Category Archives: Green

The Case for Wal-Mart

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The mega-company is called Walmart and its – or his/her, because corporations are people – motto is Save Money. Live Better. I will venture a guess that – ahem – about 99% of this blog’s readers do not believe that Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest private employer and largest public corporation, allows our global community to live better.

And perhaps this is true. I mean, the company distributes a lot of stuff that we don’t really need, makes messes while figuring out how to deliver these things, and is really and truly the antithesis of local. Over the past decade, communities from South Korea to Argentina to Germany to Canada have fought Walmart’s entrance into their neighbourhoods. The company’s labour practices have been called into question. Oh, and their logo is a friggin’ Sun!

And perhaps there is more to Walmart’s unstoppable and pervasive global presence than most people know. Perhaps the company – or s/he – deserves a bit more credit for the very high standard of environmentally-friendly business practices that it – or s/he – demonstrates to all the other multi-national corporations out there.

For example, check out this totally unbiased footage from a documentary about sustainability that involves Walmart:

Thoughts? Feelings? Zero waste?

Okay, so this isn’t technically from a “documentary” – it’s from Walmart.com’s Press Room. Still, the message is a compelling one. Especially since I’m pretty sure that the word “environment” isn’t used once by anyone in the video. The corporation – s/he – has the goal of making zero waste because such a thing is good, if not great, business.

Also, Walmart is the global distributor of stuff-we-don’t-need and this means that s/he holds a lot of power in terms of what kind of packaging  in which suppliers wrap the things that we don’t really need. To say the least, Walmart can bring change from global to local more efficiently than our local retailers, the store’s sale of millions of LED lightbulbs will do more to lower household electricity use than any Canadian or American government policies ever could.

In the world of triple-bottom-line sustainability – where financial, natural and human capital are all ingredients to the shared value created by a business – Walmart has always been found wanting when it comes to taking care of people; however, the innovative employment opportunities – based on cooperative principles – demonstrated in emerging markets like Brazil are pretty darn interesting. And, for the record, many local small businesses pay and treat their employees terribly, too. At the end of the day, though, treating people well is also good for business, so don’t be surprised if Walmart finally gets there, too.

Finally, I just have to say that, as an amateur humourist, the idea that Walmart’s Zero Waste initiative probably began with a bunch of c-suite people brainstorming what could, should and would be crushed in the Cram-a-lot is just plain hilarious.

Um, so I guess I’ll wrap up by saying, um, thanks Walmart? [Editor's note: this feels weird...].

–

Masthead photo courtesy of Walmart Stores

Gasoline

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I’ve been driving more lately.  Between a September packed full of work events, a commitment to camping every month since April (and hopefully every month through to March) and starting yesterday a transit strike in York Region, I’ve been seeing the inside of my car a lot more that I’m used to lately.  And that means a lot more trips to the pumps and consequently a reminder of the hate-love relationship that many people experience with gasoline.

Like many things gasoline is complicated.  It has enabled us to live the lives we are now – as a cheap, portable fuel that drives us, our lifestyles, and our economy.  And while the local (as in where we extract oil from) and long-term (as in climate change)  impacts can be devastating, our adoption of gasoline powered engines was considered a cleaner alternative to horses and coal.  And, as I recently was reminded at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the discovery of gasoline resulted in a significant decline in whaling at a time when whale population depletion was getting critical.

But as you likely already know the ending of the story isn’t looking as good.  Oil is a finite resource, prices at the pump are climbing and climate change is already happening.   Whether these crises significantly affect the way we live in 30 years, 60 years, or even in 100 years, is yet to be seen.  And all the driving we do takes away time from our family, friends and community.  The time we’ve relied on gasoline for how we live, move around and feed ourselves will only be a short blip in human history yet it seems completely normal to so many of us.

To not end on a negative note, even though I’ve generally been feeling pretty blue the last couple of days, I’ll quote the band Po’ Girl and their song “Gasoline” that I listened to on my slow drive home on the 401 today.

