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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday March 3, 2007 - 3 Down-to-earth community activist By Karen Alton SPECIAL TO OAKVILLE BEAVER L iz Benneian lives her values. This is what she says and it certainly seems to be true. The President of Oakvillegreen Conservation Association Inc. drives a tidy little hybrid Toyota Prius (the family roadster is also a hybrid, the new Camry). There is a composter box in the backyard as well as two goats to keep the grass trimmed. What? Just kidding, no goats, but that may be only a matter of time. She writes and edits the Oakvillegreen newsletter, hosted on an informative website: www.oakvillegreen.org, and, with her husband Ken Kawall and son, 10-year-old Tyler, spends many weekends with Groundbreakers, another volunteer group, devoted to planting trees in Oakville. It's a cliché perhaps, but a sweet one, "The family that grows together, grows together!" These are down-to-earth values. By profession, Benneian is a communicator who is putting her skills, honed over 20 years as a journalist and editor, on the line as a volunteer in the fight against global warming. At first blush the Oakville resident of eight years comes across as neat and serious. Like eco-guru Al Gore, though on a local stage, she has given speeches and presentations and led discussions on energy conservation, sustainable energy sources and ways in which individuals can make changes to preserve the planet. Her main presentation is based on a film, The End of Suburbia, examining the theories and scenarios of `peak oil' (in a nutshell, scientists believe we have already used up half the oil available on the planet, and so it is downhill from here). This diminishing supply of fossil fuel and the issue of global warming are linked crises looming in a not so distant future. Taking this message to the people has become personal for Benneian. She said in a recent interview, "I agree with Al Gore, we have a moral responsibility to our future generations, to take care of our home. And we have a moral responsibility to other people in other parts of our world, who are negatively impacted by the behaviour of a few of us." Benneian's background may shed some light on how she got to this state of personal reckoning. Born in Windsor, Ontario, she grew up there, and went to college studying journalism. In the late '70s the local economy was depressed, jobs scarce, so she went BARRIE ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT: Liz Benneian relaxes at her Oakville home where she heads up and works with several environmental groups in the fight against global warming. west, first to Winnipeg and then Calgary where she managed a high-end leather goods store for almost four years. The money was pretty good, it paid the rent. Then she married and moved with her husband to a Canadian Forces Base in Germany for five years. This was a life-changing experience on several fronts: she finally got into journalism, her true vocation, as editor of the Canadian Forces newspaper in Germany from 1985-1990; and she got to witness first hand what was happening in Europe in terms of environmental degradation and fullblown catastrophe. She also got to visit some of the great cities and art galleries in Europe. "Travel certainly broadens your perspective," she commented. In Germany, she was living in the Rhine Valley near Baden-Baden and the Black Forest. The air was thick with pollution from factories, refineries, power plants. Many Canadians she knew got sick with sinus, throat and lung problems. That was the first wake-up call. Then the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant blew up in the Ukraine contaminating large areas of the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. That was the second wake-up call. Number three was a chemical spill in the Rhine itself, killing everything in the river all the way to Holland, she said, a major environmental disaster. The final straw was a hurricane that ripped up a large section of the Black Forest, revealing acid rain damage to tree roots and faulty methods of reforestation. "These events got me asking serious questions about our impact on the environment," she explained, "and our sick environment's impact on our health." Upon returning to Canada, flying into Toronto, she was greeted by an ugly yellow haze over the city. "I just said, okay, I know how bad this can get, what can we do to make it better?" She was galvanized. Before settling in Oakville, however, she lived in London, Ontario, and worked for the London Free Press, went through a divorce, moved to Chatham and wrote for the Windsor Star. She met her current husband Ken during this time and also started working on a science degree at the University of Windsor, a degree that she completed at the University of Toronto after moving to Oakville. She was also editor of Oakville Today for four years before diving into volunteer work with a clear and burning focus. Currently she serves on the Town's Environment Strategic Plan Implementation Committee, is a member of Gardens Off Drugs, as well as the fund-giving committee of the local TD Friends of the Environment. She seems most proud of pulling together a "Think Tank" of about 40 local experts in the sciences and the environment, who meet every two weeks and advise Oakvillegreen. But, lest you think Benneian is all work and no play, never fear. She enjoys art, antiques and going to movies; she reads widely, has two big dogs that need walking, and she likes to cook. "I love to cook and I'm a good cook," she laughed. "I like to have people over. I am half Armenian and there's this little Armenian grandmother inside me who is never happier than when she is feeding people." In addition, Benneian has been involved in community theatre (especially loves the thrill of comedy), writes poetry and sometimes reads at the Poetry Café. April, by the way, is poetry month. "Yes, I'm worried about our planet," she admitted. "You have to be worried because the problems are big, and monumental changes are necessary. But I am hopeful as well, because I see goodness in people and a willingness to make changes. "I always feel better when I come away from an Oakvillegreen meeting because these are people who are worried about more than just themselves. They care about the community and future generations. They are positive people who inspire hope in spite of how gloomy things sometimes look." PREPARE FOR THE ROAD AHEAD. Next course: March 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. March 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. www.youngdrivers.com 905.845.7200 MTO APPROVED BEGINNER DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE PROVIDER