March 30, 2011

Who is Elizabeth May?

Surprisingly, or well, probably not that surprisingly, not very many people know who she is.
Elizabeth May is the leader of Canada's Green Party. And, what's more, most people don't even know that the Green Party exists. Even though its a marginal party and has yet to get a seat on the House of Commons doesn't mean that it doesn't exist and shouldn't be recognized for its values, goals,  platform etc.

This morning, I also found out that Elizabeth May has been excluded from the televised party leaders' debate for the upcomming Canadian elections. Isn't the point of democracy to have voices heard? How will that be possible if the Green Party is excluded, especially when environmental issues are crucial not just in terms of 'saving the environment' but also for the economy and health.

See the CBC article here for more info and your chance to vote on whether or not the Green Party should be allowed to participate in the debate.
Also, please sign the petition here.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying 'you must go out and vote Green' but I am saying, educate yourself that the Green Party exists or what the other parties' stances are on the environment and help Canada in its next elections through voting (for whichever party you so please).

March 26, 2011

Tonight is Earth Hour. I am making myself a nice supper, and am finally going to enjoy my expensive candle I bought this summer that smells like african mint tea. mmm.

All around I am seeing advertisements for Earth Hour - on TV and posters around lamp posts, and ironically, littered on the ground.

Ignore the date - the idea's the same : )

Also, Youtube has gotten in the spirit. If you go on Youtube on the top left hand corner there is a little lightbulb that you can click and it brings you to their Earth Hour site. Its really neat - here is the direct link:

http://www.youtube.com/earthhour?feature=yoodle

Hope you all have a happy Earth Hour - together we can make a difference!

March 24, 2011

This Saturday, March 26, is another Earth Hour. More specifically, the 5th one so far. It will be happening from 8:30 to 9:30 pm (local time).

According to this year's facebook event "Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change."

And, "On Saturday 27 March, Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action."

Visit the Earth Hour website at www.earthhour.org/beyondthehour - its a really cool site with tons of suggestions on how to take your actions during Earth hour to the next level.

What are you going to do, will you turn off all your lights? What about your  microwave, or the plug that's charging your laptop, will you disconnect those? What about your TV? There are different degrees, but to fully appreciate the one hour, try and turn as much off as possible. Why not have a nice candle-lit night in with someone special, or watch a movie on your laptop (if it's running off of battery power and not plugged in my thought is that this is okay).

McGill University is also participating in Earth Hour. In an e-mail to students, it said that McGill would participate by "by turning off some lights on campus for the weekend, beginning on Friday afternoon."

In addition, and I think this is really neat, "McGill students, faculty and staff are also invited to join our counterparts from Concordia on a flashlight walk up Mount Royal. Meeting point will be at 7:10 p.m. on the lower field of the McGill campus, at the goalposts close to the Roddick Gates. The group is scheduled to arrive at the main lookout on Mount Royal at approximately 8:15 p.m., an incredible opportunity to watch lights across the city being turned off and experience the impact of collective action. Snacks and hot chocolate will be served – participants are asked to bring their own reusable mugs."

This is really cool and even if you aren't in Montreal or don't go to McGill or Concordia, why not do this in your neighbourhood? 

For more information on Earth Hour in Canada see: http://wwf.ca/earthhour

And around the world: http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx 

Finally, I heard about this a couple years ago but it seems to fit - http://www.blackle.com/ is a black version of google. The point being, that the black screen uses less energy than the white screen of regular google. Pretty nifty! 

March 15, 2011

As I stood and waited for my bus this morning, watching the cars go by on the street, I was curious to see who was in them. Where were they going? Were they bringing their children to school or perhaps off to work? However, while this started off as mere curiosity and a bit of snooping, I began to notice how many cars held only one person.

Isn't it supposed to be one of the most basic facts, that if you carpool it saves not only gas but money and emissions? Yet, so many people ignore this or forget this, it seems. Now, I don't know how environmentally conscious these drivers are, but my guess is that everyone by now knows something about global warming and probably recycles or has bought a compact flourescent lightbulb in the hopes of feeling good about their actions. But what about your driving habits? 

