I’ve worked on the EcoAction Teams program for over three years, and I’ve learned that taking positive environmental action in my life is not only simple but contagious. I’m not an environmental scientist or engineer, just a concerned urban dweller who decided she needed to mesh all her passions with environmental work. I also love words and social commentary, so blogging is a good fit. Born and raised in friendly Manitoba, I live in Toronto with my trusty bicycle.
Blogger: Prabhjit Banga
Since being captivated by the cartoon movie FernGully at the age of five, Prabhjit (Prabh) Banga has been an avid supporter of green causes. Prabh has over four years of experience working in the environmental sector on diverse topics, including conservation, waste management and environmental education. She recently received a Master of Resource and Environmental Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Born and raised in Toronto with roots in India, Prabh loves to travel and discover new places!
About ecoblogist
Like the tagline says, this blog is all about news, views and tips on living green. Read ‘em, share ‘em – we’re all in it together. Once you start doing a few things differently, it’s pretty hard to turn off that chip in your brain that says, “Should I be buying this? Should I be doing that?” Maybe it begins with remembering to bring your own bag when you go shopping, then suddenly you’re thinking about dual flush toilets, power bars, and energy efficient coffee makers before bedtime.
Ask Us
We won’t pretend to know it all, but we do know where to find the answers. Send us your green living questions and we’ll be happy to address them in an upcoming post.
“Climate change, global responsibility, SUV driving moms and a biblical flooding of the Greater Toronto Area”
Last weekend, I took in Kayak a new play written by Jordan Hall and directed by Tommy Taylor. The 60-minute play had my attention from the get-go with a strong script, a powerful lead actress and great direction considering the limited set resources. Toronto’s Summerworks festival hosted this, the North American premiere.
Synopsis
Annie (Rosemary Dunsmore), a suburban mother, recounts the events that led to her being stranded in her son’s old kayak. Reflecting on the past four years, she describes her turbulent relationship with Julie, her son Peter’s radical environmentalist girlfriend. As Peter and Julie grow closer, Julie’s black-and-white interpretation of environmental ethics clash more and more strongly with Annie’s middle-of-the-road politics. Annie fears that her son will be caught up in Julie’s increasingly dangerous attempts to make a difference in the world. Annie too is caught up in a global crisis, stranded alone on a vast stretch of water and is forced to confront the implications of her personal and political choices.
Lead actress Rosemary Dunsmore was seated centre stage in her boat for the entire production but produced a truly riveting performance from this challenging position.
Catch Kayak in Winnipeg this September as part of Femfest 2010 (Sept 25- Oct 2), Winnipeg’s festival of plays written and directed by women. Jordan Hall, one of Canada’s most up and coming female playwrights, will be doing a reading at the Vancouver Public Library on September 20
A construction worker works on the G20 security fence.
Walking down the streets of Toronto it’s hard not to notice the large amounts of police officers, steel fences and empty streets. This is all preparation for The G20 summit, which starts tomorrow. The G-20 leaders are meeting to discuss ways to address the financial crisis. The heads of state will attempt to create new international frameworks to govern global finance and the global economy.
As the host for the G20 economic summits, Canada had the privilege of setting the agenda for this year’s summit. Despite pressure from the United Nations and several G8 and G20 member nations, Prime Minister Harper sees environmental concerns as a “sideshow.” He does not want to put it on the agenda, since the summits are economic in nature.
However, I believe that environmental and economic issues must be addressed as one. The challenge for our political leadership should not merely be to kickstart the global economy, but to do so in a way that creates jobs, stabilizes the climate, increases food output using less water and chemicals, and generates prosperity while achieving greater income equality. Leaders should support a just transition to a green and inclusive global economy and to value the role of environment as the foundation of sustainable and balanced economic growth.
As environmental economist Herman Daly said, “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.” Oil is made of organic matter, our furniture comes from trees, diamonds form in the earth’s crust, and the list goes on, so without the environment, there would be no economy.
A man dressed as Prime Minister Stephen Harper leads protesters covered by oil down the streets of Toronto.
Picking up where we left off on the subject of fossil fuels (and fossil fools!) is this neat five-minute video featuring Tom Rand. Rand, a self-described “engineer, philosopher, and venture capitalist” is certainly no fossil fool when it comes to clean, sustainable fuel solutions…
Climate change is no laughing matter, but we can’t take things too seriously all the time. To bring some awareness to the issue, Fossil Fools Day aims to get the messaging of climate change out in a subversive but humourous way.
The day got its start in 2004 by a climate change action group called Rising Tide North America. The events they organized opposed non-renewable energy sources (energy from gasoline, oil, coal and natural gas), promoted education about renewable energy (solar, wind), encouraged support for climate justice, strong legislation and corporate responsibility.
The day itself is about organizing pranks/ events to get the attention of “fools” who believe that burning fossil fuels* is the only long term solution to meet our energy needs. Events are now held over the world on April 1. Last year in Johannesburg, Africa, a local environmental organization called Earthlife Africa awarded The South African Coal, Oil and Gas Corporation a Fossil Fool of the Year Award for producing 72 million tonnes of CO2 per year and for trying to build a new coal-to-liquid power plant. Pranks similar to this one and others such as banner drops, office occupations, street theatre and are organized to get the word across.
Want to get involved? Look for Fossil Fools Day events going on in your city. Get out and employ your senses of humor to bring attention to fossil foolery!
