Living Smarter Means Taking Solution-focused Action Together
By Linda Mathers | Published August 30, 2025
In 1972, I sat in a packed Huntsville High School audience, riveted along with my colleagues, as David Suzuki laid out the science of climate change. Using stark compelling language, he said we had 50 years to work actively and collaboratively to keep the earth from warming to 1.5oC and avoid the human tragedy and irreversible crisis climate heating would cause. Last month, he said it was too late; we had passed 1.5oC and our focus must shift to community resilience.
As a grandparent, I ride an emotional climate roller coaster from despair to hope, immobility to action, fear to anger, over the world of my grandchildren’s future. I know I am not alone.
Seniors are one of the largest demographics in the climate action movement. We have lived experience of the rapid acceleration of the frequency and intensity of weather extremes causing devastation. We know it is not normal for our neighbouring communities to be on forest fire evacuation alerts; nor is it normal to declare back-to-back states of emergency from extremes of ice and snow in Muskoka. We know it is not normal for us to suffer health consequences from weeks of extreme heat and air quality smoke alerts. It is not normal to watch the news and see the grief and horror of children swept away from summer camp in Texas from torrential rain and flash flooding.
Yet my grandchildren are growing up with this lived experience, their “new normal”.
As adults we see children experiencing eco-anxiety, a fear that the climate will make the planet unliveable in their future. Our grandchildren know we need to live differently but they see adults who live as though we have all the time in the world to take action.
What gives me hope for my grandchildren’s future? Talking about solution-focused action and working with like-minded people to be a community voice and a political voice.
We can eat smarter, travel smarter and heat our homes smarter. Those of us choosing EV’s, heat pumps and electric yard tools are happy to share our positive experiences and talk about our significant annual savings. My neighbours have just built a net-zero home. The bike lanes on our road are heavily travelled and if it weren’t for the pesky ground hog, we would have fed ourselves most of the summer. Thankfully, many local food options are now available. And the Muskoka Summit on the Environment, on 3rd October, is a great opportunity to learn more.
Countries around the world are rapidly transitioning to renewable energy instead of burning fossil fuels; renewables just this year have surpassed gas and oil as less expensive energy sources. While many of us feel angry that our governments in Canada are increasing rather than decreasing our heat-trapping pollution, we can speak up and urge our own communities in Muskoka, like many across the country, to electrify everything and green our grid for our grandkids.
A recent ruling by the International Court of Justice, the most powerful court in the world, also gives me hope. Countries and companies who continue to subsidize and expand the exploration, extraction and burning of fossil fuels will be held financially responsible for making parts of the planet unliveable especially for citizens of the global south. As a result, investing in fossil fuels like oil and natural gas will rapidly become a poor financial risk. Perhaps my grandchildren’s governments will no longer subsidize polluting gas and oil industries, and their banks and pension plans will divest from fossil fuel companies.
What’s missing still is urgent action. We responded swiftly to Trump’s threat to our sovereignty and our economy with an impactful 30% drop in our purchase of goods and travel to the USA; let’s treat this climate threat to our health and economy with the same urgent action.
Let’s ensure that all our grandkids enjoy a smarter, more resilient future.
This is No. 12 in the current series from Muskoka Watershed Council, Living Smarter in Muskoka. Its author is Linda Mathers, a long-term resident of Muskoka, an educator, and a committed climate change combatant. Linda is also a warm, friendly, mostly cheerful soul who loves each day that Muskoka serves up to us. The series is edited by Peter Sale, Director and Past Chair, MWC.
First published on MuskokaRegion.com