A word from the founder

Hello and welcome to GentleWays for OurPlanet!

GentleWays for OurPlanet promotes compassionate, kind, and empathic ways of being on Planet Earth. Its purpose is to help restore the ecological balance that human activity has disrupted to unprecedented degrees over the recent history. Our collective efforts will create a cultural shift in our societies; a shift that scientists from around the world believe is needed to respond  to the climate crisis.

Numerous reliable recent reports continue to confirm the urgent need to act at the individual, community, national and international levels. Headlines such as: “Level of carbon dioxide on earth the highest it’s been since the dawn of mankind”, “Nature is in its worst shapes in human history”, “The clock is ticking” and “be nice to Mother Nature or we’re dead”, are anxiety provoking. It’s hard to be aware of these facts and not feel a sense of urgency to act. 2023 was a year of a staggering number of extreme weather events around the globe. From extensive and unprecedented forest fires in Canada, to storms, floods and land slides in California, to extreme heat waves in the Mediterranean. Extreme weather have become more frequent and more deadly.

GentleWays is a volunteer driven not for profit organisation with this overarching idea:

“We can take to the streets to make change. We will also make change with what and how much we take! We make change with what and how much we consume and acquire, and every one of us can start immediately on a recovery path; the path of sustainability, in every sphere of our lives: Food, fashion, travel, materials; and, the path of relating to ourselves and to other life forms with more caring.”

 

GentleWays for OurPlanet supports three goals: Reducing individual GHG emissions by 50% over the next ten years so we can reduce global warming, planting one million trees, and ending factory farming. Many wonderful organizations in the world are working hard to promote and support these goals. We, at GentleWays, focus on you as an individual; We believe that one small ecological gesture multiplied by many becomes a strong movement for more sustainable living.

As a psychologist, former university professor and a public service executive my experience with individuals and organisations has shown that developing new habits requires support. The pressures we are all under to follow ready made decisions in many spheres of our lives is strong. By becoming more aware – of what we truly value, of the key facts, and available options with their full range of consequences– we can become stronger at acting according to our own values.

I invite you to visit GentleWays for OurPlanet website and to follow us on social media. You will find up-to-date blogs, media coverage, tips and tools to help you make more informed decisions. One of our basic tools, a free mobile app, i4ThePlanet, is available to support your sustainable life style journey.  Our latest tool, a comprehensive guide to promote the green bin program in your building, is also downloadable freely. Our goal is to mobilize and support one another to help our cities and our Planet Earth recover and flourish. We can’t continue “business as usual” and wish the problems away. Acting together for the Planet, we will make a stronger difference.

I am committed to devote all my time to support the GentleWays on the planet  for the next ten years. Why ten years you ask? This is the window experts say we have to stop and reverse some of the damage. I hope our work will inspire you to commit to using GentleWays, to move the world onto healthier paths.

 

Sincerely,
Aïda Warah, Ph. D.
Ottawa, Canada

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