A Vow of Silence

A marcher named Sean took a vow of silence at the start of the march. Her original intention was to march the entire 3,000 miles, from LA to DC, in complete silence. She recently ended her silence early, as she needed a change in energy, but she and another silent marcher, Mack, asked the marching community to take shifts with silence. The purpose of constantly having someone silent on the march is so we can represent those who have no voice in this issue.

It is my turn to carry this torch. Ben just finished his 10 day silence, and in his place I will be silent for a week (at least that’s what I’m thinking now). Earlier in the march, before I was here, the marchers organized a week of actions that anyone around the world could participate in to show solidarity with the Cowboy and Indian Alliance. The Alliance camped out in D.C. for about a week to demand climate action. One of the daily actions was a day of silence, which I partook in. I really enjoyed it, and all of my friends were impressed, but it was really hard and I slipped up a few times.

Despite the difficulty of the task, I was particularly inspired to do this after yesterday’s march, in which we witnessed a concentrated animal feeding operation. We walked by another one today. 

They are overcrowded, do not have much space to move in, and are standing in deep mud and manure.

America the Beautiful

Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of what it takes to power the American way of life. I think, judging by this sign we encountered, you can tell it wasn’t pretty.

We did a poor job of following the sign's instructions. Sorry not sorry.

During our first day out of Denver, a 15.5 mile trip to Prairie View High School, we passed through Suncor Energy and the industrial park in which it is housed. Suncor’s name is deceiving; it actually has nothing to do with sunlight. Suncor is a tar sands oil refining company, the same stuff that would be pumped through the KXL Pipeline if built, and the same stuff that is destroying Alberta, Canada via the extraction process.

When we arrived at Suncor’s main office building, 4.8 miles into our walk, we staged a small performance. We were all wearing surgical masks over our faces, and my fellow marcher, Berenice, started to cough. Saying that she couldn’t breathe, she went to take her mask off, and everyone yelled:

“No, Berenice, no! The air is polluted! Keep your mask on!”

But she took it off and coughed harder, and then collapsed to the ground and “died.” Someone held a sign over her that said “Suncor-pse,” and we all grieved around her. This all took place on the lawn in front of Suncor’s company sign.

We carried Berenice to the cemetery across the street and laid her to rest in front of a tombstone, and I gave eulogy for her.

“Here lies Berenice Tompkins, dead from pollution from tar sands oil refineries like Suncor. She breathed the air and it killed her. What world are we living in where we have no clean air? Let Berenice’s death be a reminder to all of us of those who have been silenced, sickened, and killed by air pollution, and other forms of pollution that come from the oil and gas industry. Rest in peace, Berenice, you beautiful martyr.”

Pushing it to the Limits

On the walk, we have a few personal vehicles, which are used as “sag wagons” or “blister buses.” They provide support for the marchers throughout the day of walking, either by giving them water or gear. If someone can’t go any further, they get in one of the sag wagons, and if the vehicle fills up the carful of people are driven to camp to be dropped off.

There are some people on the march who are called spirit walkers. This means they walk every single step of the march that they signed up for. Got blisters? Doesn’t matter, walk on them. Break a toe? Well, here’s a pair of crutches. Keep going. 

Mack, a spirit walker, broke his toe a while back, but that doesn't stop him.

While I wasn’t necessarily sure if “spirit walking” was what I wanted to call it, I had ambitions to walk every step of my path, from Taos to D.C., as well. I have quickly discovered that this is easier said than done, and I have a long way to go in developing both my physical and mental strength.

Thank you sponsors!

I wanted to devote a post to thanking and promoting my amazing sponsors who made it possible for me to be in New Mexico right now, preparing to leave on my quest across the country to stimulate the change we need for our planet!

Gold Sponsors ($1 a day, or $162 +)

I owe a huge thanks to my most generous sponsor, John Ingle, the owner of Heron Hill Winery on Keuka Lake. John is passionate about protecting our beautiful home region, the Finger Lakes, which is currently under threat from incoming fracking and gas storage industries. (To learn more about these issues close to mine and John's hearts, check out www.gasfreeseneca.com)

Picture courtesy of: Erin Rafalowski

Two Practice Walks

As I walk across the country in the Great March for Climate Action I will be blogging about my adventures here on Viridorari and also for my school's newspaper (http://theithacan.org/blog/one-step-at-a-time/). Also, follow me on Twitter and Instagram for smaller updates and pictures! My Twitter handle is @viridorari and my Instagram username is bluegirl3666

If this is the first time you've heard of the Climate March, please check out www.climatemarch.org for lots of useful information. The Climate March is a cross country march from California to Washington, D.C. to raise awareness about change. It began on March 1st in Wilmington, CA and will conclude on November 1st in our nation's capital. After finishing my spring semester of college, I am joining the Climate March in Taos, New Mexico and walking the remaining 2,000 miles to Washington, D.C. The approximately 300 people who have signed up to participate, either for the whole thing or for sections, will walk at a pace of about 15 miles each day.

While I did some small hikes at State Parks during the spring semester, I only managed to get two full practice walks in before leaving, each 15 miles. It was a LOT harder than I expected it to be. By the end of each walk my feet were on fire and everything from my hips down were horribly sore. I should have gotten more practice walks in before leaving, but I had only about a week and half between coming home from college and my plane to New Mexico, and that's not a lot of time to tie all your loose ends down for six months!

For my practice walks, I used the Erie Canal Trail and walked from Macedon to Fairport and back. For my first walk, my boyfriend, Bruno, joined me.

I am walking 2,000 miles for the planet

I have some very exciting news. While at the Powershift conference in Pittsburgh, PA this past October, I signed up to march a section of the Great March for Climate Action, or the Climate March. The march begins in California in March of 2014, and plans to arrive in Washington D.C. in the following November.

