I went looking for where the 350 quilt ended up today, with the thought of taking it to the National Day of Climate Action tomorrow. And doing so inspired me to re-post this.
The quilt was made for the “350 Day” in late 2009. Squares for the quilt were made by a huge number of individual people, young and old, from around the Northern Rivers region of NSW, Australia, most from the tiny rural town of Kyogle. The quilt was sewn together using solar power.
350 ppm carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the safe limit, the number that most scientists agree we need to reach to avoid more than 2° of warming and the tipping point, where tundra melts and oceans acidify and that causes more warming and we just don’t know where it will end.
We’re now at 393 ppm and climbing.
Back then when I first posted it, the 350.org site said, “make no mistake—getting back to 350 means transforming our world”.
Back then I said, the irony is that I believe it involves transforming our world for the better. I don’t believe it involves making sacrifices, not real ones. I believe it involves shutting our ears to the Siren calls singing corn-syrup sweetly but in reality just luring us to death and disaster.
Sure electricity and petrol will be dearer, but there will be much less opportunity for “accidents” like the Gulf of Mexico spill, or reason to sacrifice the Liverpool Plains wheat, corn, sunflower seed, barley, chickpea and bean crops for coal, (or nowdays CSG), more reason to get fit walking or turn the TV off and go play with the neighbours. To me they’re trades, not sacrifices, and very good value trades.
It was out of that idea of being part of transforming our world that The Witches Kitchen was born. Food seems to me such an obvious place to start – small changes that lead to a better lifestyle at every level. The personal and the political, self interest and idealism, align so perfectly. Cooking and gardening are not work but sensual play and so make great ear wax against the siren call of industrialised fake food that is not a small part of the problem.
I think all that has changed is that now I think we need to get a lot louder. And tomorrow is a chance to be heard.
Thanks for the post Linda. I will be heard (maybe not heeded, but heard).
Christine Milne made a fantastic speech and was warmly welcomed at the Brisbane rally. The atmosphere was fantastic. 5000 people of like minds. Sadly Typhoon Haiyan will be one of many climate catastrophe effects that will make much of our Earth uninhabitable.
So glad you did repost this Linda. We do need to get louder.
(It was a very soggy day here in Sydney unfortunately.)
If you look closely, my four “water” squares are the four corners of the 350 quilt – I sewed them at the time with three generations of my family – my mum, myself and my two little ones. x
That is so nice to know Anastasia! They are spectacular squares – why they ended up in such pride of place. I hope your little ones saw the image of the quilt on the big screen in Times Square. We made a difference, little old Kyogle.