MEDIA RELEASE: Parachutes for the Planet coming to Parliament Hill on October 15

Parachutes for the Planet coming to Parliament Hill on October 15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2018
Media Contacts: Cathy Orlando, cathy@citizensclimatelobby.org (705) 929-4043,
Anita Payne, payanita@gmail.com and (613) 267-0881
PDF version of the Media Release

Ottawa ON: Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada (CCL) will be displaying over thirty Parachutes for the Planet from across Canada on Parliament Hill on Monday, October 15, 2018 from noon to 5 pm.

Parachutes for the Planet is a youth-inspired collective international art project illustrating shared concern for climate change. Parachutes are a metaphor for a soft landing for a healthy and safe future for today’s youth.

“Climate change is a serious and non-partisan issue. Long-term climate stability will require policy persistence through multiple election cycles. Climate change must be treated as a bridge issue and not a wedge issue,” says Cathy Orlando, the Canadian director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. “The Parachutes for the Planet display aims to show Parliamentarians that people across the country care deeply about solving the climate crisis and want them to act now.”

During the same time as the display, over 50 citizen lobbyists from Halifax to Vancouver are meeting with MPs following CCL’s National Conference the weekend before. CCL volunteers have been lobbying for a liveable world since 2010 in Canada.  

Over the past 6 months, people came together in their communities around the country to create parachutes at schools, art galleries, fairs, and homes.

“What inspires me the most about this project are the personal stories behind each parachute,” says Laura Sacks, who is helping with the national display. “Each parachute is a unique artistic creation expressing local concerns about the health of our planet and hopes for the future.”

Some examples of parachutes on display include one from Lanark County, Ontario, with a central theme of maple syrup production — which requires a healthy environment and stable climate. The perimeter is surrounded by children’s drawings of what they like about planet Earth that they would like the politicians in Ottawa to save.

A parachute from Castlegar, British Columbia, includes images that define that community, such as the Doukhobor dove of peace and the joining of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers. Wildfires were included as part of the mountain scene, expressing the community’s concerns about the summer’s hazardous air quality from another record wildfire season.

  The Parachutes for the Planet display is a cross-border event. Two days before the Ottawa display, over 200 Parachutes from six continents, 30 countries, and 28 states will be on display at a sister event in Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, DC, organized by The Mother Earth Project.

For photos of Canadian Parachutes for the Planet, go to: https://cclca.wpengine.com/?galleries=canadian-parachutes-for-the-planet

Media are requested to be at the display between 2:00 and 3:00 pm for interviews and pictures.

 

Photos:

Community members in Castlegar, BC create a parachute at the Kootenay Gallery of Art for the global day of climate action.

Lanark County, Ontario, parachute with central theme of maple syrup, surrounded by drawings by children of what they like about planet Earth that they would like the politicians in Ottawa to save.

Over a dozen CCL Sudbury youth from three schools made this parachute and then they got over 500 Sudburians to sign it.

A dozen parachutes created by children and adults from the West Kootenay region of British Columbia were laid out for a photo shoot in Castlegar.