The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-01-22, Page 44 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, January 22, 2014 Tieucknow Sentinel PUBLISHED WEEKLY PO. Box 400, 619 Campbell Street Lucknow Ontario NOG 2H0 phone: 519-528-2822 fax: 519-528-3529 www.lucknowsentinel.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company MARIE DAVID Publisher marie.david@sunmedia.ca JILLIAN UNDERWOOD Sales representative jillian.undervvood@sunmedia.ca MARILYN MILTENBURG office administrator lucknow.sentinel@sunmedia.ca Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO SENTINEL CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT RO. Box 400 Lucknow ON NOG 2H0 For any non -deliveries or delivery concerns: phone: 519-528-2822 e-mail: lucknow.sentinel@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTIONS Regular one year $40.00 + $2.00 442.00 Senior one year $35.00 +$1.75 = $36.75 Two year regular $70.00 + 3.50 = $73.50 Senior two year $60.00 + $3.00 = $63.00 Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All advertising and editorial deadlines: Friday 2 p.m. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions, and undeliverable copies (return postage guaranteed) are to be sent to The Lucknow Sentinel at the address indicated here. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, wit not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement wit be paid at the applicable rates. The Sentinel is available on microfilm at: GODERICH LIBRARY, (from 1875) 52 Montreal Street Goderich ON N7A 1M3 Goderichlibrary@huroncounty.ca KINCARDINE LIBRARY, (from 1875 to 1900 & 1935 to 1959) 727 Queen Street Kincardine ON N2Z 1Z9 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. CanacE Aocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association www.lucknowsentinel.com Our society is chronically addicted to material things The beginning of a new year is a time for intro- spection, to take stock and resolve to improve the things in our lives that we would like to change. Many people, including myself use this time of year as a motivator to clean and purge their homes. It was while doing this year's purge of my daughters' bedroom that I came to a realization. The bags of stuff to donate, the box of things to recycle, the piles junk in my kids' room were not their fault. They're ours, all of ours, not just myself and my husband, but our society as a whole. We are addicts. We are addicts of the worst kind, selfish in our wants, largely indifferent to the harm it inflicts on others and we are passing our disease onto our children. What are we addicted to? Stuff. Our society is chroni- cally attached to material things. Nothing illustrates this point better than spending several hours sitting in a child's bedroom or playroom methodically sorting through the mountains of things. There are toys and trinkets, prizes acquired from fast food meals and birthday party goody bags, greeting cards that play music, brightly coloured decorative objects, and more toys. Sure these things are nice to have and are fun to give, but do we ever consider where they've come from or where they are going to go when we grow bored or they finally stop playing the most recent pop song? While slogging through the big purge I was reminded of an article I had seen circu- lating through social media during the holidays. It was an old piece by English writer and environmental activist George Monbiot. The article was strikingly titled "The Gift of Death." The piece starts off pretty much like this one, pointing out, although in much sharper terms, society's rampant consumerism and pointlessly materialistic ways. Monbiot goes on to highlight some of the envi- ronmental atrocities that occur in order to support this consumption, at one point claiming "when you take account of the fossil fuels whose use we commis- sion in other countries, manufacturing and con- sumption are responsible for more than half of our carbon dioxide production." Monbiot backs up his asser- tions in related articles, but Column Tracey Hinchberger even if you question the severity of the impacts he alleges our society is causing there is no denying we are needlessly pillaging the planet to make useless objects that in reality nobody needs. According to Monbiot we've been pushed into this mass consumerism by the great economic machines set into motion by our governments, big business and global trade. In essence the powers that be have become the crack dealer on the corner to our addict, urging us to buy yet another fix. We don't even question it anymore, we just have to have it; the coolest toy, the newest gadget, the most recent ver- sion of the most popular high tech device. The effect has been made worse because we have, for the most part, stopped thinking about the majority of the things we buy. We don't question the dozens and dozens of little trinkets our children acquire or when we see a solar -pow- ered flower dancing happily on a neighbour's window sill or giant green sunglasses that say "kiss me I'm Irish" on St. Paddy's Day. These are all frivolous things, com- pletely unnecessary, but they have all taken precious resources to produce, cre- ated waste and pollution during their manufacture and distribution, and will probably end up in a landfill site for thousands of years when someone eventually gets around to throwing them out. If we can step back and really assess our lives and what we have in them it is hard to deny that we have a problem. Our society needs a massive intervention. It's time to examine our excessive habits and start questioning our gluttonous behaviour because our addiction isn't just harming ourselves and our loved ones, but in reality, the whole planet. It's time to take responsibility and real- ize the destructive conse- quences of our addiction. Perhaps this is the most important introspection we can all do this year. Health Unit supports seniors website to prevent falls Falls are the leading cause of serious injuries in older adults. Every year, one in three older adults will fall. In 2012 in Huron County, there were over 800 fall -related Emergency room visits for those 65 and older. A new Ontario website, www.findingbalanceontario.ca, is aimed at helping seniors pre- vent falls. Finding Balance shows sen- iors and their families ways to prevent a fall from happening, including ways to: • improve health and fitness • make the home safer • review medications • speak up about dizziness "Seniors contribute so much to our families and communi- ties," says Laura Armstrong, Public Health Promoter with the Huron County Health Unit. "An injury from a fall can have serious negative effects on the lifestyle and activities of an older person. The Finding Bal- ance website is aimed at help- ing seniors stay active and independent." The Huron County Health Unit and ONE CARE Home & Community Support Services are working together to pro- mote the website and educate older adults on how to prevent falls. ONE CARE helps older adults maintain their health and wellness with a number of services like exercise and falls prevention classes, foot care clinics, meal programs and home care. To learn more about OneCare's services, phone 1.877.502.8277 or visit www. onecaresupport.ca. Finding Balance was origi- nally developed at the Univer- sity of Alberta's School of Pub- lic Health, but has been adapted for use in Ontario. Finding Balance has an Advi- sory Committee of health care professionals from all over Southwestern Ontario, includ- ing the Huron County Health Unit. To learn more, please visit www.findingbalanceontario.ca