Gasoline gasoline
It’s dragged on too long
What should have been
A weekend affair
Cause there are stories to be told
And that’s what we’re made up of oh
All the stories in our hearts cause in our hearts
Is what we are

—

Masthead photo courtesy of Rennett Stowe

 

VanValley is delicious!

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I signed up for the VanValley Buyers Club in July and it’s been such a fabulous experience, I had to share.  We paid about $600 up front for 17 weeks of amazing produce.  Each week, we’re pretty much set for fruit and veggies except for a few extras here and there, like California grapes and avocados from Chile.  I’ve always supported the philosophy of community supported agriculture (CSA), but this is the first time I’ve been directly involved.  And it’s been awesome to be a part of.

From their website, the focus of VanValley is to provide buyers club clients with the best LOCAL produce at competitive pricing. We believe that through food and supporting sustainable LOCAL food systems we are also building relationships and community (http://vanvalley.wordpress.com).  VanValley started this year and from my perspective, it’s been a smash hit.

We’ve signed up for weekly delivery of organic produce before and I didn’t love it.  No matter how many cool-packs were included in the bin, the produce would always be a bit sad by the time I got home from work to fetch the delivery from our sunny front step.  Unfamiliar produce would often end up in the compost as I didn’t know what to do with it. And it was expensive.

In contrast, VanValley offers value, convenience and fun.  Volunteers staff a pick-up table at our local coffee house from 4 to 7pm once a week.  That means we can peacefully make our way there after work.  Most evenings, we go as a family and end up chatting with neighbours and the amazing volunteers while we’re there.  And usually, we munch on farm-fresh cucumbers from Surrey or peaches from Keremeos on the walk home.

Administration has been seamless from the start, which I must admit was a pleasant surprise.  I’m not sure why, but I expected a period of working out the kinks.  There wasn’t one and I’m still impressed by how efficient the process is.  Members of the Buyers Club receive a weekly newsletter that includes a list of the produce we’re getting, recipes featuring that produce and news from the farmers.  Plus, there’s a trades box at the pick-up location and I love that.  We have lettuce in our edible garden, so we can swap out greens from our weekly box and replace it with something that another member passed on (like blueberries – yum!).  It’s such a simple idea and it makes for an even better experience.

It’s been wonderful to eat seasonal produce.  We loved the radishes and stone fruit through summer, the tomatoes and potatoes as we approached Labour Day, and now the deep purple beets and beautiful green squashes as we settle into fall.  It’s such a natural way to eat and so incredibly satisfying because the food matches the season.

The beauty of supporting local producers and sustainable food systems has become somehow less important than the experience of participating in community in this way.  We signed up because of our politics, but interestingly, our ideological motivations have sort of faded into the background because the practice makes perfect sense and the experience is just so darn great.

Like most Vancouverites, I’m already looking forward to next summer.  And our next summer will definitely include VanValley.  In the meantime, I’ll go back to shopping on the Drive for my organic produce.  And I expect that I’ll buy California grapes and avocados from Chile less often than I did before.

Masthead photo courtesy of Augapfel.

Steve Nash’s Energy Efficient Community

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During the month of October, youth in BC have an opportunity to Save Like Steve.

Once again, my main man Steve Nash shows what it takes to build community.

As discussed many, many, many times by the contributors to this blog, Steve Nash is the greatest. His resume already boasts job titles such as NBA superstar, entrepreneur,  philanthropist, film director, professional sports team owner, and now he’s adding to the list the role of badass Energy Waste Detective.

Steve’s collaboration surrounding BC Hydro’s Pocket Waste Buster App sees him playing the role of a mustachioed, 1970s-style detective who solves crimes against energy efficiency. Here are a couple of teaser trailers from the project:

Once again, Steve Nash reveals himself to be a spokesperson for noble environmental causes. In addition to wearing the world’s first basketball shoe made out of recycled materials, he’s championing one of our community’s most important causes in a downright edutaining way. Oh, and people can win fabulous prizes by participating in the contest.

Thanks, Steve, for helping us save energy and have fun at the same time.

Masthead photo courtesy of Steve Punter.