This got me thinking - every time I visit my grandparents in Kingston I am struck by the amount of cars on the street. It is a typical suburb, and with no exaggeration, almost every house on the block has 3 cars. Seriously. Not only is this asthetically very unpleasing, but does one family really need 3 cars? Combine this with the very likely probability that each of these cars is driven by one person and you have a lot of emissions on your hands.

Clearly we are a car culture. 

A study in 2006 done on the US says that: "the exhaust coming out of our car has actual weight—an average household with two mid-sized vehicles emits more than 20,000 pounds of CO₂ a year. That's 10 tons of pollution adding to the layer of greenhouse gases that heat the Earth. Excessive amounts of these gases—especially CO₂—are forming too thick a heat blanket around the Earth and leading to climate change."

Source

Yes, there are other factors out there which contribute to global warming, but driving is such an easy habit to alter and change. Be it the type of car you drive, how much you drive, carpooling or using more public transit or even bikes, its easy to cut down the amount you drive and your emissions.

If you are curious about how much CO2 you are emitting when you drive, check out this website CO2 Emissions Calculator. Just for fun, I entered: 2007 Ford Focus 2L 4 cyl E4E and it came out to be that for every 100 km you drive per week, you emit 1 ton of carbon per year. Now, I'm not sure how good or bad this is, obviously you'd have to go through and compare it to other models of Ford and other cars of different makers but similar size - but still, an interesting thing to play around with (especially if you know cars, which I don't).

Finally, two points to leave you thinking: (1) which is better, a vegan driving a hummer or a meat eater driving a hybrid (not sure I've posed this question in an earlier post, but an interesting point nonetheless) (2) Since the 1950s the only measurable and significant drop in emissions was in 2008 during the economic crisis.

March 7, 2011

Check out this link on National Geographic for tons of eye-opening information regarding the Global Carbon Footprint.

Here's a few tid-bits of information that I found striking:

Canada's current emissions are: 736 million tons
U.S. current emissions are: 7,098 million tons
China's current emissions are: 7,249.8 million tons

However, per capita Canada and the U.S. are way closer compared to China:

Canada: 22.8 tons per person
U.S. : 23.9 tons per person
China: 5.6 tons per person

Even more depressing, is that Canada and the U.S. are just under double the fourth highest country, Russia which is 13.9 tons per person.
And, while everyone probably would say the U.S would be the highest per capita, it is not. Australia takes the cake at 27.4 tons of carbon per person.

With that being said, check out this video:

So, lets get out there and do something to lower our carbon footprints!

March 5, 2011

This video shown to me by a friend got me thinking...

The world's population is expected to plateau at around 9-10 billion.
Scary, right?

Even more scary though, is thinking about the amount of food the world is going to have to produce to feed everyone, and the amount of water needed to support everyone.

Clearly, the western style of life will need to change. But how?
Try thinking about what you eat - where it comes from, how much of it you eat and how much energy and water it takes to produce that food. Next, think about how you can cut this down (my suggestion, don't eat meat in every meal - see here for why, along with other information to make you more conscious of your indirect consumption of water)

Also, think about your grooming habits - do you need to take a 30 minute shower? (Okay, maybe only on those cold Canadian mornings or those particularly stressful days, but you know what I mean). Do you need to wash as many clothes as you do, or only put on a half load of laundry (or dishes for that matter)?

While saying 'you must change your habits!' may sound harsh or dramatic to some, if you think about everything in little steps, it becomes a whole lot more realistic and easier to achieve. So, why not just change one think a week, or every two weeks? If you are able to mesh a more conscientious lifestyle with your own, you will be on the right track to make even bigger more eco-friendly changes later on! Good luck! : )

March 3, 2011

I cannot believe I haven't done this sooner, but here is my ultimate favourite ad:

This is an amazing ad and, for me atleast, makes me smile. Our world IS awsome, it's time we remember this and act to preserve all its wonders.