In support of Moving Planet, the Global Day of Action to Move Beyond Fossil Fuels, the Midlands Meander Mpophmeni Enviro-Club did the global warming toyi-toyi down Mandela Drive, then marched to Market Square in Howick from Merrivale. Their hand-painted banners caused quite a stir, asking motorists “Are you a Fossil Fool?” and declaring “Local Action –Global Solutions. They were soon joined by a group of cool eco-girls who asked “Have you sold your grandchildren for a 4x4?” and shouted “There is no Planet B!” Eidin Griffin walked into town bearing a banner which said “Can’t stand the heat? Use your feet”. Laila Smith-Blose and Jessica Dreamtime served solar brewed teas and Pia Sanchez arrived on her tricycle with low-carbon lemon juice to refresh the demonstrators. Liz Taylor showed everyone how much carbon a single vehicle produces compared with someone using a taxi or a horse, Penny Rees sold solar powered lanterns and Hazel Lake promised to teach everyone to make one of her wonderful ‘Hot Bags’ to save energy. A couple of unplugged musicians had everyone dancing.
What a splendid community celebration of Current Sunlight! Lindiwe Mkhize declared: “I am so proud to be a part of these people who care about our planet. I didn’t realise others were also worried about Climate Change.” Gabriel Adderley added “We all had the most fabulous time. It was exciting, empowering and really fun!”
Councillor Zine Dlamini, who walked from her office to join the community action, tasted solar brewed tea for the first time and spoke on behalf of the Honorable uMngeni Mayor. “We encourage people to start changing the way they live so that we can be free from this dangerous climate change. Together we can do more.”
Everyone signed a petition to the Municipality, demanding that they start to give some serious consideration to Climate Change. We ask that our Municipality begin by rewarding those who already use energy efficient options by:
• Improving toilets and facilities at public transport hubs
• Creating safe spaces for cyclists, walkers and wheelchairs to commute and park
• Supporting community efforts to move beyond fossil fuels
We demand that the Municipality gives urgent attention to it’s own energy usage by:
• Auditing energy use in their offices and appointing energy champions
• Setting targets for reducing waste
• Starting an office recycling programme
We demand that our Municipality uses public resources to:
• Encourage commitment from all citizens
• Become a Transition Town
The children all painted wooden orange and yellow sun shapes on which we wrote our demands before delivering them to the mayor. The fate of the planet that our children and grandchildren will inherit is in our hands. It’s our responsibility to do something about the crisis, to consciously learn from past mistakes and make changes to remedy them. This Heritage Day, we considered the legacy we are leaving to future generations and took action to make sure it is a good one. 24 September certainly was about global action – from Cape Town to Cairo, Zimbabwe to Afghanistan, communities asked their leaders to step up their commitment to preventing runaway climate change.
Howick Museum will exhibit the creativity of Moving the Midlands – posters, banners, photos, videos and resources, to record and reflect on how our community are defining their future and the heritage that they will leave for future generations. Every Wednesday at 1 pm, a film will be screened at the Museum – including Home, Dirt, Power of Community, taking Root.
Saturday's events won’t change the world overnight. We know that the climate crisis is serious business - right now there are people suffering from drought and floods caused by climate change around the world. However our community action can be a spark that jump-starts a much bigger and broader movement, a movement that the world needs now more than ever before.
Make a commitment today to ensure that you understand the challenges ahead, are able to make a positive contribution and show your neighbours what a fossil fuel free future looks like. Watch the video of the Howick event (created by Nathan Pavlovic) on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgY0YDh26dE See pictures of all the events around the world on www.350.org