Climate Change is a Fact of Life

We have to admit that climate change is a fact of life, and it’s important we take a serious look at what’s on our plate. One small step, so to speak.

A couple of summers ago, I reached the impressive age of seventy. I say impressive because seventy was either very old or dead for people of past generations.

Being seventy puts me dab smack into the realm of being a Baby Boomer and the generation pointed to as a significant contributor to climate change.

I do not deny that we played a part in this. As a child, I remember my mother using string grocery bags or baskets, my parents rode bicycles most of the time, public transport was a necessity, and train stations dotted the New Zealand landscape. There were individual stores with storekeepers named the greengrocer, the butcher, and the baker (no, I’m not going to say the candlestick maker). Yes, a coal man delivered coal, as we all had open fires or wood-fired ovens. Plastic and nylon were only starting to make a presence when I was still a young kid.

But it was when my generation took over that things really changed. The borders opened up, tariffs were removed, and importing cheaper goods into N.Z. became much more straightforward. Our quiet little country began…