by Amanda Drollinger, AWC Central Scotland
Global Reads – The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall
The FAWCO Virtual Interim Meeting on March 4–6 included a discussion of Jane Goodall’s The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide or an Endangered Planet. This book has a great, hopeful message!! After a presentation by Valerie Garforth, participants divided into small groups to talk further. Here are the discussion questions they were given, along with some of their answers:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
In order to solve the climate crisis, Dr. Goodall thinks we must solve four great challenges: poverty, the unsustainable lifestyles of the affluent, corruption, and problems caused by growing human and livestock populations.
What are some examples of how environmental problems are interconnected with other big problems?
The groups thought all the big problems the world is facing are interconnected with environmental problems. Some of the examples we discussed are:
- Drought – FGM – migration
- Poverty – cheap food and fabrics (leading to waste)
- Materialism and coroporate greed
“We must not let [COVID-19] distract us from the far greater threat to our future – the climate crisis and the loss of diversity – for if we cannot solve these threats, then it will be the end of life as Earth as we know it, including our own. We cannot live on if the natural world dies.”
How can we convince people that the time for climate action is NOW?
- Listen to the younger generation
- Be an example to others
- Use stories
- Be polite but firm
- Elect leaders who take a clear view
- The ticking clock metaphor
Jane Goodall says that everyone has a powerful indomitable human spirit, “but so often nothing happens to call upon it. Opportunities arise and you can seize them, reject them – or simply fail to notice them.”
What could you do to develop and use your indomitable human spirit? To help others develop this fighting spirit?
- You are not in it alone – gather like-minded friends
- Talk about what you do with others – publicly
- Every little bit helps – celebrate even the small advances
- Support the community – in words and deeds
- Create a framework to share the work and inform others of what is possible
- Keep reminding yourself and others
“Hope is what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity. It is what we desire to happen, but we must be prepared to work hard to make it so.”
What individual actions could you take to lessen the current environmental problems?
- Buy a Soda Sream and stop buying plastic bottles of soda.
- Choose products based on their packaging and not brand. If there is a non-plastic-packaged fruit or vegetable, buy that instead of one wrapped in plastic. Glass bottles instead of plastic-bottled condiments.
- Do an environmental audit of your personal carbon footprint and make a personalized plan of action to reduce it.
What could your club do?
- Support an Environment Development Grant
- Form a Green Team at your club. (To learn how and what activities could be involved, join the 2022 Environment Festival on Hopin on May 7.)
Will you help organize at your club?
This is a call to action! Please join us at the one-day Environment Festival on May 7 to learn more about starting a Green Team and your personal carbon footprint and how to reduce it.
From Jane Goodall’s The Book of Hope (page 233)
“During one of my visits to Tanzania, where Roots & Shoots began, I attended an event where all the groups of the neighborhood came together to share their projects and socialize. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of enthusiasm. As the event wrapped up, everyone there got together and shouted out, “Together we can!” – meaning together they could set the world right. I took the mike and told them, “Yes, absolutely we can. But will we?” This startled them, but they thought about it and understood what I meant. I led them in a rousing “Together we can. Together we will!” This is now the way they end all their meetings and it has spread to other countries. And I sometimes end my lectures that way.”
