Species At Risk & The Métis Nation

What is "environment" and why is it worthy of protection?

As inhabitants of the earth, it is the natural environment that provides the very fabric of our existence. The earth provides us with a home, air to breathe, food to eat and all other elements that keep us alive and healthy. As such, the environment determines who we are, how we live our lives and what we become. We must do what we can to preserve the health of the earth.

For centuries, the Métis have lived off the land as hunters, trappers and gatherers. The Métis rely on the natural environment for protection, resources, medicines and sustenance. As such, the Métis have a clear understanding that the environment must be protected today and in the future. An unhealthy environment translates to an unhealthy population; for people like the Métis, who depend so heavily on the natural environment, this rule forms a way of life.

Like other Indigenous Peoples, the Métis continually evolve to maintain a balanced and reciprocal relationship with their natural environment. It is this special, dynamic relationship that defines how resources are utilized in a sustainable manner. At the base of this relationship, however, is the concept of sustainability; the natural environment must be protected for today’s use, as well as for resource use in the future.

There is no one that understands this more clearly than Indigenous Peoples do.

The Métis National Council recognizes the extreme importance of the environment to its people. As the MNC becomes involved in federal and provincial environmental policies, its mandate remains the absolute protection of the environment for the Métis of the future. To the Métis, the concept of sustainability is not just a concept; it is a way of life.

What can you do?

How To Protect The Environment : In Your Home

1. Correctly dispose of hazardous household products.

Keep paints, used oil, cleaning solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, insecticides, and other hazardous household chemicals out of drains, sinks, and toilets. Many of these products contain harmful substances -- such as sodium hypochlorite, petroleum distillates, phenol and cresol, ammonia and formaldehyde -- that can end up in nearby water bodies. Contact your local sanitation, public works, or environmental health department to find out about hazardous waste collection days and sites. If a local program isn’t available, request one.

2. Use nontoxic household products whenever possible.

Discarding toxic products correctly is important, but not buying them in the first place is better. Ask local stores to carry nontoxic products if they don’t already. For examples of safe substitutes for toxic household products, check EPA’s EnviroSense website.

3. Recycle and dispose of all trash properly.

Never flush non-degradable products -- such as disposable diapers or plastic tampon applicators -- down the toilet. They can damage the sewage treatment process and end up littering beaches and waters.

4. Conserve water.

Use the most efficient plumbing fixtures. A whopping 73 percent of the water you use in your home is either flushed down the toilet or washed down the shower drain. Toilet dams or bricks placed in your toilet tank can save four gallons of water per flush, or up to 13,000 gallons a year for the average family of four. Low-flow toilets and showerheads also yield major water savings. Repair drips promptly; a dripping faucet can waste 20 gallons a day, a leaking toilet 200 gallons. Sweep driveways and sidewalks instead of hosing them down.

How To Protect The Environment : In Your Yard

5. Use natural fertilizers.

Apply natural fertilizer such as compost, manure, bone meal or peat whenever possible. Ask your local hardware and garden supply stores to stock these natural fertilizers. You can also buy a composting setup at a garden supply or hardware store, or by mail. Composting decreases the need for fertilizer and helps soil retain moisture. If you don’t know how to compost, visit The Compost Resource Page or the EPA’s composting pages

6. Avoid over-watering lawns and gardens.

Use slow-watering techniques on lawns and gardens. Over-watering lawns can increase the leaching of fertilizers into groundwater. Trickle or "drip" irrigation systems and soaker hoses are 20 percent more efficient than sprinklers.

7. Decrease impervious surfaces around your home.

Having fewer hard surfaces of concrete and asphalt will improve drainage around your home and in your yard. Do your landscaping with vegetation, gravel or other porous materials instead of cement; install wood decking instead of concrete, and interlocking bricks and paver stones for walkways. Redirect rain gutters and downspouts to soil, grass or gravel areas. Planting vegetation at lower elevations than nearby hard surfaces allows runoff to seep into soil.

8. Maintain septic systems properly.

Have the septic tank cleaned out every three to five years. Effluent from failed or poorly maintained septic systems can contaminate groundwater. Monitoring and cleaning your system regularly also saves money by prolonging the life of the system.

How To Protect The Environment : In Your Community

9. Help identify, report and stop polluters.

Join a local clean water or environmental group that monitors industries and sewage treatment plants that are discharging wastes. Local groups can be effective working together with state environmental agencies, EPA and national groups like NRDC to ensure that industries comply with regulations.

10. Be an activist.

Contact your public officials and attend hearings to encourage them to support laws and programs to protect our water. Ask officials to control polluted runoff, increase protection for wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems, reduce the flow of toxics into our waterways, and strengthen enforcement. Volunteer for a beach or stream clean up, tree planting, water quality sampling, or stream pollution monitoring project sponsored by a local environmental group or watershed council. Visit NRDC’s Earth Action Center to get government contact information and learn about urgent issues you can get in involved in.

* See the blue pages of your local phone book. It contains listings for local, county, state and federal government offices in your area.

How To Protect The Environment : Maintaining Your Car

11. Recycle used motor oil.

Avoid pouring waste oil into gutters or down storm drains, and resist the temptation to dump wastes onto the ground. A single quart of motor oil that seeps into groundwater can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water. If you don’t have a place to recycle used motor oil in your community, ask your local sanitation or public works department to create one. When you buy motor oil, ask if the store or service station has a program to buy back waste oil and dispose of it properly. Keep up with car maintenance to reduce leaking of oil, coolant, antifreeze and other hazardous fluids.

12. Be "green" when washing your car.

Hand-wash your car on the lawn with a bucket of soapy water, rags and a hose. Just turning off the hose between rinsings can save up to 150 gallons. Or, if you don’t want to do it yourself, choose a car wash that recycles its water.

Potentially the most detrimental environmental threat facing us today is global warming.

13. Take the One-Tonne Challenge.

The one-tonne challenge asks you to reduce your annual greenhouse gas emissions by one-tonne.

http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/english/index.asp

12. Designing a Greenhouse Gas Offset System for Canada .

Project Green Moving Forward on Climate Change: A Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment.

http://changementsclimatiques.gc.ca/kyoto_commitments/

What is Global Warming?

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, there has been a significant increase in the amount of naturally occurring and man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is generally believed that human activities are the primary reason for increased levels of gas, such as carbon dioxide and methane, in our atmosphere. In relation to human health, it is predicted that increases in global climate will cause increased cases of infectious diseases such as malaria. Respiratory diseases will also increase. In addition to health effects, important links have also been established between rising global temperatures and the occurrence of weather phenomena such as extreme heat, droughts, fires, intense precipitation, floods and hurricanes.