Dignity for All: Building a Culture of Human Rights
October 2008
Banner photo: © Carr Clifton
SGI-Canada Youth Promote Sustainability
From July 3-5, the SGI-Canada Vancouver Youth Earth Charter Committee (YECC) launched a "Summer of Sustainability" campaign at the city's Central City Shopping Center, distributing a checklist of 50 actions people can take to engage with others in the community and reduce their carbon footprint--the direct effect one's actions and lifestyle have on the environment in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.
The effort built upon the success of a "30 Days of Sustainability" campaign held by SGI-Canada members in Greater Vancouver between September and December 2007.
For 30 days during that period, members were encouraged to find ways to build their awareness of sustainability in their own daily lives and take action to reduce their environmental impact. The committee created a checklist of simple actions using the Earth Charter as a framework. Individuals could, for example, host a local discussion meeting on the interconnectedness of life and how it relates to their consumption patterns, or take more concrete actions including installing energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, carpooling, cycling to work or writing to their local politicians about sustainability.
At the launch of the "Summer of Sustainability" campaign, YECC founding member Richard Chu commented, "Environmental problems can't be dealt with as an isolated issue. As SGI President Ikeda noted in his 2002 proposal on education for sustainable development, sustainability is about more than just the environment. There are also social, economic, community and even political dimensions. We hope to build awareness of this more comprehensive view of sustainability."
In the town of Alton in Ontario, meanwhile, SGI-Canada youth members from the Toronto area, together with the Credit Valley Conservation Authority (CVC), participated in an annual tree planting on June 7, planting 85 trees to provide shade and protection to the river and surrounding flora. The youth members transported gardening equipment and plants across the river via a "human chain."
SGI-Canada has been an active CVC community partner since 2000, and the organization's youth have helped plant 3,000 trees to date.
