The New Year:  A Good Time for Positive Change

The new year is a time of renewal, hopes and dreams. Many people will make New Year’s resolutions of some kind. Some of these will be specific, like exercising more, while others will be more general in nature, like being a better person or getting the most out of life.

Attempting to make a positive difference is honourable. Helping others and protecting the environment are not only good things to do, they are things which must be done. It doesn’t take doing dramatic deeds to make a significant contribution. James Stewart’s role in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life effectively illustrates the incredible impact one seemingly “ordinary” life can have on the lives of others.

Harry Chapin is one person who made incredible contributions to humanity during his short life. Chapin was not only a gifted singer/songwriter, he was an effective activist who fought for the world’s hungry. He donated close to half of his concerts to help feed those who didn’t get enough food. He also established charities to help attain these vital goals. For his efforts Chapin was given (posthumously) the Special Congressional Gold Medal – the highest award that can be given to a citizen by the U.S. Congress.

Impressive acts of kindness, like those performed by Harry Chapin, are not for everyone – and they don’t have to be. Helping others from time to time, protecting the environment and doing little, seemingly insignificant, things on a regular basis will all have a positive impact on the world and its inhabitants.

The following are just a few ideas of things that you can do to make the world a safer, healthier, kinder place.

• Create an organic vegetable garden and grow organic vegetables.
• Reduce your garbage and improve your gardens by composting.
• Follow the 3 R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle – whenever possible.
• Plant native trees, shrubs and flowers. These will not only beautify the surroundings, provide oxygen and remove pollutants, but they will also provide shelter for wild animals.
• Do not use herbicides, pesticides or other unnecessary toxic substances.
• Ensure that your house is wildlife-proofed so problems associated with animals living rent-free in your home are avoided.
• Donate your time, items and/or money to a worthy charitable organization like your local humane society or food bank.
• Volunteer your time at hospitals, senior citizens’ homes and similar places.
• If you would like to share your life with an animal companion, and you are sure that you can properly raise such a friend, then adopt an animal in need.
• Write to politicians, editors and others about social, animal and environmental issues and indicate how positive changes can be made.
• Take the time to politely educate others about how they can make the world a better place to be.
• Reduce or eliminate harmful activities, like dry-cleaning and driving motorboats, and replace them with more environmentally friendly ones like wearing clothes that don’t require dry-cleaning and traveling by canoe.
• Reduce the use of paper by reading online newspapers.
• Educate others about compassionate living; donate vegetarian books or books about animals to libraries and schools. You might buy a subscription to Vegetarian Baby & Child for your local library, school or hospital waiting room.

When it comes to making the world a better place, no act is too small. Just keep thinking about new ways to help and pass these ideas on to others. For example, I wrote this column on scrap pieces of paper that were “junk mail” and had one side of the page blank. I attach these pages to a clip board and use them to write articles, “to do” and shopping lists and a variety of other things. When I am done with the page it is used to start the fire in one of our wood stoves. This simple act helps trees, animals, the environment – and our bank account!

I rarely use disposable pens. I use a fountain pen and ink from a bottle. The small bottle of ink often lasts me a year or more and the glass jar is recycled. This may not seem like a significant way to protect the environment but there are currently more than 6 billion people living on Earth and many people go through several disposable pens a year. I don’t think that it is an exaggeration to assume that billions of pens are dumped somewhere on the Earth every year. Being made of plastic, these pens will be around for a long time. Using a fountain pen (a good pen will last a lifetime or longer), ink and scrap paper is a great way to minimize our impact on the environment, animals and, subsequently, ourselves.

Happy New Year!

Note: This column appeared in Vegetarian Baby & Child magazine.