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News From CALL Mid‑May 2022
Sketch by Maria Seiler-Huizing, Sketch Club Interest Group
CALL COMMUNITY CONFERENCE 2022
It All Adds Up: Individual Responsibility in Fighting Climate Change and Pollution.
By Maureen Osis
CALL's fifth Community Conference revisited climate change, the topic of the 2019 conference, but this time with a focus on actions that individuals are taking and that others might take.
Personal highlight:
When I first saw the announcement for this conference, I thought that I might not be interested in the topic. Seems to be so much going on right now and I wasn't sure that I could take on another "must-do." I was also concerned that the tone might be judging us that we are not doing enough. The topic of climate change sometimes leads one to become a crusader—and yes, each speaker was passionate about and committed to their work; yet, they were also very respectful and able to teach, without preaching. I personally came away with new information about how to renew my energy in becoming part of the circular economy. — Maureen Osis
The conference began with an interview of a couple from Newfoundland. CALL member, Doreen Barrie, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Calgary, talked with Shawn Bath and Staunene Whelan, founders of Clean Harbours Initiative. They shared their story of starting a quest to clean up coastal ocean floors off Newfoundland. Sean operates on the belief that "one person can make a difference."
Shawn admitted that he hadn’t always been concerned about the environment. As a young fisherman he was more concerned with the challenges of the Newfoundland fishery. In 1992, the federal government declared a moratorium on the Northern cod fishery, ending almost 500 years of fishing activity in Newfoundland, putting about 30,000 people out of work, including young Shawn. After going back to school and training as a deep-sea diver, he spent 21 years harvesting sea urchins off the ocean floor. The risks inherent in that job were exacerbated by hazardous waste littering the ocean floor. He was disgusted by what he saw but assumed that someone else would do something about the problem. He said it took him time to realize that there was a problem—and that he was part of the problem. That insight came when he met his now partner, Staunene. She is motivated because she knows that the "earth is our home—“we cause the problem and we need to be part of the solution."
Bath described the decades of garbage accumulated in the harbours. He estimates that he has so far removed 50,000 pounds of ocean trash, including lost and discarded fishing line and nets which can cause the death of trapped fish, birds and whales. In addition to the physical challenges, Shawn and Staunene face financial challenges. The clean-up effort requires properly equipped expensive boats and properly trained divers who need to be paid.
See some examples of the work Clean Harbours Initiative has done, and see ways in which landlocked Albertans can contribute to these efforts. And for more inspiration, check out these links:- Clean Harbours Initiative
- Gift Shop related to CHI
- CBC documentary: Hell or Clean Water on CBC GEM Website
- If you would prefer a shorter video — "I think one person can make a difference." Hell or Clean Water
Panel Discussion
After a break we enjoyed hearing from a panel, moderated by CALL member Tamara Seiler, Professor Emerita, Department of Communication, Media and Film, University of Calgary. Three individuals who have years of experience and expertise in climate action and environmental education shared their stories and suggestions for individual action.
Lella Blumer, Coordinator, For Our Kids. Meeting the Challenge: One Step at a Time
Lella has worked and volunteered in the non-profit sector in Ontario and Alberta for more than 30 years, currently serving on her local food policy council and climate action network hub.
You've heard the saying that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? The "For Our Kids" network is proof that individual actions add up to a movement creating real change. In her presentation, Lella described some of the key campaigns of local parent-led climate action groups. Here are some links she provided:
Michelle Dias, Educator for Waste and Recycling Services, City of Calgary.
Talking Trash with the City of Calgary
Michelle has been a naturalist and environmental educator for over 20 years. Her work focuses on building community capacity for waste diversion and reduction through education initiatives and engagement.
Michelle encouraged us to join the growing movement towards a circular economy. Michelle provided a hierarchy of effective strategies - beginning with those actions many of us are already doing: reuse and recycle. We can become more effective by simply rethinking how to reduce waste and use resources more wisely.
- City of Calgary Waste & Recycling Residential Services
- City of Calgary Waste and Recycling Education Resources
- What Is Your Ecological Footprint?
- City of Calgary: What Goes Where
Grace Wark, Green Workplace Coordinator Green Calgary. Bringing It Home
Grace has a background in Environmental Science and has worked in the non-profit sector for the past four years, focusing on nature conservation and urban sustainability. Grace encouraged us to look for ways to bring sustainability into our homes. From reducing household waste, to supporting a healthy watershed to re-thinking energy use, there are many ways to shrink our environment footprint and live a greener life.
