Sustainability and Quakers

By Claire Adamson, Montreal Monthly Meeting

The Simplicity of Quakers is doubly valuable. It gives us the peace to fully experience the essence of life, and at the same time reduces our footprint on this fragile blue planet. Calm down, use less energy, travel less, have fewer children, read more, eat and grow more vegetables, and continue to innovate. What an easy prescription!

We press our governments to become more responsible, and not to be servants to corporations. We ask that we harvest our trees in small sections, mine our resources with minimal disturbance, to protect ground water, and to fish with small quotas. We need to slow down the hungry caterpillar of industry by using Cap and Trade agreements, carbon tax, large house tax, and Tobin “Robin Hood” Tax on financial transactions. To be truly sustainable we must increase gas tax, car ownership fees, parking fees, and require green space. Definitely include the environmental price of materials and product recycling costs in the sales price. To encourage better health: tax junk food, subsidize local vegetables and fruit, tax elevators. Let’s spend this tax money on better education.

Keep that old kitchen, use screws in construction for easy renovation, use a broom to sweep, use a rake to gather up leaves to compost back into soil, turn down the heat and wear more sweaters. Let’s keep each other warm in winter, cool in summer, and empowered to make the changes necessary to care for our world.

Claire Adamson
1812 Baile
Montreal H3H 1P4
514-935-1608