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Please find attached a poster for an upcoming event on October 8th Museum London | 7:30-9:30pm.
Feel free to print off this poster as required. Please distribute this poster to your email lists and encourage recipients to send onwards.
Paul van der Werf, M.Sc.
President
2cg Inc. www.2cg.ca
my green workplace www.mygreenworkplace.ca
519-645-7733
519-317-7733
CO2 CUBES
CO2 CUBES: Visualize a Tonne of Change is an international art exhibition produced by Millennium ART presented in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15) taking place in December 2009. Video by Christophe Cornubert, PUSH.
Built To Last
Winner of The Congress for New Urbanism CNU 17 video contest.
This short film explores the connection between New Urbanism and environmental issues.
Created by independent filmmaker John Paget (www.pagetfilms.com) with First+Main Media (Drew Ward, Chris Elisara and John Paget). www.firstandmain.tv
Van Den Nest Nursery Sale
Van Den Nest Nursery
Pat and Julie Van Den Nest
9594 Somers Road
Eden, On
Phone: 519-866-5269
Email: edentree@amtelecom.net
EARTH DAYS trailer
Official Selection 2009 Sundance Film Festival
It is now all the rage in the Age of Al Gore and Obama, but can you remember when everyone in America was not Going Green? Visually stunning, vastly entertaining and awe-inspiring, Earth Days looks back to the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement—from its post-war rustlings in the 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carsons incendiary bestseller Silent Spring, to the first wildly successful 1970 Earth Day celebration and the subsequent firestorm of political action.
Earth Days secret weapon is a one-two punch of personal testimony and rare archival media. The extraordinary stories of the eras pioneers—among them Former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall; biologist/Population Bomb author Paul Ehrlich; Whole Earth Catalog founder Stewart Brand; Apollo Nine astronaut Rusty Schweickart; and renewable energy pioneer Hunter Lovins—are beautifully illustrated with an incredible array of footage from candy-colored Eisenhower-era tableaux to classic tear-jerking 1970s anti-litterbug PSAs. Directed by acclaimed documentarian Robert Stone (Oswald’s Ghost, Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst) Earth Days is both a poetic meditation on humanity’s complex relationship with nature and an engaging history of the revolutionary achievements—and missed opportunities—of groundbreaking eco-activism.
For more information and to find out where to see the film visit http://www.earthdaysmovie.com
Seattle is the most sustainable big city in the nation, according to a list compiled by Smarter Cities, an NRDC project that looks at the progress American cities are making toward going green. Not surprisingly, San Francisco and Portland are the runners-up.
Using data from the EPA and the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as some voluntary survey responses from city governments, the project identified the top 15 large, medium, and small cities according to 10 different environmental criteria, from air quality to recycling to transportation.
Here’s a look the top 15 large cities (population of 250,000 or more):
It’s hard not to be environmentally minded in a city with views like this.Photo: Simonds1. Seattle
The Emerald City gets props for its brand-new light rail system, reliance on hydroelectricity (and the resulting good air quality), Mayor Greg Nickels’ U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Agreement, and two global warming initiatives: Seattle Climate Action Now and Seattle Climate Partnership. Seattleites are described as “highly educated and environmentally minded.” Think it’s just a coincidence that Grist is headquartered here?
San Francisco is one of the most densely populated cities in the country.Photo: ATIS5472. San Francisco
San Francisco’s dense population, walkability, plastic-bag ban, city-created carbon offset fund, solar power program, and booming local food movement propelled it to the No. 2 spot. (Read more about Mayor Gavin Newsom’s green efforts.)
Portland has always been a leader in big-city sustainability.Photo: Ben Amstutz3. Portland
Seattle’s neighbor to the south got its light rail up and running more than 20 years ago, and the city has always been ahead of the curve on controlling urban sprawl and suppressing greenhouse-gas emissions. Portland’s residents also recycle more than half their waste.
Oakland is making a green comeback.Photo: satanslaundromat4. Oakland, Calif.
This once-struggling city has a Green Jobs Corps, a New Urbanist 10K Downtown Housing Initiative, a Zero Waste Plan, and a growing local food movement (as urban farmer Novella Carpenter explains). It also gets 17 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Sounds like there is a there there.
How green was my Silicon Valley?Photo: the_tahoe_guy5. San Jose, Calif.
