Local and Global

My attentions this week are turned to environmental matters with two sustainability events on my calendar for the weekend.
FIRST: Ever so local, our ecovillage's Dogtown Sustainability Expo is a celebration of sustainability in our neighborhood. As a group, we will gather to meet our neighbors, offer exhibits on bees, chickens, native plants and gardens, etc. It is a great opportunity do do what we can locally to change our lives and make them more sustainable and more humane.
SECOND: There is the People's Climate March happening at the UN in New York, with solidarity marches around the globe. You can find a local event in your area at 350.org, or at Avaaz.org. Planned to be the biggest global march on the issue, it is a chance for people to stand up and say that this is an issue that is important to us, to our kids and to everyone we care about.
So welcome to my weekend: Local and Global.
The local event says that my daily choices matter. My choices around food, water and energy make a real world difference in the future. We have made serious efforts to increase native plants which are better for air, soil and water, and which increase the diversity of beneficial insects. Yesterday, I spotted about six Monarch butterflies. This is a species that is on the decline, and whose decline is an indicator of environmental degradation. After a summer of very few monarchs, I was happy to see so many of these little critters floating around.
The global event says that our problems with climate and environment are not simply a matter of my little world. In addition to doing all I can to improve my sustainability choices, I also have to network with others around the globe who are working for sustainability. Together, we can change the course of the major institutions that affect climate, such as governments and corporations.
Local and Global - let's do what we can for sustainability.
--Amy
PS: I'm aware that our work for the sustainability of religious life is also working on the Local and Global levels as well....