Eco-man

Just for fun I had to share this video I found of the Adventures of Eco-Man.



I thought it would be cool to have the ability to sense when power is being wasted, recycling is being thrown in the trash and other eco-detector skills. How fun it would be to show up in my cape with happy-go-lucky reminders to not be so wasteful good citizen!

Then I thought about how exhausting it would be to fly around nagging everyone all the time (even if playfully and full of kindness) and decided I need to come up with a better strategy for motivating my fellow green keeners at Britannia. It could be entertaining just once...

Pitch-In Britannia

As part of Pitch-In Canada Week the Green Team is organizing a neighourhood clean up on
Thursday April 26th from 3:30-4:30pm.

We'll be meeting outside the Info Centre at 3:30, divide into teams and then each team will branch out into different directions for a good clean up of our community!

All you need to do is come prepared to roll up your sleeves and help declutter the streets with us. Equipment and snacks will be provided.

Spread the word and hope to see you there!

Please contact Kathy if you would like more information: kathy.whittam@vancouver.ca

How many acts of green does it take?

This cheeky image (found on My Zero Waste)reminds me that I want to be the grandparent who says "the earth got pretty messed up for a while, but once people understood what was going on - we worked really hard to change our ways...and thankfully things have improved for your generation!"

For genuine change to happen we can't just be earth lovers on Earth Day. We need to think and act green EVERY day! Fortunately, since it was established in 1970, Earth Day has been instrumental in getting people to care for and raise awareness about all that needs to be done for the environment.

After 40 years of consciousness raising, today mama earth still needs our help. Many of the worst case scenarios that were predicted by the early environmental movement of the 70's have become the nightmare for a new generation to deal with.

The good news is there are an increasing number of changes (big and little!) moving us back towards environmental sustainability.

With Earth Day fast approaching, here are a few things to share with my keen-to-be-green community.

A Billion Acts of Green
The Earth Day Network has begun a Billion Acts of Green campaign asking folks to make a pledge for Earth Day.
You should visit the site just because it's cool...however if you just want to make a pledge here's the quick and easy way:


I added my own option which was to bring my own container and cutlery with me (and chopsticks) so I will never have to use disposable take out stuff again! An act I have thought of many times (and sometimes follow through on) that I am now pledging to make a daily habit. What will your act of green be this year? Share your pledge in the comments section below if you want to help me inspire others!

Earth Day Parade
Everyone loves a parade and on April 22nd the Commercial Drive neighbourhood will be alive with people celebrating in the Earth Day Parade! Organized by the Wilderness Committee, Youth for Climate Justice Now and Transformation Projects, this will be a fun-filled day for the whole family. The parade will begin at 11:00am at the Broadway Skytrain station, and head up the Drive to Grandview Park for a festival full of inspiration and music until 3pm.

Green City Race
The great organizers at Evergreen are challenging Vancouverites to an Amazing Race - Green style! On April 21st teams will be scurrying around town from 11am-2pm looking for clues, exploring green destinations and completing fun challenges to win prizes and bragging rights in this inaugural race. Who's ready to race with me?

Now you have a few options to consider, and you can visit Earth Day Canada site for more events all over the place, helpful resources and even more ideas to Take It Up another notch in your own way! When we all act - it makes a difference! :)

Earth Hour

One hour can make a big difference!

Earth Hour started as an idea in Australia in 2007 and immediately became a global action in 2008 and every year its influence spreads. For those who would like to know more about how this idea to its international awareness raising status today check out the History of Earth Day.

It may not seem like a big deal to turn off the lights and all powered things in your home (or workplace) for an hour, but the impacts collectively make a huge difference.

And as they say on the WWF site (that's World Wildlife Fund, not the wrestling federation)"there’s more to it than switching off lights for one hour once a year. It’s all about giving people a voice and working together to create a better future for our planet."

So as the Earth Hour event continues to spread and more and more people in communities around the world participate, the number of ways you can participate continues to grow as well!

Dare to Save the Planet with an "I will __ IF __" or perhaps you'll be tempted to accept someone else's challenge at http://www.youtube.com/earthhour.

If you are keen to plan something specific for Earth Hour there is plenty of inspiration to be found at http://earthhour.wwf.ca/earthhour.

Do you have what it takes to join Team Earth Hour?

Mug it Up, Save the Cup

Many of us love a cuppa java, tea or some other fine hot beverage (especially on the Drive which is chock a block full of great coffee shops!) but did you know that Canadians throw away 1.6 billion disposable cups every year?

Well, this Saturday March 31st there is a youth led day of action to raise awareness and try to change that.

Visit bethechangeearthalliance.org/youthaction to find out more information on how you personally can make a difference and support their efforts - the easiest thing to do is make sure you bring your travel mug to enjoy your hot bevvy in. On March 31st...and every day!

Cheers to good coffee without the waste!

stepping up to our green potential

Well its been a while a while since the last Green Team update and the green vision has continued to grow here at Britannia in many ways.

