have you seen this commercial?
as a long-time bike commuter, i have to admit that i’ve never been the biggest fan of wind (since it always seemed to be a head-wind, for some reason).
this commercial makes me re-think my biais against this misunderstood green-powerhouse.
:)
c.
i am not american, and so won’t be voting this year in their elections (primary or otherwise) … but wow! … what a fun year it has been already. i don’t know who i would vote for, since all the front runners (of both parties) are impressive in their own right.
nonetheless, i am posting this link of obama’s words being turned into song, not because i think the americans should or should not vote for him, but simply because i think it is nice to see that a politician’s words again inspire to the point that artists use them to create art … and, it is true as well that it is nice to see a politician attempting to bring all folks in a nation together instead of treading in the whole right/left and them/us rhetoric.
hey, i don’t know anything about who would be the best nominee, or the best prez … but i do know that this is pretty neat.
… and, that it is nice to see that american politics are fun again!
so if you are american, i wish you the best this time around! … it ain’t gonna be easy, but it should be memorable.
c.
… in other words, if the environment seems like a cause more or less important to you, then make sure as a meat-eater (if you happen to be one) that you are the prius and not the hummer … because apparently the industrial meat industry contributes 25% of our greenhouse gases, meaning our fascination with eating meat, poultry and fish contributes more to climate change than transportation!
this is coming to me from mark bittman who wrote a great article in the ny times on sunday on why eating as much meat as we do (as north americans, and increasingly as asians too) isn’t sustainable. and while mr. bittman isn’t a vegetarian, he writes persuasively about why those who care about the planet should cut back on meat consumption … by at least 20%.
surprising, no? i can’t remember the last time i heard someone encouraging people to not eat meat! … just seems to me that actively proselytizing for vegetarianism (even part-time vegetarianism) is so passé! … so much so that i was pleasantly surprised, and actually quite liked the feeling … !
all the arguments we have heard in the past are here: it takes 2-5 times more grain to produce the same amount of calories through livestock as it would through just eating the grain (and it actually takes 10 times more grain if we are talking about grain-fed livestock in the usa). the livestock focused agri-business in north america is responsible for the greater part of watershed issues on the continent.
then there is the health stuff: americans eat about 200 lbs of meat a year, per person … which translates into about 110 grams of (meat) protein a day, when all that is really needed is about 30 grams (the majority (if not entirety) of which could come from plant proteins). our health suffers, the planet suffers, and all this meat obsession is a big part of why millions of people go malnourished around the globe …
all that stuff.
anyway, i am not trying to convert you to vegetarianism! i just liked that someone at the nytimes cared enough to ‘kinda’ do that (even though he seemed to be hiding his intentions a bit). … i know today the politically correct thing is to never question how someone chooses to live their life; focus only on the good; eco is fun, sexy and easy … all that stuff. and i can play by those rules, i guess …
just thought it was nice to hear some of that old-time environmental talk still kicking around, asking us to rethink our priorities, cut back, think of the big picture and all that. i just got a little nostalgic!
… as an aside, bittman relies quite a bit on the sagesse of michael pollan and his new book in defense of food. sounds like a good read … i’ll see if it’s at the library and let you know what i think …
oh, and now that my mind is racing, just before bed … if you’re into books on food, and even maybe books on eating greener and healthier, check out frances moore lappé and her books like diet for a small planet, and hope’s edge. her newest writings include some around the world culture culinary voyages with her daughter that make for good, educational and fun reading!
anyway … night!
c.
je n’écris pas ici en français pour la seule raison que d’habitude je n’ai pas assez de temps pour le faire. comme anglophone (mais francophile), je suis (presque) capable de le faire, mais il faut travailler là-dessus plus longtemps, c’est clair.
… et je fais des erreurs aussi, mais pour moi ça n’est pas si grave …
en tout cas, j’écris ce soir en français pour célébrer un petit peu laure waridel, co-fondratrice d’equiterre … sociologue, auteur, écologiste, mère et champion de la durabilité — la durabilité de nos sociétés et notre environnement. elle a donné une conférence aujourd’hui à la bibliotèque mile end (près de chez nous) et c’est très impressionant de voir à quel point elle est savante, engagante et motivante. elle est réaliste et optimiste ! la voyant m’inspirait à renouveler l’effort pour contribuer à un meilleur monde.
