Sustainability expert encourages P.E.I. to be global leader

An expert on environmental sustainability says P.E.I. is well positioned to set an example for Canada and the rest of the world on what can be done to help fix "the mess that we've made with the planet."

For example, said Peter Denton, the speaker for the 2018 Dr. Eric Green Lecture Friday night at UPEI, just look at the number of vehicles on P.E.I.

"What if P.E.I. went electric, period? You could, if you could find a way of generating electricity that didn't involve thermo plants," he said.

"You could reduce that and go in the other direction. Why reduce it to zero? Go negative. And then challenge the others to do something about it."

Denton said some people think the world's environmental problems are too big for one individual to make a difference. He said the key is to focus on where we live, the place where we have power over what happens, and make better choices there.

"Then I think that that's a reason for hope because the mess we've made with the planet started with one person, one bad choice at a time multiplied by like eight billion people. So why can't we make better choices as individuals and expect the same multiplication effect doesn't work in reverse."

Denton delivers his lecture Friday at 7:30 p.m. at UPEI's Don and Marion McDougall Hall. On Saturday, he'll hold a workshop from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kirk of St. James in Charlottetown. Both events are free and open to the public.

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With files from Mainstreet P.E.I.