Always on the cutting edge of the high-tech world, this capital of Silicon Valley is fast on its way to leading the green-jobs revolution. Its Green Vision includes plans for bringing 25,000 new clean-tech jobs to the area.
Austin’s new smart grid will light up the night—sustainably, of course.Photo: Visualist Images6. Austin, Texas
A liberal outpost in red Texas, this city owns its electric utility (meaning voters elect the utility’s board) and plans to adopt a smart grid in the near future.
Sacramento aims to be green while it grows.Photo: kla40677. Sacramento, Calif.
The Golden State’s capital, while suffering from the side effects of rapid population growth, has a progressive, publicly owned utility that, in addition to offering a 100 percent renewable power option, provides free trees to residents hoping to cool their homes with natural shade.
Boston stands out among less-green East Coast cities.Photo: werkunz18. Boston, Mass.
Boston’s push toward wind and solar energy, its efforts to become more bike-friendly, and its LED traffic lights make it a leader on the environmentally lagging East Coast.
Denver conserves water like nobody’s business.Photo: kla40679. Denver, Colo.
The Mile High City is already way ahead of its goals for reducing water consumption. Its new bike-sharing and composting programs and extensive system of city parks also helped it make the top 15.
Chicago’s city hall has its own green roof.Photo: Smarter Cities10. Chicago
Always famous for its architecture, today Chicago has more LEED-certified buildings than any other U.S. city and boasts 300 green roofs. (Read more about Mayor Richard Daley’s green efforts.)
San Diego is growing smart.Photo: Smarter Cities11. San Diego
Parks and open spaces make up almost a quarter of this city’s land area, and its smart growth program has led to impressive developments.
The Big (Green) Apple.Photo: mikeleeorg12. New York City
What it lacks in air quality and renewable energy it makes up for in density, walkability, and Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to reducing the city’s carbon footprint. (Read more about Bloomberg’s green efforts.)
L.A. works to clear a path through the smog.Photo: Storm Crypt13. Los Angeles
Infamous for its smog and clogged freeways, L.A. is making admirable efforts to switch to renewable energy and conserve its water supply.
Big D: Greener than you’d think.Photo: dherrera_9614. Dallas
Dallas gets 40 percent of its electricity from wind, has seen a huge spike in public transit usage in recent years, and cracks down on lengthy truck idling during the “ozone season” from April to October.
Columbus hopes for an urban resurgence.Photo: jpmueller9915. Columbus, Ohio
A perhaps unexpected entry on the list, flat Columbus lends itself to bike-friendliness. The city has also been working hard to revitalize its downtown core and combat sprawl.
http://www.grist.org/article/index/2009-07-16-sustainable-green-us-cities/PALL/
Last week, Time magazine asked, “Why Are Southerners So Fat?”
There’s no simple answer, of course. Poverty, culture and climate all play a role in the South’s high obesity rates. But one factor that’s increasingly blamed by everyone from medical journals to the CDC is how Southern cities are built.
“The South doesn’t have many bus stops,” Time writes. “Public transportation is paltry, and for most people, the best way to get around is by car. … States like Mississippi and Tennessee also have a surprising lack of sidewalks, discouraging even the most eager pedestrians. Many roads are narrower than those in the North—where streets have wider shoulders to accommodate winter snow—and people who want to bike or jog find themselves uncomfortably close to traffic.”
All of which speaks to the fact that cities matter—to our health, as well as to the health of the planet. When we think of the environment in this country, we generally conjure up images in our mind of cuddly wildlife and pristine wilderness—the kind of things that we go on vacation to see, not what’s around us every day. But how we build our cities can play a very important role in preserving and protecting the environment.
“When it comes to global warming,” Time says, “green acres aren’t all that green—life in the crowded city is actually much more climate-friendly.”
There’s a tendency in America to believe that everyone wants to live on two-acre lots in the suburbs, but city living has made a comeback in recent years, in part because cities are working to improve quality of life and sprawl is turning out to be not-so-sustainable or desirable to many people.
Well-designed transportation systems, mixed-use development, progressive planning, energy and water conservation, recycling programs, open space preservation—all of these factors can help make a city more friendly to the environment and more livable for its residents.
