The Little Things. Part Two: Jeremy Jones and David Suzuki

This post is the second in our series of posts reviewing The Little Things – a non-profit snowboard movie/documentary project by professional snowboarder Marie-France Roy and directed by filmmaker Darcy Turenne. It features the stories of environmentally-conscious riders who are bringing to life the importance of protecting and living in balance with our environment to inspire positive change. This time round the focus is on the well-known influential rider, Jeremy Jones, and award-winning scientist and environmental activist, David Suzuki.

He’s a professional snowboarder and pioneer of big mountain riding, but Jeremy Jones is also the founder of the non-profit group, Protect Our Winters (POW). In the movie he calls our attention to the effects of climate change and how even the smallest of actions can make sure our children get to enjoy skiing on the snowy mountains as much as we do.

Jeremy Jones – Image courtesy of The Little Things

He reckons we can all do our own little bit, “if everyone kinda uses their lever to do something positive it might feel like it’s only on a small level but if we’re all doing that then it collectively does make a difference.” And that’s the point. Minor changes to how we do things may seem insignificant to us but if we group them together then they snowball into huge positive action.

Besides meeting with politicians and running community-based projects, Jones’ own personal ‘little thing’ for the environment includes hiking up the slopes instead of using lifts and helicopters. For a big mountain rider, that’s commitment! I wonder how many runs he does!

For our little part, we have partnered with Sympatex to create outerwear that contains absolutely zero PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene), which can be harmful to your health and the environment. Plus, every garment is 100% recyclable, leaving behind no waste or harmful emissions for future generations to deal with.

As we said before, David Suzuki is an award-winning scientist and environmentalist. He also co-founded the David Suzuki Foundation – a project with the mission to “protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future.” In the movie, he makes it easy for us to understand the complex science behind nature and why it’s important for us to look after our environment.

David Suzuki – Image courtesy of The Little Things

“Our children are spending more time inside and very very little time outside,” says David. “The reality is you only fight to protect something you love. And if the outside has become something really foreign, alien, almost frightening to us then how are we ever going to fight to protect it?”

For David Suzuki, the biggest threat to our environment is the human brain. Many people feel compelled to destroy it. But the more time we spend in nature, the more we’ll enjoy and appreciate it. And that will lead our fight to sustain it.

Taken together, Jeremy Jones and David Suzuki want us to remember how much fun it is to play and connect with nature, and get our kids excited about outdoor activities like skiing and hiking. That way, we’ll all want to take advantage of our planet’s natural resources while taking small steps to protect them.

In case you missed it, here’s Part 1 – The Little Things Movie

Coming up: Part 3 – The Other Guys

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