Climate change messages can produce paralysing anxiety, but the final selection in The Border Mail's holiday series aims to combat that.
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Wodonga's Alison Veld said Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming was both practical and timely.
Edited by environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken, it consists of easy-to-read essays about the 100 most effective actions to reduce global warming, both costed and ranked.
"They're all things that are currently being done in the world somewhere, maybe in more than one place, but they could be implemented broadly across the world if we had enough conviction about it," Mrs Veld said.
Divided into categories such as energy, food, women and girls, buildings and cities, land use and transport and materials, the solutions include options for individuals as well as governments or companies.
Plant-rich diets, reducing food waste, rooftop solar, family planning, insulation, forest protection, ride sharing, household recycling and water saving all feature in the research.
There's also a section, Coming Attractions, about emerging ideas.
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"The word 'drawdown' refers to bringing carbon out of the atmosphere and back to earth," Mrs Veld said.
"People are frightened, they hear messages of disaster.
"When we feel fear, our ability to think clearly is blocked and we are inclined to do nothing.
"We need messages of hope, so this book is full of hope.
"It's very much a handbook, I don't know that I've ever read every word in it, but I do use it regularly, it's always out on my side table."
A nature lover since childhood, Mrs Veld belongs to Friends of Willow Park and also supports environmental groups like Stop Adani Albury-Wodonga and Knitting Nannas.
"We need to tell ourselves different stories about our earth, the way we live, what we consume," she said.
"I think it's important to trust that we're all on the same page, not be a preacher but at the same time share the ideas and respect others."
She felt change would come as people's awareness and desire to do something grew.
"Then they become vocal, they talk to their representatives and they create a groundswell," she said.
Mrs Veld said Paul Hawken actually described global warming as a gift.
"Because it's a message from nature, from the earth, this is what's happening," she said.
"Any corporation is foolish to ignore the signals that are coming to them, threats to their organisation.
"Well, in a similar way we can't ignore the threats to our survival that are occurring and if we react in time, we can turn this around but we have to be united as human beings."
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