A Planetary Champion Turns 40

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Today marks the 40th anniversary of Greenpeace and the Daily Gumboot would like to tip its hat to the founders who began an environmental movement forty years ago in their Vancouver, Kitsilano living room.

Greenpeace Turns 40

On September 15th, 1971 Greenpeace set sail on its first voyage to try and stop nuclear testing in Alaska. The small crew of activists that sailed out of False Creek has now grown into the world’s largest, independent environmental organization.

In celebration of this milestone, Greenpeace is throwing a free all-day festival at Jericho beach in Vancouver on Saturday, September 17th from 11am to 6pm.

The Rainbow Warrior

Earlier this year, The Daily Gumboot wrote about the New Rainbow warrior, the ship Greenpeace has sailed for the last 40 years.

In 2010, in an effort to fundraise for a new ship, Greenpeace International launched an online campaign that encouraged donors to select a part of the ship they want to sponsor.  The end result was an interactive project that not only broke the mold on what an online fundraising campaign can accomplish, it was a lot of fun.

Word on the open seas is that the new Rainbow Warrior is in the North Sea right now doing sea trials so it’s unlikely she’ll make an appearance in Vancouver this weekend. Rest assured there will be a real party atmosphere as Greenpeace celebrates its 40th in it’s hometown.

Greenpeace and the Rainbow Warrior have left their marks on the global psyche and I expect this organization will continue to push the boundaries of what it means to be a planetary champion, this week and for the next forty years.

Happy Birthday!

Harvest!

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Harvest is in full swing. To kick it off Jim and I attended our CSA’s (Community Shared Agriculture) annual harvest party. We’ve been CSA members of Kawartha Ecological Growers for three years now and this is the second time we’ve made it out to the farm(s) for their annual party. The KEG Harvest Party brought together many of the people from my food community, including a number of the vendors from my local farmers’ market, the Apple Tree Market. We were treated to a potluck, tomato tasting, free camping, a wild light show from nature (that didn’t turn into rain until after we went to bed), and a samba band around a giant campfire – Samba Elegua. We woke up to hot chocolate from ChocoSol and handmade tortillas for breakfast topped with tomatoes and jalapeños.

But this only marked the start of the harvest season for us. We brought home a bushel of heirloom tomatoes from the farm to preserve and after a few hours had jars of yellow, green, orange and red tomatoes. Their seeds have also been saved for next year. We have since canned another bushel of roma tomatoes, including our annual batch of ketchup. Still on deck are plans for salsa, pickled roasted red peppers, a batch of pumpkin beer, and saving a few more tomato seeds, enough to keep us busy to the more official harvest party: Thanksgiving. With all this on the go the past couple of weeks I’ve slacked on my Gumboot writing duties and decided instead to share a few pictures.

Bike Share in Melbourne Lacks Traction

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About 12 months ago, the City of Melbourne introduced a new bike share program for the Melbourne community. Based on similar highly successful programs in places like London, Montreal and San Francisco, the program provides easy access to 100 bikes at 10 stations across the city.

But one year on, rider numbers have fallen well short of expectations and debate is currently raging in Melbourne about the long-term viability of the program. It seems 25,000 Melbournians will happily turn out for a city parade to congratulate Australia’s first Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, but only about 250 per day actually want to get on a bike themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I think bike share programs are an awesome idea. I spent an amazing week in Montreal cruising around on a Bixi bike, and there are numerous successful examples of bike share programs across the world that are both utilised and adored by local communities.

So why is Melbourne different? Firstly, it’s got to do with helmets. Helmets are compulsory in Australia and the fine for not wearing one while cycling is hefty. So you’d think that helmets would be available to rent with the bikes right? Wrong. Australian law also mandates that if a helmet is rented, an inspection and sterilization must be completed after each rental, which is clearly not going to happen.

As a result, share-cyclists either need to rent a helmet from a bike rental store, or buy one from vending machines located near the bike stations. The other option of course is to carry a helmet with you on the off-chance that you might want to cycle, along with a spare pair of trainers in case you need to go running, and a clean pair of underpants in case you get hit by a bus.

