Are You Concerned About the Environment?
Face the Future Christmas Blog Series Begins Nov 25th, 2016
“We don’t have much time. If we truly care about the future of our planet we must stop leaving it to “them” out there to solve all the problems. It is up to us to save the world for tomorrow: it’s up to you and me.”
– Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope
A Bit of Background…
I love this beautiful planet of ours and care deeply about the environment. I am extremely concerned about many environmental issues, from climate change and warming oceans to the plight of polar bears and the loss of wildlife habitat – and species – the world over.
My idea of the perfect Saturday afternoon is lying on the couch reading National Geographic, cover to cover 
My idea of the perfect Sunday afternoon is heading to the woods or beach for a hike with my dog, followed by a couple of hours of puttering in the garden.
I recycle as much as I possibly can. I try not to buy anything unless I really need it. I compost my kitchen and yard waste. I use my reusable coffee cup 99% of the time. Likewise with my Nalgene reusable water bottle. I use a cardboard box and reusable grocery bags to carry my groceries. In the summer, I try to hang my clothes outside to dry instead of using the dryer. I walk instead of drive as much as possible…
But I do have a car. I heat my home with oil. I love to travel and take multiple flights every year. As much as I love the environment and do what I can to lessen my personal footprint, I also contribute my fair share – and perhaps more, when it comes to air travel – to the problems 
Which is probably why I didn’t get the Face the Future environmental awareness campaign going until the spring of 2016. I actually planned on getting Face the Future started SEVEN years ago – but for one reason or another, I kept putting it off.
Yes, I was busy with life and other work projects. But I suspect a part of me also felt like a hypocrite. How dare I tell other people how to reduce their environmental footprint when my own footprint is, at times, pretty damn big?
And the answer is: I can really only provide suggestions to people on how to reduce their environmental footprint in ways that I have already reduced my footprint.
So that’s what Face the Future is: a rather personal campaign about raising awareness about environmental issues and providing people with tips on simple ways they can help reduce their environmental footprint or take positive action in some way…because every little bit helps.
Even though I am just one imperfect person running a tiny company with limited resources, I reckon Mother Nature needs all the support she can get at this point.
What is Face the Future?
Face the Future is a grass-roots on-line environmental awareness campaign initiated by my company, Pink Gazelle Productions Inc. The purpose of Face the Future is to raise public awareness about the potential global impact of individual actions, while inviting people to be part of the solution by making simple changes in their own lives.
By reflecting the cumulative effect of seemingly harmless habits – such as vehicle idling, regularly using disposable hot beverage cups instead of a reusable cup, buying single-use water bottles instead of using a reusable one, etc – the Face the Future campaign is a call to consumers to ‘face the future’ by thinking globally and then acting locally.
Spring 2016 Blog Series
The Face the Future campaign began in spring 2016 as a weekly blog series, whereby a short blog went out once a week (every Friday) from Friday Apr 22nd (Earth Day) until Fri June 24th, 2016.
To read these blogs, please click here.
Christmas Blog Series: A Few Tips on How to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint During the Season of Gift-Giving
Starting Fri Nov 25th, 2016 we will be sending out a weekly Friday blog (for just 4 Fridays) that will focus on providing tips on how to reduce the environmental impacts of the Christmas season.
Subscribe to Face the Future
If you would like to receive these Face the Future weekly blogs, please subscribe here.
“Giving up is a copout because no one knows what the future holds. And although it is true that each of us is insignificant, a lot of insignificant people add up to a real force. For me, the rewards of getting involved are that I will be able to look my children in the eye and say, ‘I did the best I could.’”
– David Suzuki, The Sacred Balance; Rediscovering Our Place in Nature
Together, we may still be able to change the future we are heading towards. Because if we don’t, who will?
The next generation, that’s who. And how fair is that?
“The science is clear. The future is not.”
– Before the Flood, an outstanding documentary by Leo DiCaprio & Fisher Stevens
Maryanne Pope is the author of A Widow’s Awakening, the playwright of Saviour and the screenwriter of God’s Country. Maryanne is the CEO of Pink Gazelle Productions and Chair of the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. To receive the Face the Future blogs, please sign up here.