'Late bloomer' steps up to make better world for future generations
Joan Gregory, 58, has her Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Brown University and her Master’s in Library Science from the University of Rhode Island. She has three children; the youngest is fifteen years old. She says that she is a “late bloomer” when it comes to the environment and working to make a difference.
Gregory works with Peaceful Uprising, Utah Interfaith Power and Light, the Combined Libraries’ Green Team, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and she is on the University of Utah President’s Sustainability Board. She is also part of the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City’s Environmental Ministry.
“I’m not going to stop until I either collapse, or we make a habitable world for my children,” says Gregory.
She came to understand the importance of the environment when the founders of the Environmental Ministry sponsored a citywide read in 1997 or 1998, and they had discussions at the church about voluntary simplicity.
“We did voluntary simplicity as a family and it changed everything that we did,” says Gregory.
She took over the Environmental Ministry when the founders in Utah got burned out. She spent much of her time trying to get people to pay attention and become educated about the environment. It was Tim DeChristopher’s participation in the church and his action as Bidder 70 that really helped her to redouble her efforts.
Gregory has been arrested twice for the cause that she supports – once in Salt Lake City after the DeChristopher sentencing and once in Washington, D.C. when she joined an “unpermitted march into the lobby of the Department of the Interior” that led to a sit-in and singing. She continues to educate people, and she recycles and composts for her workplace.
“I may never see the results of the work I do, but I am going to throw pebbles into the pond because the ripple effect is huge,” says Gregory.
She says that her impact in the community has been because she has her “hands in so many pots.” She thinks of herself as a connector of people and a catalyst and as someone who can bring various groups together.
Gregory has won the Bioneer of the Year Award in Salt Lake City in 2009 and the Guardian of the Future Award in 2011.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. Links have been updated.
Gregory works with Peaceful Uprising, Utah Interfaith Power and Light, the Combined Libraries’ Green Team, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and she is on the University of Utah President’s Sustainability Board. She is also part of the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City’s Environmental Ministry.
“I’m not going to stop until I either collapse, or we make a habitable world for my children,” says Gregory.
She came to understand the importance of the environment when the founders of the Environmental Ministry sponsored a citywide read in 1997 or 1998, and they had discussions at the church about voluntary simplicity.
“We did voluntary simplicity as a family and it changed everything that we did,” says Gregory.
She took over the Environmental Ministry when the founders in Utah got burned out. She spent much of her time trying to get people to pay attention and become educated about the environment. It was Tim DeChristopher’s participation in the church and his action as Bidder 70 that really helped her to redouble her efforts.
Gregory has been arrested twice for the cause that she supports – once in Salt Lake City after the DeChristopher sentencing and once in Washington, D.C. when she joined an “unpermitted march into the lobby of the Department of the Interior” that led to a sit-in and singing. She continues to educate people, and she recycles and composts for her workplace.
“I may never see the results of the work I do, but I am going to throw pebbles into the pond because the ripple effect is huge,” says Gregory.
She says that her impact in the community has been because she has her “hands in so many pots.” She thinks of herself as a connector of people and a catalyst and as someone who can bring various groups together.
Gregory has won the Bioneer of the Year Award in Salt Lake City in 2009 and the Guardian of the Future Award in 2011.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. Links have been updated.