… parce que vous n’étiez pas là aujourd’hui (probablement, puisque il n’y avait pas de tellement monde présent) je mets ici un lien pour sedna tv - une emission sur radio-canada - où il y a une entrevue avec laure waridel qui est très bonne. pour la voir, suivez le lien, puis cliquez sur le lien ’webemissions’, puis le lien ’webemission 10′ (la semaine de 29 octobre 2007). amusez-vous !
pour lire plus sur cette dame impressionante, voici un article de fond sur elle.
c.
the interview of moshe safdie on eleanor wachtel’s ‘on the arts’ series the other day really left me fixated on the design of moshe safdie. there is so much that i like about this man. first, his old school sensibility that sees architecture as an important event that should ultimately serve the people who will breathe life into it … as well as society in general, and humankind overall … all these wonderful dreams writ large. all these wonderful dreams based on design, detail and good math. i love it !
i am so sick of the iconic fetish that toronto and calgary are currently hung up in … thinking more about how they are seen internationally rather than how their cities work, and how they can be improved and made more liveable … well, i believe safdie really works to do both; to create beauty through ingenious design, but without ever losing sight of the reason he has been asked to design …
anyway, here is his current mega-project in singapore, for the las vegas sands corporation … something that seems on one hand like he is selling out, … but with a bit more knowledge about his motives, is really a desire to capitalize on a design situation that allows for ‘dreaming big’.
i think this is so important … and we are seeing it less and less today, given the dominance of efficiency and profit margins … it is nice to see someone still building for long-lasting, responsive, functional and liveable incarnations of ’crazy dreaming’.
check it out here …
if you have time, listen to the whole interview … it is truly fascinating (given safdie’s talent, and wachtel’s incredible ability to interview).
c.
so cbc is doing an ultimate canadian commuter challenge right now (on the radio), and it is really starting to bum me out a bit.
first of all, statistics canada apparently recently released stats that show that 75% of canadians use their vehicle for all trips from home!!!!! this blows my mind … call me innocent, since i use my feet for 95% of all trips from my home. …. apparently this number is up from 66% in the early 90s, which means despite an increasing environmental discourse throughout society, we continue to mire in serious structural obstacles to sustainability …
i mean really … if 75% of people use their cars everytime they leave home, we have a LOT of work to do in order to build towards sustainability. because, like it or not canada … cars are not the future. biodiesel is not a green alternative (if it is used as a replacement for filling our cars, and maintaining the status quo).
the funny thing is, i think many people of my generation, and maybe even more so with the generation a bit younger than me, i think we instinctively know that what we need is big, serious change … and not just silly band-aid solutions (like alberta’s new climate change solution of putting carbon emissions in the ground instead of dealing with them).
one such area of change will have to be a re-designing of our cities so that at the very maximum 25% of people use their cars everytime they leave the house. even this seems like too much to me. … perhaps 25% of people use their cars 25% of the time they leave the house, and for the rest they use healthier, more enjoyable technologies … liking walking, or biking. … or walking 5 minutes to the train, then taking the train. or, jumping on some other form of sustainable mass transit (be it on water, in the air, or in caravan).
what we need in order to achieve sustainability is that 75% of canadians leave their house on foot everytime they leave the house. what we need are cities structured in such ways that light, jobs, homes, services, biodiversity and areas of relaxation all mingle freely and widely across the city. we should always be a 5 minute walk from a form of public transit, and that transit should never take more than 2-4 minutes to arrive after we get to the stop.
these things are do-able … all it takes is imagination, design and planning.
i have a friend who tells me repeatedly that we have to admit that sometimes (or often) we just NEED cars to get around the city. other forms of transportation just aren’t as practical.
my response is always the same: this is true, but only because our cities were built that way on purpose. we planned it that way !!!
the good news is: we can plan for other ways too, and no it is not too late just because the city already exists.
c’mon canada …. let’s wake up! we need to create collective initiatives for ensuring our cities, and city planners keep pace with changing global realities, and with the growing wisdom of newer generations of canadians who see that our lives can be better … and our heath, quality of life, and planet will all be the better for it.
c.