* Fossil fuels are created from burning large amounts of gasoline, oil, coal and natural gas. These sources of energy are used to power our cars and provide electricity. However, burning these fossil fuels also produces harmful greenhouse gas emissions. These gases gather in the atmosphere and create a barrier that prevents the earth’s excess heat from escaping. As this barrier gets bigger, the earth’s temperature increases, which in turn results in climate change.
Today, March 8, marks the 100th celebration of International Women’s Day. IWD is recognized around the world to appreciate the advances and accomplishments of women and to promote awareness that women’s rights everywhere is a constant struggle.
photo credit: UN photo/Tim McKulka
Women and the Environment
Gender equality and environmental progress are not often talked about in the same breath, but there are many reasons why they should be. Women can support sustainable development through increased access to education and economic opportunities, and involvement in governance and decision making. In their online toolkitClimate Change Connections: Ensuring women contribute to and benefit from equitable climate solutions, Women’s Environment and Development Organization demonstrates how women are uniquely positioned to curb the harmful consequences of climate change.
Another resource to learn about how women and the environment are connected can be found at United Nations Women Watch.
Women’s Issues in Canada
Some of the best research on gender equality is produced by CRIAW – the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. Find numerous helpful factsheets on issues like: women’s experiences of social programs,violence against women and girls, and women, health and action. This year, National Union of Public and General Employees points to the links between women’s care giving responsibilities, stress, and stress-related health issues in their 2010 campaign.
Moving Forward
To me, International Women’s Day is a time to recognize the unheralded contributions of women around the world, and to remember (as I work for environmental education and engagement) that women’s economic status, health and safety, and the health of our environment are all so connected.
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver came to an official close last night, signaling an end to a very successful games by Canada (14 Gold Medals!).
These Olympics are being called the “greenest” Olympics of all times. In fact, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) made environmental sustainability a priority for the games. It informed every decision from where to put ski trails to what materials were used in the buildings.
So the question remains, were the Winter Olympics green? It depends on how you look at it.
When American speed skater Trevor Marsicano got off the airplane he said, “What’s this green grass doing here?” Cypress Mountain, where major skiing and other events were held had no snow. Instead of switching locations to snow-filled Whistler, trucks and helicopters transported snow three hours-from Manning Park all the way to Cypress Mountain. This was certainly not very green at all.
On the success side is Vancouver’s athletes village. The villages and venues were built using Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. The village, in particular, was built according to LEED’s gold standard. Features considered included the selection of the village site, energy efficiency, the inclusion of green roofs, the reuse of rainwater and access to public transportation.
Critics, like Dr. Chris Shaw of the University of British Columbia, say all this attention to glossy, green initiatives is hiding more painful realities. For example: does contracting with a green paper supplier justify the Olympic deforestation and habitat displacement that occurred along the Sea to Sky highway or along sensitive ecosystems such as the Eagle Ridge Bluffs?
As environmental issues continue to become more and more pressing, it’s crucial that long-term, legitimate measures be taken on the part of organizations like the Olympic Committees. The Vancouver Olympics raised the bar for staging responsible, if not yet truly sustainable, events, so let’s wait and see what London 2012 has in store. Watch out for the full environmental assessment report of the winter games by United Nations Environmental Programme.
By the way, how green do you think the 2010 Olympics were?
Last month, the World Meteorological Organization reported that the decade 2000-2009 was the warmest on record. 2009 itself was one of the five hottest years recorded of all time.
The period from 2000 through 2009 has been “warmer than the 1990s, which were warmer than the 1980s, and so on,” Michel Jarraud, the secretary general of the international weather agency, said at a news conference in Copenhagen last month.
The international assessment on temperatures from 2000 to 2009 largely meshes with an interim analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States, which independently estimates global and regional temperature and other weather trends, reports the New York Times.
With two weeks of the new year under our belts, is another dubious record in store for 2010?
Remember a recent phenomenon called An Inconvenient Truth? Remember the guy who wrote it?
He may not be your favorite ex-politician or environmentalist, but Al Gore definitely knows what he’s talking about when it comes to climate change. His extremely influential research, activism and recognition catapulted climate change into the common person’s vernacular in North America and around the world.
Al Gore’s latest book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis covers effective solutions available now to address climate change. Presented in a reader-friendly format with issue-based chapters and a helpful index, the colourful, revealing photographs of the world’s inhabitants and spaces are a visual spectacle.
Love him or hate him, this book will give you more than enough to talk about (or argue about) on the environmental challenges of our time.
Leave a comment if you have a copy or plan to get one…
When it’s your business to do right by the environment sometimes a company can fall short in other areas… Environmental employers may expect their employees to live and breathe ‘the cause’ creating an overworked or underpaid staff; job security and benefits may depend on funding from year to year; and workplace safety is another valuable concern for companies that render construction, retrofitting or recycling services to name a few.
Yes, employee satisfaction is incredibly important to the culture of a workplace and to the services the company provides. With that in mind ECO Canada wants to recognize the employers who get it right with their 2009 Environmental Employer of the Year Awards. This year, the final six were chosen based on results of a company employee satisfaction survey. A committee of HR professionals then evaluates both the organization’s HR practices and employee satisfaction results to determine a winner. Want to know who’s been shortlisted?
post by Cheryl Gudz
Leave a comment if you have a copy or plan to get one…
When it’s your business to do right by the environment sometimes a company can fall short in other areas… Environmental employers may expect their employees to live and breathe ‘the cause’ creating an overworked or underpaid staff; job security and benefits may depend on funding from year to year; and workplace safety is another valuable concern for companies that render construction, retrofitting or recycling services to name a few.