the eco advocate

So apparently, according to the Globe and Mail, us Canadians are uncommitted to making real changes in our lives towards sustainable living… We’re just hard to convince, and hard pressed to change our comfortable ways. I don’t exactly blame us, considering our bountiful resources, skilled labour within non-eco industries, and suburbia-mania.

But what is it really? Are we just lazy? Apathetic? Uncaring?

Or is it that the government isn’t doing enough to properly measure our environmental footprints, certify green products and services and reprimand people for their poor behaviour? I sure as hell think so.

If Montrealers had water meters, for example, we’d use a lot less of it! If more funding was put into the development of green technologies, marketing them, improving them, people would be all over that!

It’s just that a few keeners are doing it already, with no one watching them to monitor or celebrate their work. And other conniving scam artists are copying them poorly and tarnishing the green reputation!

Enough with crappy ‘green’ dish detergent! I say make the green movement law! Start with big industry and work downwards, helping people change, not just suggesting they do it.

Goddamn it makes me angry…

Ok, so maybe being a consumer makes it hard to be an eco advocate, but hand-made clothing designed by a Montrealer-moved-to-New-York is pretty damn cool. A friend of a friend told me about this designer, who’s stuff is really beautiful. If I lived in New York, I’d be all over this (they do ship, but I’m avoiding unnecessary  carbon output). Visit: www.iloveumsteigen.com

umsteigen purple bamboo tshirt from www.iloveumsteigen.com

I hate to steal other people’s news, but this is one great example of people taking action to save their local environment! Crises leads to action, I believe, so when one town saw its community being drained, literally, by the water packaging company, they decided to take a stand. Here’s the article from BBC:

Bundanoon, Australia – A rural town in Australia has voted overwhelmingly to ban the sale of bottled water over concerns about its environmental impact.

Campaigners say Bundanoon, in New South Wales, may be the first community in the world to have such a ban. They say huge amounts of resources are used to extract, package and transport bottled water. The discarded plastic bottles then end up as litter or go into landfill sites, the “Bundy on Tap” campaign says.

More than 350 residents turned out to vote at the public meeting in the town hall. Only one resident voted against the ban, along with a representative from the bottled water industry, ABC news reported.

The BBC’s Nick Bryant in Sydney says locals have promised not to set upon visitors if they ignore the ban, but they will be encouraged to fill a reusable container from water fountains in the main street. The reusable bottles will bear the slogan “Bundy on Tap”.

Campaigner John Dee said local opinion had been incensed when a drinks company announced plans to tap an underground reservoir in the town.

Environmental impact
“The company has been looking to extract water locally, bottle it in Sydney and bring it back here to sell it,” he said. “It made people look at the environmental impact of bottled water and the community has been quite vocal about it.”

The ban has been supported by shopkeepers in the town, which has a population of about 2,500.

“We believe Bundanoon is the world’s first town that has got its retailers to ban bottled water,” said Mr Dee. “We haven’t found it anywhere else.”

New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees has backed the cause, ordering government departments to stop buying bottled water and use tap water instead.

Mr Rees says it will save taxpayers money and help the environment.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/8141569.stm

Published: 2009/07/08 22:18:51 GMT
© BBC MMIX