elissasmith.ca

Having lived somewhat independently for most of June in Venezuela, I was reminded again of the importance and beauty of long term companionship and friendship when I was re-united with my partner Matthew and my family! I have spent the last 3 weeks on a co-operative farming estate 2 hours north-west of London, U.K. called “Canon Frome” with three major parental figures (my mom and Matthews parents). We have enjoyed each other’s presence, and appreciated the beauty of self-reliance together! It is wonderful to be able to grow my own food and to reconnect with the earth. I have learnt to milk goats, cows, make cheese, play the guitar ( i know 3.5 chords), I am tending carrots and eating organically & locally! It is very relaxing & refreshing. I have been in a comfortable space & frame of mind to work on becoming a better person through radical honesty, nonviolent communication, challenging negative thoughts/actions and accepting & forgiving myself. I’m trying to write a song about my fathers fruit farm but I’m having emotionally difficulty finishing the song. I have been thinking a lot about the need to constantly connect people, to reduce barriers, to feel the energy of those around us.

I ask for forgiveness for my past climate crimes. I am currently spiritually agnostic but I went to confess my climate crimes in a Catholic Church the other day.

One of my 2005 Summer Conclusions was that “I will challenge myself to be as effective an organizer as possible while keeping within my sustainability values. For example, I will be aware of how much I fly, how environmentally harmful communication technology is, and where the funding for my projects comes from. I will strive to seek a balance between these awareness and my desire to be an effective organizer who is both efficient and working for global systematic change.”

I don’t know how to calculate accurately how many CO2 molecules I have emitted into the atmosphere since my birth but this handy internet tool has helped me to roughly calculate my flight emissions.

Return Flights

1. Toronto – Vancouver, Canada 0.73 Tonnes of CO2
2. Toronto – Edmonton, Canada 0.59 Tonnes of CO2
3. Toronto – Winnipeg, Canada 0.59 Tonnes of CO2
4. Toronto – Quebec City, Canada 0.18 Tonnes of CO2
5. Hamilton– Ottawa, Canada 0.11 Tonnes of CO2
6. Buffalo – New York City, U.S. 0.15 Tonnes of CO2
7. Toronto – London, U.K. 1.58 Tonnes of CO2
8. Toronto – Winnipeg, Canada 0.59 Tonnes of CO2
9. Toronto – Nairobi, Kenya 3.71 Tonnes of CO2
10. Ottawa – Victoria, Canada 0.78 Tonnes of CO2
11. Ottawa – Victoria, Canada 0.78 Tonnes of CO2
12. Montreal – Vancouver, Canada 0.80 Tonnes of CO2
13. Ottawa – Bangalore, India 3.70 Tonnes of CO2
14. Montreal – Hong Kong, China 3.39 Tonnes of CO
15. Toronto – Caracas, Venezuela 1.07 Tonnes of CO
16. Toronto – London, U.K. 1.58 Tonnes of CO2

Total = approx. 20.33 Tonnes of CO2 from airplanes alone!

It is clear that I need to seek a better balance. For me traveling is a dirty vice that I am having trouble expunging from my life. I tell myself that everything is about balance and moderation. That I emit less CO2 than the average Canadian because I am vegetarian, I don’t own a car, I try to use recycled goods as much as possible, I buy local produce and green energy and I’m responsible with the way I use electricity. That arguement don’t seem to cut it anymore….

I am registered for Bachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems at the University of British Columbia in the fall. Check out some of the cool courses that I will be taking!

1. Sociology of Development and Underdevelopment
   Processes of social change in the Third World and other developing countries. Major themes stress the relationship between urbanization and industrialization; modernization and ethnic conflict; imperialism, neo-colonialism, and foreign aid; and intra-national modernization problems such as regional underdevelopment in industrial societies.
2. Introduction to International Finance
   Exchange rate policy regimes; international financial organizations; the interaction between monetary policy and exchange rate regimes; financial crises.
3. Introduction to International Trade
   The determinants of trade patterns, trade policy, tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, political economy of protectionism, bilateral and multilateral trade disputes, trade liberalization, trade and development.
4. Introduction to Global Politics
   Applies conceptual tools to topics such as war, conflict management, the global economy, poverty, and civil society.
5. Land, Food and Community
   Introduction to managed systems and concepts of sustainability; economic, ecological and social components; managed landscapes, agri-food systems, and communities; urban and rural systems; the land, food, nutrition and human health continuum.

My friend Emmanuel Prinet wrote this a few months ago in an email. It sums up what I have been thinking lately in accessible language.

“A lot of “economists” and “development thinkers”, having studied neoclassical economics, are programmed to think “economy” in whatever they do. So if there’s a problem with the “environment” (ie. over consumption of natural resources or ecosystem degradation), they suggest these be internalized into the economy so that suddenly they are taken into account (and this is also a way to get economic growth, since the GDP will increase). If people are hungry, they think it’s because they have no money and can’t buy food, so the idea is to widen the economic sphere to include these people in the formal economy, when actually what they need is access to land and water to grow food. A lot of relations in low-income countries are non-economic, ie. they do not involve money transactions. Family and community members help each other out, and the work undertaken by women (such as fetching water) is unaccounted for in the GDP, yet these are essential!

The “market” logic has clear limits, and it’s actually a threat when people want to expand the market to include everything such as health, education, meeting basic needs, etc., because basically, if you can’t pay, you get nothing. That’s why we have to fight the WTO, and that’s why NGOs always talk about the ‘rights-based approach’–because all the basic necessities are basic Human Rights, and as such, governments have the prime responsibility to ensure that all their citizens can have access to these things.”

All of my parental figures live on farms. My mother and step-father live on a farm in Wainfleet, Ontario. My father, step-mother, and grandparents live on a farm in Grimsby, Ontario. My parents-in-law live on a farm in Canon Frome Court, England. I’m planning to visit and help out on all three of my farms this summer!

A short article I wrote is featured in “Our Planet“, the magazine of the United Nations Environmental Programme. Also featured in the magazine are some of my heros including: the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the visionary and revolutionary Amory Lovins, and the General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy Herman Scheer. The magazine is available for download in English, French or Spanish.