Originally, I planned to only walk from Pittsburgh, PA to D.C. Since I signed up, plans have changed. Now, I am starting in Taos, New Mexico immediately following the end of my spring semester of college. That means I will be walking about 2,000 miles over the course of six months across the country to raise awareness for the global climate crisis and the urgent need for action.

I can’t tell you how excited I am. I will be following in the footsteps of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., women’s rights activists, and nuclear disarmament activists. Yet, my fellow marchers and I will be carving out a path very separate from them. We are fighting a different fight from what our predecessors did, and our work to save the planet might prove to be the most important movement in all of history. We only have one Earth; we can’t afford to ruin it.

I am thrilled to be walking with so many inspiring and amazing people, with ages ranging from 6 to 82 and origins from all over America, as well as El Salvador, Canada, Belize, and Ecuador.

 

Picture courtesy of: http://yellowmaps.com/map/united-states-printable-map-468.htm 

Fundraising

However, I can’t simply join this cause for free. Each marcher is expected to cover his or her own expenses through fundraising, which equates to about $20 for each day we march. I have to raise about $3,800 for my section of the march, as well as the cost for my one-way plane ticket to New Mexico, and a little bit of extra to have on hand for spending/emergencies. Overall, my goal is to raise $4,500.

I need your help to make my dream to stand up for the world we love to come true. I would be eternally grateful if you could contribute to my fundraising in some way, no matter how big or small.

Notice: Powershift 2013

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that I have arrived with fellow students from my college at Pittsburgh, PA for Powershift 2013.

For those of you who don't know, Powershift is an event that happens every other year, and it gathers students and young people from around the country and the world to learn about different environmental topics and develop resistance and leadership skills to progress the environmental movement. There are many inspirational speakers here, many of them figureheads of the movement, like Bill McKibben and Josh Fox. This weekend will be full of education, motivation, networking, and mobilization.

I will be tweeting and retweeting about Powershift throughout the weekend, so be sure to follow me: @Viridorari, and check out the topic #Powershift. To see pictures from the Powershift event, go here. If you want to learn more about the event, check out the website. 

Expect a more comprehensive post about the event and my experiences, along with pictures, after I return to my college on Sunday.

So, wish me luck, and remember, if we all work together, we can shift the power from nonrenewable to renewable and from corporate to citizen to make a better tomorrow for us and for future generations.

Picture courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/energyactioncoalition/with/10352914943/

Freewrite: Plea for Action & Change

“The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become.” –Lady Bird Johnson

    Lately I feel as though I’ve gone mad.

    From the moment I wake up in the morning to my last foggy thought as I drift to sleep at night, I am consumed with the environmental dilemma that grips our globe, at this very moment.

    Yes, right now, as I’m writing, climate change has befallen our fragile planet that we once thought so invincible. It’s undeniable. Extreme weather is becoming more extreme and alarmingly common, and heat records are being broken annually. As we expand, populate, use, discard, and emit, Earth’s remaining unprotected wildernesses recede and species die faster than we can save them. 

    The more I write Viridorari and envelope myself in the environmental news, the more I think I’m not doing enough. This is why I’m so consumed by this issue. My parents and close friends might tell me I’m being too hard on myself, but deep down I know I’m not. I refuse to sit by idly and twiddle my thumbs while the only planet available to live on dies a slow and torturous death. They might also tell me that I’m more concerned about the environment than the average person, and I should feel good about that. Reassured.

    That’s exactly what scares the hell out of me.

Recycling Projects: Water Bottle Sprinkler

I hope you’re all outside and enjoying the weather. I’m writing this post from a blanket on my front lawn. My dogs are relaxing in the grass and soaking up some sun. The neighbor kids are jumping ramps in our circle with their scooters, and some other kids are out in their bathing suits playing with the hose in their front yard. It is just a gorgeous day; the kind of day that makes you happy to be alive.

    I’m sitting maybe five feet away from my plastic bottle bird feeder and there’s a bird eating from it! HAPPINESS! He’s adorable.
 
    Speaking of playing in the water, I have the perfect recycling project for a day like this. Today, I’m going to show you how to make a sprinkler from a water bottle and used ballpoint pens so that you can have tons of watery fun and keep cool this summer.

Materials:

• 20 oz plastic bottle with cap

• At least 15 used ballpoint pens

• Universal male hose attachment (about $1.25 at hardware store)

• Plumbing adhesive and sealant (like Amazing Goop)

• Electric drill

• 3/8” drill bit

• 5/8” spade drill bit

• Measuring tape

• Knife

This project requires drilling and cutting, so please assist and supervise your children.

Suggested Reading, Activism Spotlight: Living on $14,000/year

Suggested Reading

This week’s “Suggested Reading” will be a two-page article in the Rolling Stone by Bill McKibben, called “The Fossil Fuel Resistance.” You can find the article here.

Bill McKibben is an environmentalist, journalist, and author who has and continues to write extensively about global warming. He leads 350.org, an international environmental organization that raises awareness about global climate change, confronts global warming denial, and works to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. 350.org, since 2011, has been leading a major protest against the prospect of creating the Keystone XL Pipeline. If built, this pipeline would run from Canada to Texas for the purpose of transporting petroleum products, and if any spills were to occur, it has the potential to wreak monumental damage on its surrounding environments. Protests against the pipeline have already found success in delaying its approval. With hard work and perseverance, the pipeline project could be stopped completely.

 McKibben’s article, “The Fossil Fuel Resistance,” highlights the growing numbers and success of the environmental movement, or as he calls it, the Resistance (against fuel companies and the control they exert over governments). McKibben says now that 80% of Arctic sea ice has disappeared, people are finally recognizing the importance of preserving the global environment and are taking action.