Imagine you pack up your family and move out into a pristine countryside away from cities, noise and everyday hassles. Your family builds a house together, starts a garden and raises animals like goats and sheep to pursue self-subsistence, and generally lives a bit more simple to focus on things that matter more to you. After a few years a gas and oil company sends you a letter informing you that they'll start drilling for gas on your property next week. In no time you have a gas well next to your shed, without receiving compensation of course. In disbelief, you search for help but it turns out that you only own the top layer of your property and your government has sold underground rights to that oil & gas company without notifying you - because they don't have to. It also turns out that the gas is sour gas which contains some of the deadliest substances on Earth, including H2S - the colourless, highly poisonous hydrogen sulfide. Suddenly your animals abort, the women in your family miscarry and every family member falls sick. Oops, there was a yet undetected leak. Despite your struggles to live on your own property, neither the oil & gas company, nor a government body or the Energy Board cares about you. In fact, as you object and fight against what is happening to your family you become the suspect of "eco-terrorism" and the law-enforcement body of your country repeatedly invades your property and searches every corner of it.
If this happens to you, you probably live in Canada. Feeling lucky?
I'm not making this up - Wiebo's War is a real story of a large family that wanted to get away from it all to follow their religious beliefs and live more acccording to how God wants them to live. They move into Northern Alberta, unfortunately right into the middle of a large gas reservoir that is discovered a few years later. Within a few more years a 100 wells are covering the land around the farm, some wells stand right on the farm. The gas production, including leaks, threaten the life of the family as it contaminates the air, the water supply of the family and the soil. Meantime, gas wells are being bombed in Northern B.C. Although no evidence has ever been found, the RCMP highly suspects the Ludwig family (Wiebo is the head of the family) to be involved and starts disrupting the family's life. The most shocking part to me was that nobody cares about the health issues that affect the family and their livestock ever since the sour gas drilling has began. Even the neighbours oppose the Ludwig's fight against EnCana as most of them simply start working for an oil & gas company that moves in to "develop" the area further.
I don't agree with the bombings or with the family's religous beliefs but I don't get why the family is being attact for not submitting themselves to the regime of the oil & gas companies. Surfing quickly the internet on the subject, I read opinions expressing hate for him, saying he's a terrorist, he tore church communities apart in Ontario where they family moved away from, he could have just accepted an offer to be bought out by the oil & gas companies ... hang on a minute. Where do we end up if everybody just takes the money and runs and ignores the distruction that's being caused by greedy corporations that turn your once-idyllic home into an industrial site? We need more people like Wiebo if we don't want this country to become the synonym for apocalypse.
The film, a production of Canada's National Film Board was recently shown at Waterloo Library and there were a "whopping" 12 persons in the audience. Sigh.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Freedom Train against Pipelines
This is an interesting website about First Nations fighting the Enbridge Pipeline from Edmonton across Northern Alberta and B.C. to Kitimat. It comes with a petition too: Freedom Train
Sunday, April 22, 2012
To charge or not to charge
We went with our local hiking group today to Webster Falls Conservation Area in Dundas (near Hamilton) , part of the Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail goes through there as well, of course. We hiked 10-12 km, saw Tew and Webster Falls and enjoyed the scenery. It's very beautiful out there, the trails are interesting enough and even partially hilly and with staircases. Yeah!
The downturn was the entrance charge. Last year $8 per car, they are now already charging $10 per day! In order to avoid that we parked the cars at a school less than a km down the road. At this conservation area's main parking lot they don't trust people to use the parking ticket dispenser and instead have a cashier who happened to start working at the time when we gathered in the parking lot. Smelling that we must have gotten there somewhere she grumpily told us we all had to pay $4 per person. Dave and I had come in a pedestrian entrance though that said $2 per person. I must say the majority of the group was annoyed about the charges that hike every year considerably and this woman even seemed to make them up out of anger. So we cramped 8 people into a car, laughed ourselves stupid (this was stupid after all) and paid $10 for the load. The woman mumbled something about calling the cops. Blabla.
Note that there are at least another 5 entrances to the conservation area, especially when you come along the Bruce Trail or enter through a residential area where there is not even a sign mentioning a fee. If you stick to the Bruce Trail you will not even get close to the ticket booth.
