Thomas Di Nardo: A Journey Begins

I feel lucky! The past year of my life has been an intense adventure and it continues.

I have a new home, a new life direction, and a new family member on the way.  This fall, among other endeavors, I will be able to learn about climate change from a different perspective as I attend COP 21.  My hope is that with a better understanding I will be able to achieve more change in the world around me.

As I prepare for the opportunity, I’m reflecting the change I would want to see for the future. 
I like the idea of eliminating waste and not just what to do with waste, but also the word. 
One day it would be incredible to have nothing considered as waste.
This becomes that and the cycle continues.

Our old farm house in St-Isidore - Photo credit Greta Kryger

I grew up on a small organic farm where that cycle was a reality, for the most part. 

I planted seedlings, fed them with fertilizer, shared the air in a symbiotic way, enjoyed the literal fruits of my labor, and eventually returned unused parts as fertilizer from compost.
On the farm you are a part of the process and included in the ecosystem in a very direct way.  Whatever could be composted was composted; whatever could be fixed was fixed. 
We minimized what we threw out and that was a fact of life.

Making friends with our calf (I'm in the blue shorts) - Photo credit Greta Kryger

When I moved to Ottawa, Ontario to attend university, I saw a very different side of life.  It often seemed like everything was garbage and that was a fact of city life.

I remember thinking to myself: why doesn’t the city compost? It had a recycling program, so the framework was there.   I know some people may find it to be a lot of extra effort in an already busy week but I see it this way: when I buy something I make a commitment to follow through with it to the end of its use.  For example, if I buy an apple, I make the commitment to get that core into a compost bin, even if it means tucking it away in my bag and bringing it home at the end of the day. 

It’s not extra effort to what you were already doing, it’s just fulfilling a commitment. 

Over the years, I’ve seen many positive changes in city life, even compost pick-ups, which really was exciting for me!

Changes happen, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly; people are the catalysts for these changes.

Be the catalyst in your community.