literally buying products from the grocery store that are sustainable. It’s incredible how much the consumer effects what kinds of food stuffs are available at the store.

The World Wildlife International (WWF) has a similar vision for fishing and conservation. It emphasizes not only the need to promote the availability of sustainably-caught seafood, but also to improve the infrastructure and management of the fishing industry.

Did you know that B.C. has more biodiversity than anywhere else in Canada? Sierra Club recognizes the diversity of wildlife in this beautiful province that also has the highest number of endangered species in the country.

In 2005, Species at Risk Working Group was formed along with other conservationists and has successfully pulled a campaign that has significantly helped to protect the habitat of the endangered mountain caribou.

It seems like groups like this have a clear idea of what they want to achieve, and aren’t afraid to go out and collect the resources they need to forge relationships with other like-minded groups to lobby and fight for the same causes. If you are interested in helping save the state of the environment and want to get involved, volunteer with Sustainability Television  or The Sierra Club of B.C. to learn how to become a sustainable citizen and inspire others!

PHOTO:  Glass Sponge coral reef in B.C taken in 2006 by Science Centric.