I'm very happy to say that 2 years after the last posting here on the blog, Britannia has given me an amazing opportunity and hired me as the Green Team Coordinator for a few months of focused organizing, planning and implementing awesome ideas from all of you!

For all of us who are 'keen to be green' the obstacles can seem truly immense for our fabulous community complex (and complex community) but there is no shortage of passion or ideas- so we can do it!

My favorite story of perseverance on our site is a tale of one of our members. David has a big heart and aims to save the planet one small act at a time. When he found out our wristbands used for the fitness centre, pool and skating rink were recyclable he started gathering them when he was here and bringing them to our new Beyond the Blue Box Depot every month. Once our pool programmer realized one of our members was doing this work for us, a very simple solution came about -we put out containers in the lobby and fitnesscentre so ALL members can recycle their bands every day. Now the majority of our bands are being kept from the landfill with thanks for one small step taken by one caring person that started it off.

And for inspiration on a small act that could make a big difference for the neighbourhood check out this story about some locals trying to tackle the challenge of chopsticks on the Drive. Remember when you're dining in to ask for the non-diposable chopsticks next time you're enjoying some sushi!

A couple of resources to share for today for all those things you don't know what to do with: MetroVancouver Recycles where you can find places to recycle or donate just about anything; and if you have an app happy phone you can download BC Recyclepedia for handy dandy convenience.

The Green Team left off with some big dreams for a Zero Waste Britannia which I still believe we can achieve. But we have a few steps to go before we make that goal so let the work begin!

I'll be here 1-2 days a week for Green Team work so please email me any thoughts or ideas you may want to share to kathy.whittam@vancouver.ca. I'm really excited and looking forward to listening to staff, students and the public on what we do well and what gaps we need to fill - a fun challenge! :)


(Image credit: Fresh Start from tripleman.com)

Designing Our Future

This weekend the people of the Britannia neighbourhood have an opportunity to share ideas and visions of what our community hub should look like in the future. Saturday March 6th from 1:00-4:00 pm (in Gym D) everyone is welcome to participate in "Designing Our Future" and this is a perfect time to think big about the possibilities for all things green and zero waste in scope.

Though there has been no recent update found here on the blog that doesn't mean that great things have not been happening around here! Now I offer a quick and humble recap of what I've seen through my green lens since the last posting:

Our rockstar food security coordinator Ian Marcus, along with our superstar programmer Lorrie Wager, organized a Stone Soup Film Festival showcasing some amazing films on food issues in the fall (don't miss the upcoming Stone Soup Fest this May!), and a Water Festival that spread out through February with programs for children at our local schools, and events for folks in the community.

Water has been a big focus with Ian's aquaponics project in the Info Centre and he's working with 7 Britannia High school students to research the benefits of growing plant foods with fish waste, is taking food security to a new level. Amazing to watch the food growing right here in the office!!

And a last note on the water front: the whole green team thing got going 1 1/2 years ago with a little water cooler debate that led to a vote by staff on whether we should switch to a water filtration system instead...and with thanks to our leader Cynthia Low we will soon have new water for staff around the complex from WA2!, and we can finally stop our dependence on bottles! yeepa!

One more thing that Cynthia has pulled together on the green front for Britannia is a recycle depot, Beyond the Blue Box, which is found in our parking lot on the 3rd Saturday of every month. Wonderful way for all of the community to get rid of the recyclable materials the city doesn't pick up. Visit www.pacificmobiledepots.com for details on pricing, and grab all that styrofoam, batteries, plastics and other stuff you haven't figured out how to rid of, and come check it out for yourself on March 20th.

In trying to reduce our waste of paper, one of the best ideas came from Lori Moretto and Jessica Yee: to email receipts to people who register by phone! - so simple. so effective -
After the Micro Footie registration I'd guess that at least a few packages of paper and a box of envelopes (at least) were saved by emailing the majority of receipts to parents rather than mailing them. We need more ideas like this, which can be implemented right away and require little to no effort by all to make it happen. Some habits are hard to break, but little steps like this one can make a difference once they become the norm.

A couple of interesting articles on the zero waste issue that I wanted to share for anyone looking for some debate material (am I the only one who looks for things like that?). Recently Bill Gates gave a speech on Innovating to Zero Waste and on the WorldChanging site they had two views on this that I found worth reflecting on.
Bill Gates: the Most Important Climate Speech of the Year which argues that when Bill says Zero Waste is possible everyone believes it (as opposed to all the crazy environmentalists who have been advocating towards this goal for decades), and the Counter Argument: Joe Romm on Gates which says while its great that Bill has finally relaized the benefits of zero waste, he should not be seen as the only visionary on the subject.

Now, to finish back on the "Designing Our Future" path, I found an enjoyable summary of the best ideas to come out of the Designing Indaba 2010 conference which held a bounty of inspiring possibilities for Britannia to work into our faboo complex of the future.

While the green team has been on hiatus due to busy lives aplenty, the overall green theme seems to have become the standard here at Britannia and that is good news indeed. Keep those visions coming everyone!! We may just achieve that Zero Waste by 2020 goal yet. ;)