Sometimes I look around me and think to myself. How are we destroying the things that give us so much.
My name is Alenka and I’m a freeride snowboarder and BASE jumper. I’m not perfect. I access the mountains I otherwise wouldn’t be able to access, with a helicopter or a snowmobile. They get me up to remote spots, where I experience sometimes out-of-body instances, completely overwhelmed with the vastness of the space, and being alone. Those moments help me gain perspective on how big the planet Earth is, and how small we are.
I’m inspired by those giant snowy peaks, reaching up like big cathedrals. In awe, I stand beneath them, humble. Splitboarding in those remote areas is a privilege, but I think it’s important to share my passion and my view of the world with others, because the best way to provoke change, is to inspire through passion.
The impact of climate change on our local snowpacks and glaciers has been tremendously growing in recent years, and it’s one of those things that are silently happening behind our backs, and silly day-to-day problems occupy our minds enough to not think about it. I’m shocked to see the changes in the spots that I return to 4-6 years later and every time it hits me.
I feel it. I feel it all happening. In moments of vulnerability and feeling small, it’s easy to believe there’s nothing I can do. But if I stay grounded. And connected to the Earth, connected with nature – that feeling won’t go away. And when I’m connected to nature, I also find myself acting and behaving in a more aligned way with how I want to treat the planet and do better in the future.
It’s hard to feel the urge to explore, travel to new places, write heli access only lines on my line list – and feel like I could be doing more for climate change at the same time. So that thought process has inspired me to do more research and I found out the best thing we can do, is to educate ourselves.
POW ~ PROTECT OUR WINTERS
Protect Our Winters, is a movement started by Jeremy Jones, uniting athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, to advocate for policy solutions for climate change.
Their initiatives have shown me, this isn’t a cut-the-heli-trip kind of a problem. In fact, transportation is very low on the list of factors that we can see as “problems”.
So I did some research.
According to the UNFCCC climate reports, transportation accounts for only 28%, whereas electric power (known to many as “clean energy”) comes down to 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
About 65% of that is CO2, (carbon dioxide) – which is not necessarily the bad guy, as everyone deems it to be. It’s food for the plants. Plants need CO2, so they can produce oxygen. I watched an eye-opening documentary on Netflix called Kiss The Ground, where they explained modern agriculture in all its “glory”. The film delves into the relationship between American farming policy, politics, and illness. I highly recommend it, as it very closely relates to climate change as well.
From what I understand, the Earth is going through cycles. Warmer and colder cycles and regardless of our existence, our planet would be warming up. By we managed to speed up the process to a very unhealthy level.
Across the board, the most common human causes of climate change are;
- Generating power. Generating electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels causes a large chunk of global emissions. …
- Manufacturing goods. …
- Cutting down forests for agriculture…
- Using transportation. …
- Producing food. …
- Powering buildings. …
- Consuming too much.
Out of curiosity, off the top of your head – which one of those “causes” of climate change, would be the easiest to tackle, right away?
Consuming too much? That is what brings me to the next topic.
For the last year, my partner and I have been talking a lot about living from the land. And while a 100-acre property in the middle of nowhere appeals to us more than anything, we can practice that concept right now, from our rental home in a mountain town. Summer is easy because the veggies in the garden are thriving, cherry trees are rich this year and soon we will get some apples and blackberries.
My partner decided to make his own liquor this year, just from what we get in our backyard. I had been making pastry, jam, and freezing fruit for the winter. Growing veggies, growing our own medicinal herbs, spices, and teas…
The more we look around us, the easier it gets. We recently set up prawn traps in the ocean, and that saves us even more trips to the grocery store…
As an athlete, the logo of the brand that sits on my jacket, board, or t-shirt goes a long way beyond which clothes I like to wear.
The relationship between the athlete and the brand is a powerful driving force for the outdoor industry. It is equally important for a brand to choose someone that represents them well and truly, as well as an athlete to choose a brand that aligns with their social and environmental values. I believe that having a solid brand as your sponsor that is making a difference in the world, actionably taking positive steps towards climate change, and treating their athletes fairly, is more important than any paycheque.
The alpine world is a place where we feel at ease, a place that gives us energy and inspires us. Who, if not us, is responsible for protecting it? This is something we aim to achieve with the production of fair, sustainable products. And with you, the mountain sports community – to protect what we all love so dearly.
Ortovox prides themselves on their main principles on how they protect their people and Mamma Earth:
I am proud to represent a brand that is fighting very hard against climate change, each year bringing in new initiatives and re-evaluating their current practices. Climate and environmental protection are the most obvious two, but supply chain and durability are what catch my eye the most. If you buy a jacket, wouldn’t you want that jacket to last as long as possible? Not only, it makes sense economically but it is also much more kind to the planet.
A company that needs to make money, would probably prefer to sell you a new jacket each year. But a company that cares about selling durable products and keeping people safe and dry in the mountains, is the one that cares about the environment more than profits.
I want you to think about this concept, next time you’re after a new piece of clothing. A good fit is important, but we directly vote with our dollar. Let’s support the brands that are doing good for the overall well-being of our planet,
because that’s how we’ll make a difference.
I like to share with others what I think, not as much to educate but maybe provoke or inspire are better ways to describe it. There are many great websites out there, that everyone can access and educate themselves, by doing their own research.
Here’s what I know:
- Staying connected to nature will make me a better person to those around me and my home planet.
- Growing my own food, like veggies in the garden and fruits in the backyard, prawn traps in the ocean, and buying eggs and meat from a local butcher, will make me consume less, and eat healthier and more whole foods.
- Taking a helicopter or a snowmobile up the mountain isn’t a crime and does not make me a hypocrite.
- Electric energy is not clean energy.
- If I really don’t need something new, I will try to thrift it or buy it second-hand or make it first. There’s enough trash laying around already.
Until next time.
Alenkis