Critics of the program have also suggested that the city might have put the cart before the horse in creating the program, and that the money should have first gone into providing safe cycling infrastructure in the city before we start providing the bikes.

Melbourne isn’t an easy place to cycle – bike lanes are few and far between, and where they do exist they are narrow, un-segregated and prone to random disappearance when the roads get too narrow.  Throw in trams, hook turns and generally inconsiderate drivers, and riding in Melbourne can seem like a bit of a suicide mission.

But regardless of the issues, I prefer to live in a city that supports bike-sharing than one that doesn’t, and hopefully the program is at least educating the Melbourne community about the ease and efficiency of using bikes for short trips. Now if we could just get Le Tour guys using these bikes, maybe their popularity would increase…

Remembering Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

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How many times have you heard those three words repeated?  And how much have those three words translated into action?

It isn’t easy.  We live among disposable products.  From the plastic bags in grocery stores, to the mop heads used for cleaning, to the printers we buy every two years just after the warranty runs out.  I’m sure we could all write a list longer than this post of the disposable items in our everyday lives.  Sure, there is a convenience factor with all the stuff we use for a short time before tossing.  But I would bet most of the time the benefits from convenience are far outweighed by the many negatives to our environment and many lost opportunities for our community.  I’ve been thinking about the 3Rs a bit more in the past few week , both at home and work, and thought I’d share (and hope that you do the same).

Reduce.  There are at least few sides to this equation, owning less and making sure the things you do buy are durable and come in minimal packaging.  There are a lot of ways to own less stuff, whether through borrowing, leasing, or renting.  Libraries are a great example of this; when I know I only need a book for a short time I’ll borrow it rather than buy.  Since I don’t expect I’ll be doing too much winter camping, when I do go (since I’m trying to go camping every month for a year) I’ll rent the extra equipment I need.  This is an approach that is best suited when there is only a short term or occasional use.  When it is something you need in the long term it makes more sense to find durable items that will last, can be repaired, and are multipurpose.  I accumulated a lot of cheap kitchen gadgets as a student and not that many of them have stood the test of time.  As I now replace them I look for things that I hope will last longer.  (My current project is to find an all stainless steel French press when my current Franken-French press – a combination of two broken French presses – inevitably breaks).   The other main approach I use is to try to avoid over-packaging.  I find one of the easiest ways to do this is to go local.  The farmers we get food from each week don’t even have plastic bags, they’ve made us bring our own from the start.  And it isn’t just food when packaging can be avoided.  A couple of years I had a commuter cycling bag made for me by a Toronto-based bike store.  I not only got exactly the bag I wanted when I picked it up a week after ordering it but it also didn’t come in boxes, plastic bags or anything else that I would toss as soon as I got it.

Reuse.  One of the things that made me think about the 3Rs was the huge numbers of ziploc-style bags that we took canoe camping last week, to store food and keep everything dry.  As part of the post-camping chores, I washed all these bags and hung them out to dry for the next canoe camping adventure.  Again, there are a couple of ways to achieve greater reuse including reusing your own stuff or buying/selling used stuff.   I find food an easy area to practice reuse, whether from shopping with reusable bags to preserving tomatoes and other veggies in reusable mason jars.  Jim and I have almost eliminated the use of paper towels by having a lot of dishcloths and dishtowels on hand that can just get tossed in the wash.  Buying used goods rather than buying new or selling used goods rather than recycling or land-filling has been a popular approach for a while.  Yard sales, newspaper classified, charity thrift stores, and flea markets have been around for a while.  Newer options include online searchable classified like kijiji and craig’s list, community swaps, and freecycling.    These alternatives to buying new mean a more affordable way to get stuff, a chance to find something unique and an increased likelihood of interacting with your community during the exchange.  And by being a seller, there is a chance to make a bit of cash. Or, if you are unmotivated to sell like I am, Toronto has a culture of leaving out reusable items a few days before garbage day for others to pick up.  I’ve scored a lot of great pots for my tomatoes this way and have left a few things on the curb as well that quickly were picked up.

