Community-Led Environmental Action (webinar)
Event Recording
Event Summary
by Eleanor Willner-Fraser, NSEN Community Engagement Volunteer
On June 23rd, 2021, the Nova Scotia Environmental Network hosted its sixth live virtual coffeehouse event, a wide-ranging conversation about the impact and importance of community-level environmental action and what we as everyday citizens can do to make our communities green and sustainable.
The host for the event was Sophia Lindfield, NSEN’s then Information and Communications Manager, who will be studying sustainability at Dalhousie University in the fall. The speakers were Ally Chant, Project Coordinator for ACAP Cape Breton’s Trashformers program, and Jessica Frenette, chair of Truro’s Living Earth Council (LEC).
ACAP is a small Cape Breton nonprofit that focuses on environmental action and education. It aims to get people actively involved in discussing and addressing environmental issues. Some of its key projects are stream and habitat restoration and the Trashformers program, which organizes litter clean-ups throughout the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. ACAP was founded around 1991, building upon existing community groups.
The LEC is a Truro-based environmental group that seeks to inspire sustainable communities in Truro and the surrounding area. Its focus areas are green energy, active transportation, healthy landscapes, and local food. The LEC’s recent and upcoming initiatives include no-mow May, a forum on municipal renewable energy projects, and a tree planting event. The organization was founded in 2007 by a group of friends who were concerned about the climate crisis and wanted to take action at the local level.
After an introduction to their organizations, the speakers gave their perspectives on the respective roles of government, businesses, NGOs, and the public in encouraging sustainable practices. Chant and Frenette both stressed government’s responsibility for holding companies accountable, NGOs’ role in educating the public, and individuals’ ability to make small but powerful changes.
The speakers suggested ways for communities to build on pre-existing projects and infrastructure, from community gardens to public recycling bins and cigarette disposal. Chant emphasized that communities should “develop only in predeveloped areas.”
Both ACAP and the LEC have struggled with keeping people engaged, especially during the pandemic. Some strategies that they have employed include using social media and iNaturalist, phoning people, and hosting litter clean-ups and virtual events. Frenette explained that the LEC strives to build a sense of community, focus on the positive, and ask members about their interests.
On the topic of barriers to working on sustainability in communities, Chant pointed out that “[s]ustainability is a privilege.” She noted environmental racism’s devastating effects on the lives of people of colour and argued for the importance of protecting both people and the planet since changes that only benefit certain groups are not truly sustainable.
Frenette also highlighted the need to see the bigger picture and not just concentrate on one issue. The LEC has sometimes used sustainability’s connection to other issues as a way to get less eco-conscious city councillors on board with their initiatives. Frenette described her own experience running for Truro’s Town Council and encouraged others to get involved in politics as well. She observed, “now, when I start to voice my opinion a little bit more, I feel like it has a little bit more push, a little bit more power behind it.”
Both Chant and Frenette touched on their experience growing up in a sustainable household and their surprise at learning that many people were less eco-conscious. They noted that environmentalism can be lonely, especially when your friends are not also environmentalists. Frenette commented on the need to be satisfied with small changes in others and not expect big lifestyle changes.
The speakers recommended joining a local environmental group as a way to connect with other like-minded people and make an impact. Specific suggestions for getting involved included reaching out to environmentalists on social media and joining a committee or board of directors. Chant also mentioned that ACAP has clean-up supplies available for Cape Breton residents and can even help transport bags to Solid Waste over the summer months.