Firstly, I want you to know that you are about to read an opinion piece. It’s about climate and this subject is highly polarising not just in the general public’s point of view but also in the science community. 

Why would I be writing about climate when I’m a nutritionist?  Possibly because our farms and farmers depend heavily on the climate being stable enough to grow foods to feed billions of people.

Since I can remember back into the 1970’s there has always been a thing about there not being enough food, and there has always been something that has caused a slight anxiety or panic in a population.  Back in the 70’s it was the atomic bomb, and there were all kinds of conversations about bunkers, food shortages and the future of humanity. It was believed if you were at school when the bombs landed that all you had to do was hide under your desk (not sure what that would have done). I always remember my father saying that humanity might think they are on the brink but something or someone always figures out a way to move past the obstacle.

For a while now, the climate discussion has been calling for zero carbon goals, alternative energy to oil and gas, more wind and solar farms, the call for more electric cars, reduce cows due to farting too much methane, eating crickets, and going vegan are better for the environment, telling us backyard vegetable gardens are worse than commercial agriculture, and so much more that it can become confusing to many people.

I’d love to give you my perspective. And I’m just one person but here goes.

I’ve lived on a river since 1989, the same river. I’ve watched the tides come and go, the rain increase its flow. I’ve fished on that river, swam in that river and boated on the river. I’ve been there through all seasons, I’ve seen king tides and floods and in 35 years (which is a blink in time) I’ve not seen the river rise in any way. In fact, sometimes I believe our king tides are smaller than I remember them when I first started living on this river.

I’ve lived in Australia for nearly 64 years, first in Victoria and then in Queensland. I remember droughts, floods, bush fires the whole of my life. My family would eat dinner together every night and there was always discussion about the local farmer that came to see my father (who was the local Chiropractor in Bendigo) talking about rain or lack of rain, eggs or lack of eggs and so on.

I love the snow and since the mid 60’s I’ve been going to the Victorian Ski Fields. Some seasons were a bonza while others were short and sweet with not a lot of good snow. I remember driving to the snow via Wangaratta, sometimes that town was in flood while other times it was a straight run to the ski fields.

I remember in 2006 my brother and I were on the Gold Coast together, we went to the movies to watch ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. If the predictions told in that documentary were true then my house would be underwater by now.  Having said that, at the time I decided to take note and make an effort to change what I could that might change the trajectory of what was happening.

I purchased a small Prius C, so that I could generate my own energy and store it in a battery, allowing me to use less petrol. From there I purchased an e-tron, a car that gave me 40km with an electric battery (plugged in overnight) and then I could use fuel for the rest of my journey. I purchased the car in 2015, it was a demo and then in 2021 I got in the car and it said “all systems fail”. After some time, I was informed that my electric battery had died and that it would need to be replaced. Thank goodness it was still under warranty. It took 9 months for the battery to arrive from Germany and for me to get my car back. In the meantime, Mercedes Benz called and asked if I would like to be an ambassador for their electric car.  It seemed to me the next step in doing the best I could for the environment.  It was a magnificent car, but relying on my house mains to charge it meant that I would only get 90km on the charge overnight. It took 48 hours to completely charge the car to get just over 400km. Our electricity bill went way up.   

Finally my car was returned to me, I gave the Mercedes back and decided to sell the e-tron. The new battery cost Audi $23,000, I sold my 7 year old car for $20,000, so in other words that very expensive battery meant nothing to the worth of the car. Imagine if I had had to pay for it!

It started me thinking and then reading about the electric batteries in vehicles and I decided I was going to go back to a fully diesel small car.  I know that seems odd, but I weighed up everything and believed that the push for electric cars was not necessarily that good for the environment. When I was given the Mercedes electric car it was Mercedes vision to see every one of their cars electric within the decade. I noticed they have now changed their tune as have Ford and many other car manufacturers. It seems electric cars are not what we have first thought them to be.

All these stories are anecdotal and N=1 but it’s what I observed. 

While I can do nothing about what other people think and do regarding the environment, I do have total autonomy about what I do.  I’ve changed my ways and made myself the person who does things to save our health and our planet. I’m one person, but I’m all I can change.

I’m not so sure the predictions for climate change are correct.  Everything they have predicted has not happened and when I listen to scientists who were once for the climate change debate and are now very much against it considering the data that is now available, I’ve thought differently about what I now call the climate hoax.

But let’s get one thing clear, while climate may not be changing as we have been fearmongered into believing, I do believe we are rubbishing our planet and causing untold harm to all that live on it.

My proposal is to live my life to the best I can, controlling what I can control and not being too worried or anxious about the news, the fear mongering the catastrophe narrative. When I see these climate alarmists buying property on beach fronts and flying private planes, it makes me think that they may know something we don’t. Here’s what I do for the planet I love:

1. I choose to buy organic and/or regenerative grown foods from my local farmer.

2. I choose to grow as much food as I can with regenerative principles. 

3. I choose to make my food using the local ingredients with some imported condiments.

4. I choose to not buy single-use plastic, but rather carry my water bottle and coffee mug.

5. I choose to walk and ride to as many places as I can in my local area.

6. I choose to educate people on what I know so that we can begin a tsunami of change.

7. I choose to recycle as much as I can, purchase clothes and other commodities that are ethical.

8. I choose to have solar on my house and be mindful of when I use my electrical appliances.

9. I choose to go on nature-based holidays, spending time in nature with a low impact.

10. I choose to be as powerful as I can as an individual in order to exemplify what I’d like to see in the world.

You too can make a difference. It’s a matter of doing the best we can in our own backyard and then collectively we can be all powerful.

Cyndi