(Photo: Vincent Tom)
Erzsi is a long-term David Suzuki Foundation and Blue Dot volunteer, talented musician and founder of Green Seeds Music Society.
When I was nine years old, I decided one school day in spring to lay in the grass alone and admire the clouds. It was during this that I experienced a sudden awareness. The Earth was surrounding me and alive. I felt deep in my heart that I was a small part yet very much connected to all of life.
After university, I continued my journey as an environmentalist by volunteering for non-governmental organizations and grassroots movements. I discovered the need for radical collaboration and that various forms of media are required to reach different age groups.
Climate change can be a scary and overwhelming topic. It led me to delve into psychology to learn more about the causes of apathy or avoidance of the issue. From this, I became aware of the need to build sustainable communities inclusive of issues of addiction, poverty and trauma. Healthy communities develop from gathering people around a common value or purpose. My preferred method of connecting with people is through music and multimedia, so I started offering to MC events and perform multimedia talks and acoustic music sets. I really enjoy being able to find my own expression within these presentations. Blue Dot offers an ideal platform for me to be creative.
A large part of taking care of the environment starts with taking care of people, supporting them in their basic needs to feel safe, fed and healthy. We cannot do that without an empathetic mindset, the right tools and a healthy environment. This, I believe, is why having environmental rights for all Canadians, including the right to clean air and water, will make a difference. We need a new system of laws built on the understanding that we are a part of the natural world, not separate from it. Our quality of life will be improved with the safeguarding of sacred life-supports.
Blue Dot relies on the efforts of dedicated citizens taking action in their local communities. Humans of Blue Dot is an attempt to capture the unique stories of some inspiring volunteers who have generously given their time to advancing the environmental rights movement in Canada.