Q & A
One of the significant parts of the conference was that every speaker presented in a timely manner, leaving opportunity for many questions. CALL member and Conference MC Adrienne Kertzer Professor Emerita, Department of English, University of Calgary fielded the questions.
May Events
CALL Café Online
Aging and Creativity
Monday, May 16, 2:00pm–3:30pm online with Zoom
Speaker: Sharon Butala
The author of 21 novels and books of nonfiction, Sharon Butala has recently published This Strange Visible Air: Essays on Aging and the Writing Life. In her presentation, she will talk about the creative process, especially as it appears in the elderly and how, it is sometimes said, that creativity is never so strong as in the aged. In the professional writer it takes many years to develop the necessary level of craft, while at the same time, the writer's ideas and wisdom are growing clearer and more assured, humility growing alongside these. But writing is not purely an intellectual exercise. It also requires the hard work of staying in touch with the source of creativity, and thus is an enterprise of the spirit.
Do you struggle with engaging your creative self at this stage of life? Are you curious about how others explore creativity as they age? Register now for Aging and Creativity. You must be a CALL member to register, but the registration process allows you to bring 1 to 4 guests. To register and for more information, go to CALL Café Online
Treks and Travels
Life in Children’s Homes in Nepal and Bangladesh
Wednesday, May 18 7:30pm online with Zoom
Speaker: Colleen McShea
Since 2012 Colleen McShea has volunteered with Child Haven International, a charity that supports destitute women and children, with her first volunteer assignment in Chittagong in Bangladesh. In 2018 she returned to Kathmandu, Nepal for her second volunteer trip. Now that covid has been somewhat controlled she plans to return August 1. Colleen’s presentation is about life in the Child Haven Homes in Bangladesh and Nepal and the surrounding areas.
For more details and to register, go to the Treks and Travels page.
June Events
CALL Café Online
Living a Spectrum of the Black Experience: My Ongoing Response to a History I Did Not Know
Monday, June 6, 7:00pm–8:30pm Online with Zoom
Speaker: Lisa La Touche
NOTE: You must be a CALL member to register, but the registration process allows you to bring 1 to 4 guests.
Lisa La Touche grew up in Alberta as a bi-racial woman of color without any awareness of local Black cultural history. In 2008, she moved to New York where she further developed her skills as a tap dance artist, choreographer and educator, dancing on Broadway and establishing her own performance company Tap Phonics. Returning in 2020 to her hometown of Calgary, she was unprepared for the Black cultural isolation she witnessed and the reverse culture shock she experienced. This sent her on a mission to meet local Black elders and discover the history she did not know. In her presentation, Lisa will share stories of her ongoing journey of discovering this history. She will also present her short film about local Black heroes in the arts.
Learn about the cultural history of Alberta. Register now for Living a Spectrum of the Black Experience: My Ongoing Response to a History I Did Not Know.
To register and for more information, go to the CALL Café Online page.
Science and Environment
Radiation Exposure due to Radon Gas
Tuesday, June 7, 7:30-9:30pm Online with Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Dustin Pearson
Dr. Pearson is research operations manager for the Goodarzi laboratory Evict Radon project. He will tell us what radon is, how it affects us and how it leads to cancer. Many of us have participated in the Evict Radon program, a national research study seeding to understand and engineer out radon from our homes.
For more details and to register go to the Science and Environment page.
CALL for Submissions to CALL Newsletter
The CALL Newsletter group invites members to submit photos, sketches, stories, poems, descriptions of projects etc. for use in CALL newsletters. We know that CALL members are creative. Do you have a photo taken on your daily walk or from your window; a poem written as you reflect on life; a sketch of a scene that catches your eye? Have you turned a memory into a short story or a response to something you have heard or read?
We will keep all submissions on file to use in future newsletters. Send submissions to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca, include your name and a sentence giving CALL permission to publish in the newsletter.
Your CALL Newsletter
The CALL Newsletter is our way to communicate what is going on in our community. It's a way to highlight events of interest, ‘peek behind the curtain of CALL’ and to give some general information about CALL groups and members.
You are invited to send your ideas and suggestions for future issues to newsletter@calgarylifelonglearners.ca. We reserve the right to edit submissions and to determine when submissions will be published.
CALL Newsletter dates for posting:
- May 27
- June 10, 24
Meanwhile, be well, stay well in every sense of the word.