It was not that long ago that I was not very active with causes that I cared about.
I was a “slacktavist”. Perhaps even the worst kind of *slacktivist, one with a strong opinion that could chew your ear off and provide you with facts of why a certain dam project was bad but would I get up off my arse and do something about it? No. Sadly not.
I think the reason is that I always felt like the fight against corporations was hopeless, we the people that love the outdoors would never win and and it would all be for nothing.
However a few years ago one of the best sections of whitewater in the world was under threat from a dam and two friends of mine, happily did get up off the couch. They formed an organisation named Save Our Rivers and they saved not only their local river, the Conwy but also several other rivers afterwards. This is the point where I started believing that we have a voice and we can change things.
Dan and Tom from Save Our Rivers have been a source of inspiration for me for the last several years as they balance, work, families and play, with fighting against dam projects. I think they are extraordinary people but they would be the first to humbly tell you that they are just your average, normal bloke. That gives a f*ck.
I don’t have it in me to trawl through pages of planning documents looking for grounds to argue against the dams viability but I have been trying to help in my own way, by creating video’s to support the cause and spread the word.
It won’t take hours on a computer to support the organisations fighting for things you care about, following their social media accounts and staying up to date with how to help is a good way to start and often it will take just a few short minutes signing a petition to help.
The most important thing is to stand up and be involved.
Right now, there are active campaigns to Save the heart of Kendal, Stop the Trumpen Dam and Save Cym Cynfal.
Inspired? Check out:
A group of friends that would later become the founders of Greenpeace set sail into a nuclear test site to protest whaling.
Extremely well put together film which highlights the issues that Dam’s create.
Not Environmentally centred at all but the story of miners and the LGBT working together is pretty inspiring.
This book has it’s flaws, the same as any other and it was written in a time where the world was much meaner towards people of different genders and races. However the core of the book centres on a group of people fighting to protect the place that they love and I find that pretty cool.
The memoir from the Patagonia founder, lot’s of good takeaways from this book and following along with the rise of Yvon Chouinard, a bloke that ate cat food for a summer to save money is really entertaining.
Also on the blog: Why do we need to protect rivers?
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