14 | December | 2013 | Mama Cormier

…..the cold and blowing winds and treacherous driving conditions has kept us in most of the day

Early this morning I woke to a light dusting of snow on the ground and once again I thought the weatherman had gotten it wrong. For several days the weather station had been forecasting the season’s first big snow storm, starting Friday night. Later in the morning, however, the snow started to come down heavily and the winds picked up. We had to drive to a friends house to pick up my purse that I had left behind the night before and there was no way that my husband wanted to stop for tea or make a side trip to a store to do a little shopping. The driving was difficult and the radio was reporting on a 50 car pile-up on the highway.

Tonight I took a few shots from the front door. The snow seemed to be slowing down and our dog, Frances, was whining to go outside, despite the fact that my husband had taken her out 15 minutes earlier. I put on my parka, mittens and boots, grabbed my camera, put on her leash and braved the elements.

It was evident, early on, that Frances wanted more than a quick pee. She pulled and jumped into the deep snow and headed for the park. Seeing that I was warmly dressed, I obliged her and trudged through the snow laden sidewalks towards the park. There have been some sitings of coyotes in the neighbourhood (yes, we have coyotes in Toronto) so I wasn’t comfortable letting her off the leash. She was having so much fun that we continued our walk for several blocks before heading home. It looks like we’re not quite finished with the snow as it came down even heavier during our walk.

I did manage to take a few more pictures…..not an easy task with one hand on a leash and a very playful dog on the end of it.

I love these lights. If I ever see the owners I’ll have to ask them where they got them.

Imagine, in great detail, an invention that could help reverse pollution — describe for us how your invention works and how it will help save the planet.

The inventions are already out there and the technology to make them happen also exists. Pollution is reversible. We can see it in our own backyards.

Twenty years ago, one could not swim in Lake Ontario because of the pollution. Today more and more beaches are once again open to the public for safe swimming in the summer. I think the beaches are probably even cleaner now than they were when I was a little girl in the 1950s. I remember the water being brown and filled with algae and seaweed.

Twenty years ago you couldn’t eat the fish from Lake Ontario because of the high mercury levels in the fish. Today fish from the lake is once again edible.

Twenty years ago air pollution from coal burning plants choked many European cities. Today harmful emissions have been greatly reduced and air quality has improved.

Twenty years ago many lakes in northern Ontario and other communities across Canada were suffering the affects of acid rain. Today these same lakes and bodies of water are coming back to life and supporting new growth of plants and fish populations are returning.

Does all of this mean that all is well on this Earth and that no more can be done? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. The good fight needs to continue. Many developing countries in the world continue to produce unacceptable levels of pollution that ultimately affects the entire world. Even the super powers need to do a better job.

So is there an invention that can put a stop to pollution or reverse it significantly? Like I said earlier, the inventions are already there. What we need now is the will and financing to make those changes and implement the technology that already exists. What we need are politicians and bureaucrats that are willing to take a leap of faith and make these things happen. It requires money to get these things off the ground. Fossil fuels are cheap but they won’t last forever and renewable energy is costly to start but once it’s in place and running the benefits will far outweigh the initial cost.

Wind Power-courtesy of Twin Wind Power. com

What we need is a machine that can reverse ‘conservative’ thinking and thinkers. A machine that will make each and everyone of us to see the benefits of reducing carbon emissions into our atmosphere. A machine that convinces our politicians and naysayers that developing renewable energy sources is the way to go to producing a cleaner and healthier world.

In the meantime we can continue to do what we’ve started and build on our individual efforts. Recycle, reuse and reduce. It sounds so simple but it’s a start and it’s something that each and everyone of us can do to make a difference.