funnily enough, after skipping off-line, i overheard eleanor wachtel on ideas on cbc tonight (while i was getting the veggie lasagna ready for suppah) … she was talking to the great architect moshe safdie, who has very close ties to montreal having moved here when he was 15 (from israel), and having played an important role in the déroulement of expo ‘67 (an huge collective event which marked this city) … he was also the fellow who designed habitat ‘67 at said expo …
the interview is really neat, so try to sneak a listen … it will still broadcast on-line tonight, and then tomorrow they should have a permanent link up on their website (look for the jan.15th broadcast with eleanor wachtel as host).
moshe has great things to say, especially about how leaving urban development in the hands of developers (and therefore simple economic considerations) is 1) a shirking of responsibility by government, which should be ensuring that our places are living up to the needs of citizens, and 2) is leading to the lowest common denominator in design.
a must listen ….
c.
… i wonder what it will bring?
i am hoping it will bring a year full of innovative and clear-thinking, where world leaders, but especially world citizens (who thereby force their leaders), decide that enough is enough, and changes start to take shape.
you know, changes in the way we deal with human / environment relationships … like, we seem to have serious relationship problems when it comes to our love / hate affair with the planet. but this can change, and i am excited to see more and more people looking to make these bridges towards sustainability. so yeah … for 2008, i hope to see us all moving more in that direction, where the environment, responisble commerce, and wise-living start to take the lead in people’s lives.
i am also hoping that the apparent resurgence in community, and designing for community will continue to gain momentum. iconic buildings in metropoles are not enough, and maybe not even what we need at all … but places designed with public and civic conviviality in mind are definitely needed.
we need to put a cap on the suburbs … as in: no more. enough is enough. suburbs kill planets. it’s not rocket science.
and let’s start making our downtowns places where people live, feel safe, curious and alive …
let’s start to dream again, like back in the days when the World Expos actually meant something, and inspired people to dream large, noble dreams that took into consideration all of humankind. …
ya ya, i am not saying that all was rosy back in the day, just that i liked their ability to think innocently, and make big plans about where the world could go. … they were side-tracked by money-grubbers, it is clear but we don’t need to be.
… gotta run … more rambles later !
alright, i am not sure that they have it in any sort of order, but we are number 5 so that’s cool !
check us out at grist’s list of green fashion must-haves here.
we are glad to see del forte made the list … an awesome eco-jean brand … the best out there in my opinion (so i am glad to see that grist is well-schooled in the world of eco-fashion).
what makes me exceptionally happy is that del forte made the list and levi’s made an ‘extra mention’. i like this because del forte is a small business run by dedicated and sincere individuals, whereas levi’s is … well, levi’s.
happy new year !
so canada disappointed yet again at bali. inspired by the united states, the harper government is working diligently at thwarting any efforts aimed at managing for climate change. simply put, the harper government is more interested in short term profits then long-term sustainability.
so interesting that the bali conference comes just at the time that eastern canada is experiencing one of the most beautiful winters in recent memory. many of us had between 40-50 cm of snow yesterday, and so everything in this part of the country seems to harken back to the good ol’ days when everyone played hockey on outdoor rinks, when people bundled up to spend evenings outdoors, and when snowed piled as high as your head was a regular occurrence.
as i was walking down some of the most beautiful wintery street scenes you could imagine — with the roads full of walkers and cars, and the sidewalks overrun by 8 foot tall mounds of snow, like some sort of invasion of snowfort sentinels — i thought about how canadian winters are likely to be a thing of the past in the next few decades, and how the passing of such a neat way of living was something to be missed certainly.
don’t get me wrong, winter isn’t always fun. but, there is something so incredibly unique about life when it exists in a deep freeze. the communities, people and stories that emerged out of that harshness and cold are as beautifully impressive as the birds and little critters that managed to adapt to that harshness and cold. i mean, c’mon … when canadian winters no more freeze our little noses off, we’ll have lost something as precious as the most cold adapted bird on the planet … (the common redpoll):
i know there are many who think that canada without snow might be a nice change from all the challenges that come with the white stuff, but walking around our wintery streets lately (a type of winter that we haven’t seen in what seems like a long time) reminds me of how much beauty there is in a cold-adapted life.
anyway, as a quick hopeful note … seems that harper’s government has mis-managed somewhere as of late. they have lost their important lead on the liberals, and quebec seems less enamoured … could it be that their pitiful performance at bali was a bit like shooting themselves in their feet?
