You are hereCurrent activism
Current activism
What I'm doing to improve my surroundings
Why gardening?
An interest in environmentalism seems to always lead one to gardening. For as long as I can remember, my parents have had a small veggie garden and a backyard composter in their suburban Mississauga yard. I guess I learned a bit from them (thanks Mom!) and the gardening bug has bitten me good.
I'm far from a green thumb - quite the opposite actually! (black thumb??) I lose plants, they produce little (if at all!) and it generally seems like I'm fighting nature rather than working with it. But I'm learning from my mistakes, and maybe you all can too!
Letters to the editor
TL:DR version: The local newspaper published my letter! Check it out at http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/saanichnews/opinion/le...
I don't normally read our local free newspaper (that ends up in everyone's mailbox whether they want it or not), but the letters section really caught my eye this week. David Suzuki must have had a guest article published on Wednesday, which gathered a response from a reader that was pretty negative. Really questioning Suzuki's "environmental extremism" and "alarmist claims".
This ain’t your grandma’s victory garden!
Growing for freedom and food security in the 21st century.
The success and future of FreedomGardens.org is up to you! Here’s how you can help…
Today we passed 510 members and it’s growing by the day! However, we are still hard at work installing some rss plugins which will be really cool. Then there’s content — compiling growing guidelines, resources, etc (anyone interested in lending a hand - we need you to make this site into something that you find useful)
Canada's lakes to be re-classified as "toxic dump sites?!?"
*sigh*
Another day, another letter to write. This one in response to Ethical Consumer's piece on the "Canadian lake free-for-all". It's old news (June 19), but I guess I'm just behind the times or something.
The short form:
CBC News has learned that 16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly "reclassified" as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/16/condemned-lakes.html
Down with BC's NDP party!!
I used to be able to count on the NDP party to balance environmental concerns with workers' rights and progressive social programs. Of course I'm from Toronto so I'm more biased - I think they're less leftist out here. I still think Jack Layton rocks, as far as politicians go
BUT! No longer!
A shocking headline sent me to http://bcndp.ca where I am greeted with the giant headline:
Scrap the fuel tax, provide real climate change solutions, says James
Pedal to Petal update
In the last few months I've gotten to know the people behind the Pedal to Petal urban composting idea ( http://pedaltopetal.blogspot.com ) through supporting the program, and through the Camas Collective bookstore ( http://www.camas.ca ). They're active in a lot of environmental a social justice projects. Kalanu and Chase, you rock!
Urban composting - pedal to petal!
Lately I've been on a compost kick. Just noticing how much compost-worthy vegetable waste ends up in our landfills has started to bug me, so I looked into ways to deal with it. The problem is, I'm in a townhouse development that has very strict rules about what we're allowed to do with our property, excluding many eco-friendly options. A traditional backyard composter is out of the question.