Recycle.  Most places are getting pretty good at offering recycling as part of curb side pick up and I’ve been lucky enough to live in places with decent recycling programs.  This is likely the side of the 3R equation we’re all best at (I know I am).  But this is the lowest on the 3Rs hierarchy.  Reduce and Reuse are considered better.  The reason for this is even though the materials themselves might be diverted from landfills, a lot of energy and water can be used to transport the materials and remanufacture them.  And since most manufacturers don’t design their products with recycling in mind, a lot of stuff still ends up in a landfill.  Plus, recycling programs don’t come cheap.  They cost local governments money to run that I doubt they often recover because the operating costs would be greater than the price they’d get for the materials once they are sorted and sold (since so many of us are doing in now supply is likely outpacing demand).  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to discourage recycling, we’ve come a long way and I think we should be pushing for more to be diverted from landfill.  But the best way to get a higher diversion is for something to not need to be in the waste stream in the first place.

Community on the Juan de Fuca Trail

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47 kilometers of West Coast awesomeness!

Last week, John and I went on an adventure in the wilderness. After weeks of accumulating supplies, preparing menus, going on test hikes, and becoming far too acquainted with the staff at MEC, we set out on the Juan De Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. Mentally – and somewhat physically – prepared for the 47 km, 5 day hike, what follows is a daily synopsis of the ups and downs (literally and metaphorically), our observations about community we found on the trail, and some stories and anecdotes that are just, well, funny.

Bear Beach looks good early in the morning.

Day 1: China Beach to Bear Beach

Filled with excitement and anxious to get started, we threw on our packs and headed towards the trail from the China Beach parking lot … only to be stopped in our tracks by a number of minor, let’s say, incidents. Incident #1: John realizing his water bladder, attached to his backpack, is empty … which subsequently made sense when we noticed that the back seat of the car was soaked. Incident #2: Michelle checking her pocket for the map to give it one last look, only to realize it’s nowhere to be found. Good thing it turned up … in her father-in-law’s pocket! Incident #3: Backcountry camping fees? Strictly enforced and payable at the start of the trail? Needless to say, we knew nothing of backcountry camping fees. To add to the confusion, we received five different answers from five different people about how we could pay and how much it was – luckily, the parents-in-law come to the rescue, making up for the near-fiasco with the map. Despite the multiple incidents, we head out on the trail (half an hour later than expected), arriving safe and sound about 4 hours later at beautiful Bear Beach.

This was one of the 15 or so times that Michelle walked up during the Day 2 experience. Also, love the pink!

Day 2: Bear Beach to Chin Beach

By 10am we had packed up our wicked awesome camp site – complete with giant table – and were striking out on the trail behind a group of Japanese tourists, Team Texas and a hardcore young man who was, apparently, doing the entire trail in three days. The kid was moving fast.

For seven hours – over about 12 kilometers – John and I hiked up and over about 15 different headlands. This basically meant walking up for about 150-200 meters, looking around at the gorgeous, lush and spectacular scenery, and then walking down for about 150-200 meters. And then we crossed a creek. And then we did it all over again. Other than expelling a combined 30 liters of sweat and starting to feel our packs weighing on our shoulders in achey new ways, this part of the trail was an achievement of epic proportions with very little collatoral damage to our bodies, minds and/or souls. By 7pm we settled into a delicious meal of quinoa next to a modest little fire and watched seagulls feast on shellfish under a misty sunset.

The 16 kilometer marker was a long, long, long time coming. Mostly because we either missed marker 15 or it's missing along the trail. Needless to say, we stopped for lunch here.

Day 3: Chin Beach to Sombrio Beach

MICE! That’s right. Focusing a lot – perhaps too much – on nefarious bears and cougars, we underestimated the chewy vigour of some other four-legged creatures who live on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. During the night, a gang of wild mice gnawed through our packs in search of delicious treats. Luckily, no trail mix or my candies were harmed.

This hike was similar to – but not the same as – day two. We went up, up, up a lot right away, but there wasn’t as much repetition. Also, a kilometer of the hike took place along about a flat and groomed old logging road. Quite a nice respite!