A new website known as Smarter Cities, which launched earlier this month, aims to highlight the potential of cities to help reshape the environment responsibly. The site grew out of the Smarter Cities Project, formerly part of National Geographic’s Green Guide and now affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Smarter Cities ranks communities across the country with a population of 50,000 or more on criteria of sustainability and livability. The data is collected and crunched with the help of a researcher from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
The result: “One of the nation’s most comprehensive and robust databases of U.S. urban progress toward sustainability,” according to the Smarter Cities site.
So how green is your city? It will probably come as no surprise that among the nation’s largest metropolises, perennial greenies such as Seattle, San Francisco and Portland topped the list (although you might be surprised at some of the other names in the top 15). Madison, Wis., is the top medium-sized city, while Bellingham, Wash., gets the small city nod.
Smarter Cities is far from the only attempt to identify the nation’s greenest burgs, and not everyone is going to agree. The criteria used, how they’re weighted, studying cities vs. metro areas, etc., can all make a difference. So while the rankings can be fun, it’s more important to look at what they’re based on and get a sense of what your city is doing right—and where it needs improvement.
By Marcel Tetrault, Comox Valley EchoJuly 17, 2009
If new fast food restaurants open in Comox, it looks like their customers will be going indoors for their Big Macs and double-doubles.
Comox council split down the middle over a motion to ban future drive-thrus in the seaside community, with the final vote coming down 4-3 in favour of the ban.
The decision has no effect on existing drive-thrus.
Councillors Russ Arnott, Ray Crossley, Patti Fletcher and Marcia Turner all supported the motion, with Mayor Paul Ives and councillors Ken Grant and Tom Grant opposed.
The next step will be to draft a bylaw that will have to wind its way through the approval process, including a public hearing where Comox residents can weigh in on the issue.
As far as Ken Grant is concerned, residents have already made their views known and they want more drive-thrus.
"The taxpayers have spoken on this," he said. "As a matter of fact, the word stupid has been used more often than any other bylaw that I’ve seen in four years.
"This is not a good thing. It’s costing us money, it’s costing us jobs and it’s costing us convenience."
He claimed that banning drive-thrus sends the message that Comox is "closed for business."
"I think that’s the wrong message," he said.
But other councillors were not convinced, with Crossley arguing that they could hear from the entire community first hand when the bylaw goes to public hearing.
"There are a lot of people that have not been part of this conversation," he said.
"This is a conversation that every community … is starting to have with people, and I’m not afraid to have it. It’s long past due, I feel."
The issue was a divisive one at the council table and, referring to a full-page ad that ran in several newspapers, Arnott said it is also becoming divisive within the community.
The ad, which lists councillors contact information, claims that "anti-car activists" want to ban all drive-thrus, not just new ones, even though it is clear that the Comox bylaw, at which the ad is targeted, is only for new drive-thrus.
"This misinformation is causing a lot of concern among residents," said Arnott. "This information is going out and what it’s doing is just stirring a nest here."
The council meeting was packed with fast-food restaurant owners and staff, some of whom spoke to council and argued that not only would the ban hurt their business, but it would also be counter-productive.
They argued that parking a car could produce more emissions than going through a drive-thru and people might actually travel further to use a restaurant with a drive-thru if the closest one was not drive-thru equipped.
"Collectively we are people on the move," said Comox Valley McDonald’s Restaurant owner John McInnes.
"Banning drive-thrus does not get cars off the road. What banning drive-thrus does, though, is get more cars into parking lots."
The restaurant owners are asking council to consider adopting an anti-idling bylaw rather than banning new drive-thrus.
They did agree that a selective ban in some parts of Comox, such as downtown, would be acceptable, but not a blanket ban that includes the main transportation corridors such as Guthrie and Anderton roads.
The entire issue cropped up after drive-thrus were permitted at the new development at that intersection that includes a TD Bank and a Starbucks, each with drive-thrus.
The issue is now with staff, who are tasked with drawing up the new bylaw.
http://drivethrulies.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/success-drive-thru-ban-bylaw-given-first-approval/
http://www.canada.com/Drive+thru+bylaw+given+first+approval/1800771/story.html
“Climate policy is characterized by the habituation of low expectations and a culture of failure. There is an urgent need to understand global warming and the tipping points for dangerous impacts that we have already crossed as a sustainability emergency that takes us beyond the politics of failure-inducing compromise. We are now in a race between climate tipping points and political tipping points.”
David Spratt, Philip Sutton, Climate Code Red, Australia, Published July, 2008
