the eco advocate

It’s been a pretty busy past few weeks, and it’s only going to get crazier as Christmas approaches. All the same, I look forward to spending time with my friends and family, eating good food, sharing good laughs and all that seasonal celebration-type stuff. What’s really hard about this time of year though is the amount time people spend driving around in order to dish out outrageous amounts of money out on gifts that are horrible for our earth, and our wallets!!

I know we’re all under pressure to get ‘just the right thing’ for that special someone (or maybe your mom or dad or son or daughter), with advertisements bombarding us constantly about all the best deals in town. I find it’s good to avoid the overwhelming shopaholic, consumerist babble, just to help you keep your wits. But how can you make Christmas sustainable?

There are tonnes of resources out there for sure. ‘Green’ is in, so ‘green’ gifts can be found! However, is that enough? Is there another way of giving that doesn’t involve buying something??

This year, the City of Montreal has launched a campaign that encourages Montrealers to think differently: “Pour Noël, faites un cadeau à l’environnement: consommez autrement!” or “For Christmas, give a gift to the environment: consume differently!” is the slogan. The second tagline translates to something like “Reduce at the source, it’s good for our planet and for our wallets.”

With a list of good suggestions for how to do this, you can’t go wrong. If you give it a try, you almost can sing it along to the tune of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’…

For Christmas, give a gift to the environment:

1. Consume differently
2. Give a night on the town
3. An ‘Aaaaaaah’ spa night
4. A quality gift made locally
5. Rechargeable gifts
6. The gift of time off for busy parents
7. Offer home-baked goods
8. A donation to a non-profit
9. Take public transit while shopping
10. Use reusable wrapping
11. Send an eCard
12. Trees grown locally … then recycled

Besides being fun and creative, the campaign, I think, is a very good idea. Check it out: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/consommezautrement

Greenpeace activists took over the front of the Canadian Parliament Buildings in Ottawa today with the message that Prime Minister Harper and Opposition Leader Ignatieff are not doing enough to fight climate change. “Climate inaction costs lives” is their message. Take a look:

I have to agree with this message. People are severely affected by climate change on a scale that urban Canadian citizens can’t begin to comprehend. We have the power and the influence to create change, but we aren’t. And I’m greatly disappointed in our government for this. Greenpeace has more information on the impacts of climate catastrophe.

The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen began today. Let’s hope something positive comes out of it!

This mini-documentary about sustainable living in Montreal, Quebec, was directed and produced by Adam Bemma. Adam was kind enough to interview me as a feature part of the documentary. I feel bad that my last name is so long!! Anyhow, enjoy ::