Arriving at Sombrio Beach, John and I learned a lesson about “maps” and “distances” at Sombrio. The 20.7 kilometers listed on the map got us to Sombrio Point, not the beach itself. No, to get to the beach we hiked with our tired legs (in utter silence, which says a lot) along a sheer cliff, through some slippery, smelly muck and up, over and around two coves. Though the trail wasn’t actually all that technical, this is the place where – because of sheer fatigue – we could’ve died quite easily because of one little misstep (or perhaps because we let our guard down against the roaming packs of radioactive ninja mice that the Juan de Fuca Trail might possibly yield).

Oh, and Sombrio is the place where we started having deeper conversations with our new friends, the Texans, who were particularly impressed by the awesomeness of our campsite and my very pink hiking attire.

John relaxes by our very awesome campsite and even more awesome fire at Sombrio Beach.

Day 4: Sombrio Beach to Payzant Creek

Before leaving Sombrio we stumbled across a family of sea otters.

Waking up to the sound of crashing waves might be the best sound. Ever. Follow that with a delicious Spanish Frittata breakfast (thanks, MEC!), coffee, and a flawless pack-up, and we found ourselves setting out happily for an apparently “moderate” (according to aforementioned “map”), albeit long (13 km), day. The day was, actually, quite moderate – if one were to compare it to the gruelling terrain of the previous two days. Compared to day one, it was definitely harder and almost twice as long.

The hike itself was gorgeous. We left the comfort of the coastline for the more mysterious woods, finding ourselves surrounded by old growth trees and cooler temperatures. Setting up camp in the middle of a rainforest, mist and sunshine streaming through the myriad of trees, was one of the memorable moments of the trip. Team Texas wandered in a few hours after us – we felt a bit better about how incredibly sore we were after seeing them limp and drag themselves into the campsite. As we weren’t allowed fires in the woods, Day 4 was an early night – we were asleep no later than 9:30pm (which was probably a good thing, as it allowed our bodies to recuperate from the pain we had inflicted upon them).

The towering trees around Payzant Creek!

Day 5: Payzant Creek to Botanical Beach

A bittersweet day – a mere 7 km and we would be back in the real world! While we were looking forward to a homecooked meal and mostly, well, not smelling, it was sad leaving the calm, relaxing and awe-inspiring wilderness. This short four hour hike out, with lots of boardwalks and more and more hikers as we got closer to Botanical Beach, included a permit-check by a BC Parks Ranger/Warden/Guide/Hero as well as many fun chats with our Texan friends as well as Jonathan, a lone hiker from Winnipeg who was just downright delightful.

 Final Reflections

Since monkeys jumped down from trees, crossed the svannah, killed all the dinosaurs, and turned into people we’ve had a very interesting relationship with nature. We’ve worshipped, groomed, destroyed, restored, protected, developed, and celebrated the Earth during our time here. And that might be the coolest thing about getting out into nature and away from so much urbanity – a simple and fun five days in the woods is enough to remind any city dweller that people are a part of the natural environment and it’s a part of us. Taking time to appreciate this relationship is as important as it is enjoyable.

Thanks, Juan de Fuca Trail for being so darn enjoyably natural!

 

Bike Lanes and Post-Cold War Lithuania

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We’ve all heard Vancouver’s bike lanes have caused a bit of “stir” recently. But all the opponents out there should remember it could be a lot worse. Don’t believe me? Check out what Arturas Zoukas, mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania recently did to a car that had “parked illegally” in a bike lane.

According to Gawker (where I found this little gem) Zoukas:

combined the focus on sustainability of 21st-century urban administrative practices with the focus on tanks of 20th-century Soviet-style urban administrative practices and took an armored personnel carrier to the streets for a video in which he ran over a Mercedes-Benz parked, illegally, in a bike lane… The run-over was all staged, which is disappointing, but it doesn’t make the sight of that car being crushed any less sweet. Mayors: This is how you may.

Don’t believe it? Watch the video. Bloggers just can’t make this stuff up.