“Green is the prime colour of the world, and that from which it’s loveliness arises.”
~ Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Spanish Dramatist and Poet
Congratulations Sioux Lookout!
With an exciting day fast approaching… this post is a great time for me to share some exciting information!
I would like to extend many thanks to the community of Sioux Lookout for setting an incredibly positive example and for being a community leading in environmental sustainability initiatives.
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BYLAW NO. 20-10 BEING A BYLAW TO PROHIBIT THE SALE OR FREE DISTRIBUTION OF PLASTIC BAGS WITHIN THE MUNICIPALITY OF SIOUX LOOKOUT
Council authorized the first reading of Bylaw No. 20-10 to Prohibit the Sale or free distribution of Plastic Bags within the Municipality of Sioux Lookout. Council directs staff to undertake public consultation on the proposed Bylaw.
Dewing shared, “First reading is basically council’s intent or demonstration of intent to pass the bylaw. It’s going to public consultation. It will be out there. It will be on the web site. We’ll put advertisements out and now the public can read it and the business community and make formal comments as to whether or not the final and formal passing of the bylaw would affect them adversely, whether they want some changes.”
If the bylaw passes its third and final reading, Sioux Lookout would become the first community in Ontario to ban the sale or free distribution of single use plastic shopping bags at the check out.
Mayor Kathy Poling says, “I personally feel that it is a step in the right direction and I eagerly await input from the community.”
The bylaw would not ban the bags people put fruits and vegetables in, garbage bags, the little bags used to clean up after pets or other plastic bags.
Saltel said both the business community and residents who were surveyed on the issue have been in favour of banning the bag.
To read the full article please view pages 17 and 18 HERE.
Earth Day is tomorrow, please remember to “bring your own bag” on Earth Day and every day.
Heal the Bay “Trash Your Friends”
Fortunately, this post is not an April Fool’s joke. It’s true that this new campaign by “Heal the Bay” will be beneficial since I am telling you about it, you will tell your friends, and your friends will tell their friends until Mr, Ms and Mrs somebody from who knows where will find out about the campaign. Plus, they will never have heard about the disastrous impacts of plastic shopping bags and by gaining this knowledge they will be able to change their habits; no plastic shopping bags!
It is a fun way of spreading the word… so spread the “trash talk” by “trashing your friends.”
A Related Topic…
This is very relevant. I feel as strongly about this as I do about plastic bags.
Earth Day 2010 Participating Retailers!
It’s that time of year! Earth Day is on Thursday, April 22, 2010.
For more information, and for a list of participating retailers, CLICK HERE.
Marion Drysdale Provincial Award Winner
Exciting News!!!
The video that I entered in the Marion Drysdale Contest for the theme, “Suppress Excess; Living Within Our Means,” won provincially in the video-animation category. I was presented a framed certificate at the award ceremony by the Minister for Education. This is a prestigious Student Achievement Award held by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and it was an absolute honour to be chosen as a winner.
My video demonstrates the importance of the Marion Drysdale Contest theme; becoming a conscious consumer, because one person can make a difference.
Retired Teachers of Ontario – District 35
I was invited to “teach” the teachers, as a matter of speaking (no pun intended). The subject of my presentation was youth community leadership. I told them about my accomplishments over the past few years relating to environmental activism.
I’ve been completing scholarship applications lately and I love this question. I decided to share my answer with the group as a thank you to all teachers.
What aspect of your life science education has been most rewarding?
Throughout my science education I have been taught to understand natural systems. This has been extremely rewarding since it has sparked my appreciation for the complexity of nature. This appreciation is what drives my desire to practice and encourage sustainable lifestyle; I would like to ensure that the complexity of nature is available for future generations to appreciate as well.
I want to thank them because I am sure that they have taught a student something that has brought enlightenment to the student’s life.
Sustainable Communities in the North Conference
On February 25 and 26 I attended the 1st annual “Sustainable Communities in the North Conference” (Thunder Bay, ON) with members of the Dryden Envirothon Team. The main issue that the conference addressed was peak oil and resilience of communities. Conference pre-requisite: watched the documentary – “The End of Suburbia”.
“It is necessary that all the people of this region are given a forum to celebrate our strength and character and to feel safe and comfortable enough to take the long, hard and honest look at the challenges we face in an era of great uncertainty.” – Alex Boulet, SCN Chairperson
Dr. Mirella Stroink (Lakehead University) was the initial speaker at the conference. Her ideas were from a psychological perspective. She identified one of our main barriers to sustainability as mental assumption. It leads us to assume that the marketplace is a more important ecossytem in which to seek survival than the biophysical environment; an assumption that affects our environmental behaviour. She proposed that communities will be more secure environmentally and economically if they become more adaptive and resilient. With the community of Dryden in mind, it is not resilient to be extremely dependent on one sector.
How do we achieve resilience?
- Diversity: (people, business, energy, sources of food, land use planning, communities, connections…etc.) Each community must examine it’s own resources to achieve resilience.
- Modularity: Become interconnected both locally and broadly. Modular systems can self-organize in the event of shock (since they already have patterns of interactions within their communities).
Localization is our first priority. We must build the capability to produce locally what we CAN produce locally.
Building Resilience:
- land use planning
- business development (www.livingeconomies.org)
- energy and food production
- change behaviour
- education (change content and approach since it is currently designed to prepare people for the “marketplace ecosystem”)
- teach hard skills (farming…)
- unplug (replace the TV with stimulating community events to develop a community identity)
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During the conference, solutions were discussed during the youth forum and were shared during the conference visionary session.
