Climb and consume
Last weekend I volunteered at the Alberta Wilderness Association's Climb For Wilderness. It's an event I've helped out at for 5 years now because I really like the AWA's causes and accomplishments. The climb is a fundraiser where participants get sponsors and walk/run up the 800 stairs of the Calgary Tower as many times as possible. I particularly like volunteering for it because I coordinate the events in the observation deck, which means I basically walk around and look at the beautiful view for seven hours while ordering everyone else around :-).
Unfortunately, this year's event started out on a sour note for me because I suddenly became aware of an underlying hypocrisy surrounding the climb. I thought about the discarded Tim Hortons cups, hundreds of plastic water bottles that would accumulate, wasted water from half finished bottles that are left aside and forgotten about, decorations that nobody notices, and just the general excessive energy and material wastage that comes from hosting large gatherings. Everyone was there to support a good cause but didn't realize their consumption contributed to the demand that corporations use to justify nature's destruction.
Before I entered the state of anger and gloom that often accompanies such thoughts, three uplifting stories of human interaction unfolded in front of me. There was a teenage son proudly cheering and hugging his mother who just finished her climb. It was sweet to watch him insist on taking her picture although she shyly objected, embarrassed by her 'messy' hair. I also enjoyed seeing a mother and her two year old daughter climbing while the daughter clutched her favorite stuffed bunny by its ears. Finally, I eavesdropped on a cell phone conversation between boyfriend and girlfriend and smiled as I listened to him express how amazing it was to complete such a difficult task and be greeted by gorgeous views of the city and mountains. It's awesome the extent to which humans can show tenderness. I only wish they adhered to it outside the boundaries of convenience. Why can't our capacity for caring extend to the point of making sacrifices for an amazingly beautiful planet that's suffering?
Unfortunately, this year's event started out on a sour note for me because I suddenly became aware of an underlying hypocrisy surrounding the climb. I thought about the discarded Tim Hortons cups, hundreds of plastic water bottles that would accumulate, wasted water from half finished bottles that are left aside and forgotten about, decorations that nobody notices, and just the general excessive energy and material wastage that comes from hosting large gatherings. Everyone was there to support a good cause but didn't realize their consumption contributed to the demand that corporations use to justify nature's destruction.
Before I entered the state of anger and gloom that often accompanies such thoughts, three uplifting stories of human interaction unfolded in front of me. There was a teenage son proudly cheering and hugging his mother who just finished her climb. It was sweet to watch him insist on taking her picture although she shyly objected, embarrassed by her 'messy' hair. I also enjoyed seeing a mother and her two year old daughter climbing while the daughter clutched her favorite stuffed bunny by its ears. Finally, I eavesdropped on a cell phone conversation between boyfriend and girlfriend and smiled as I listened to him express how amazing it was to complete such a difficult task and be greeted by gorgeous views of the city and mountains. It's awesome the extent to which humans can show tenderness. I only wish they adhered to it outside the boundaries of convenience. Why can't our capacity for caring extend to the point of making sacrifices for an amazingly beautiful planet that's suffering?
posted by sammy at 9:25 AM
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