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I had a vague idea that the tar sands oil project in Alberta was absurd but part of me didn’t want to know how inconceivable it is. The waste involved in extracting oil from the ground is overwhelming. Given the scale of the disaster, I find it difficult to comprehend how our government has comitted to increasing production five fold to meet America’s demand when we can’t even meet our own. Check out the link below for details.

References

• http://www.canadians.org/WorldWaterDay/oil.html

You’re invited to a free screening of Oscar-winning movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

Join Gregor Robertson, MLA for Vancouver - Fairview and special guests before the movie to talk about steps we can take to make a difference in our lives and our communities.

Special guests include:

• Tom Osdoba, Sustainability Group, City of Vancouver
• Morag Carter, Climate Change Program, David Suzuki Foundation
• William Rees, PhD., UBC School of Community and Regional Planning, originator of the “ecological footprint” analysis

Location

When: Thursday, March 1st. Program starts at 6:45pm. Movie screening at 9:00pm.
Where: Park Theatre, 3440 Cambie Street

Event is free. No registration is required.

Support your local Cambie merchants. Have dinner on Cambie Street before the show.

Praise for Google Maps and a little creative use of their free API! This excellent website visually displays people in Vancouver with yards who would like a garden alongside those who want to garden but don’t have a yard.

References

• http://www.cityfarmer.org/sharing_backyards/index2.php

[tags]Urban Agriculture, Yard Sharing, Vancouver[/tags]

A recent gas crunch in Ontario and Quebec provides a little insight into how near capacity our oil and gas supply chain is. Any hiccups start creating an inability to meet demand. Stephen Leeb, an investment advisor and author of The Coming Economic Collapse believes that supply is currently around 102% of demand. We have very little surplus and this seems to go unnoticed by most. Oil companies seem to watch this very closely and take the opportunity to raise prices whenever possible. It seems like a good time to get off of oil as quickly as possible.

References

• http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/02/26/gasshortage.html
• http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/02/27/gasshortagequebec.html

We all pay fees to use municipal dumps and it should be no different when dumping greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. We must shift our linear systems of production into cyclic processes where nothing toxic accumulates in the biosphere, be it solid, liquid or gas. This is basic common sense and the minimum bottom line that we have to reach. No one wants garbage accumulating in their basement or backyard so lets stop creating it.

A revenue neutral, phased in carbon tax would give individuals and industry a clear fore-knowledge of future costs of business-as-usual. This tax strategy would create an incentive for everyone to adjust their consumption of energy over time. Start gradually and communicate the shift so all are aware of the timetable. Make it rapid enough to achieve a real impact in the short-term and foster a sense of urgency but not so fast that business is crippled. Such a tax will send a strong message to industry that the era of government looking the other way on environmental issues is over. It will create a climate of innovation and give consumers greater choice of options when looking for green upgrades.

Write your MP, premier, environment minister and prime minister and let them know that you are ready to see a carbon tax phased in over the next 10 - 20 years as one step toward a zero-waste society.

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax
• http://www.carbontax.org/

Make yourself some local, organic popcorn and cozy up with your favourite eco-geek. Here is a great video lecture by Carol Sanford at MIT on creating a regenerative economy: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/420/.

It’s inspiring to see such visionary leadership demostrated in one of the world’s most prestegious schools in the world. The rate and enormity of evironmental degradation underway necessitates an enormous leap in evolution in all that we do if we are to avert devastaion. This rapid evolution must be led by business and governments alike if we are to realize sustainability on a scale vast enough to reverse the trajectory of the discordant civilization we have created. Carol presents the vision of where we need to go in concise business lingo.

I went to the first night of the Climate Change Film Festival last night. There were two excellent documentaries followed by a talk with Dr. Mark Jaccard, a Canadian economist specializing in sustainable energy systems. Overall it was great but these events always seem to attrack a few nutsbars eager to share their unconventional views on an open mic. Future hint to organizers: There must be a firm announcement up front indicating that racist comments are not welcome, self publicity or emotional rants will not be tollerated and all questions will be prescreened. This is a bit draconian but will save everyone’s time.

The first documentary, Out of Balance was a look at Exxon Mobil’s efforts to fund organizations discrediting and confusing the public about the reality of climate change. They have been effective, using their billions of dollars in profit to create a decade long viel of lies to keep the masses doubtful and unconcerned.

The second film, The Day the Water Died had the camera pointed at Exxon once again. Exxon did essentially nothing to clean up the spill which covered thousands of kilometers of coastline, destroying all marine life and wiping out local economies dependant on the ocean. To add insult to the devastation, they have refused to pay the $5 billion dollar charge awarded by the courts by keeping the case tangled in appeals court for the last 18 years.

Exxon’s logo is more familiarly known under the guise of its subsidiary Esso in Canada. Exxon is one of the most vile and unconscious organizations on the planet and I would encourage everyone to never buy their fuels again. Let them go the way of the Eastern Islanders.

Wow. This low power (10W) indoor composter looks great. It would be an awesome addition for the ecoubanist looking to minimize the amount of waste in their kitchen.

I love my worm composter but it can’t keep up with the amount of organic waste that Lisa and I produce. The Nature Mill is pricy ($359 - $399) but there is volume discounts at quantities of 3 and 12. If anyone wants to go in on a volume order, leave a comment and when we reach 12, I’ll organize the order.

Alternatively, they are coming to Canada soon and available over the web at Home Depot. Nature Mill wasn’t sure how much the retail cost would be.

The $400 - $500 price tag will be a deterrent for all but the most dedicated. I’m all for local production (it’s made in the US) but I think the price barrier will keep the Nature Mill from being widely adopted. Perhaps we’ll see a made in China knock-off for 1/4 the price down the road or some government incentives to push the price down. Then it will be an option for the average household.

I have organized a meeting with the head of Urban Agriculture from the city of Vancouver to discuss their 2010 new urban plots by 2010 initiative on February 24th 2007 at 3:00PM.

Details here: http://commgardens.meetup.com/56/calendar/5478296/

What an excellent weekend. I met David Tracey who is master landscape architect, apple tree expert, founder of Tree City Canada and community activist in the urban agriculture scene. I was planning to put my apple trees into planters but he suggested that a berm of soil would be sufficient for the dwarf trees that I purchased last fall at the UBC Apple Festival. It’s so nice when someone who knows comes along and gives you exactly what you need to know! His suggestion has saved me soo much time and hassle. My planter idea would have taken aleast 20 hours of work to build the plus the hassle of filling them with soil and maintaining them as the wood rots. The berm will be finished next weekend with a few hours of wheelbarrowing soil from the stash by Burrard Bridge.