Here's what angers me: I hate paying to enjoy nature. But here the conservation areas (CA) are run by municipalities. So even if we bought an annual ticket that gives us access to a bunch of local CAs we pay extra every time we visit one a little further away. Bah. Go to a Provincial Park and the province wants your money, go to a National Park and the feds (Parks Canada) want it. Boo boo booo!!! Stupid system. Why don't they introduce a single annual ticket for ALL protected areas in the country and that's it, if it really has to be.
In Germany all this access is covered by our taxes already, nobody would dare to charge a per day user fee. Besides we don't have too many fences around farmland so you walk, cycle, ride horses there. In the UK they have a Public Right of Way which allows everyone to cross private farm property on foot, sometimes by bike if you don't mind lifting it over fences with steps. That gives people access to the countryside just about anywhere, totally legal and nobody has to bother driving to a conservation area, provincial park etc just to go for a hike. They've created a trail system that basically covers the whole country!! In Iceland you can go just about anywhere. In Canada there are fences, everything's private and nobody wants to have you on their land (after all, you may bring a stupid ATV or snowmobile). So unless you stick to city parks you pay to get access to a trail, waterfall or whatever. Nonsense! Besides, the fees are too high.
The downturn was the entrance charge. Last year $8 per car, they are now already charging $10 per day! In order to avoid that we parked the cars at a school less than a km down the road. At this conservation area's main parking lot they don't trust people to use the parking ticket dispenser and instead have a cashier who happened to start working at the time when we gathered in the parking lot. Smelling that we must have gotten there somewhere she grumpily told us we all had to pay $4 per person. Dave and I had come in a pedestrian entrance though that said $2 per person. I must say the majority of the group was annoyed about the charges that hike every year considerably and this woman even seemed to make them up out of anger. So we cramped 8 people into a car, laughed ourselves stupid (this was stupid after all) and paid $10 for the load. The woman mumbled something about calling the cops. Blabla.
Note that there are at least another 5 entrances to the conservation area, especially when you come along the Bruce Trail or enter through a residential area where there is not even a sign mentioning a fee. If you stick to the Bruce Trail you will not even get close to the ticket booth.
Here's what angers me: I hate paying to enjoy nature. But here the conservation areas (CA) are run by municipalities. So even if we bought an annual ticket that gives us access to a bunch of local CAs we pay extra every time we visit one a little further away. Bah. Go to a Provincial Park and the province wants your money, go to a National Park and the feds (Parks Canada) want it. Boo boo booo!!! Stupid system. Why don't they introduce a single annual ticket for ALL protected areas in the country and that's it, if it really has to be.
In Germany all this access is covered by our taxes already, nobody would dare to charge a per day user fee. Besides we don't have too many fences around farmland so you walk, cycle, ride horses there. In the UK they have a Public Right of Way which allows everyone to cross private farm property on foot, sometimes by bike if you don't mind lifting it over fences with steps. That gives people access to the countryside just about anywhere, totally legal and nobody has to bother driving to a conservation area, provincial park etc just to go for a hike. They've created a trail system that basically covers the whole country!! In Iceland you can go just about anywhere. In Canada there are fences, everything's private and nobody wants to have you on their land (after all, you may bring a stupid ATV or snowmobile). So unless you stick to city parks you pay to get access to a trail, waterfall or whatever. Nonsense! Besides, the fees are too high.
EndurRace
In Elmira: 5 km flat ground, 303 runners, I came in 88. overall, 9. women, 4. in my age category, 22:58 min (22:50 chip time)
Part 2 is next Saturday at 6 PM - Stay tuned.
303 runners finished that race, 404 started although some of those would have done 2.5 km only. They took 584 photos and I am not on a single one :-(
Part 2: 8 km at 6 PM (that's too late for racing, for future reference). I came in 68. overall, 37 min 20 sec which I think is a bit faster than in February but really I was so tired all day I could have fallen asleep at the start line. Anyhow, 9. women I think (not too sure on that one), 2. in my age category.
Both races combined: I was 46. overall, 4. woman, 2. in my age category again. They called out all participants that finished both races and I had the impression my age category (women 30-34) was the largest with 6 or 7 runners finishing both races.
I bet I was the best pregnant runner ;-) not that there is such a category ...
The results from the February race have by the way been corrected (not sure how some runners got missed?!) but I'm now 39. overall, 5. women, 2. in my age category. Oh well.
Part 2 is next Saturday at 6 PM - Stay tuned.
303 runners finished that race, 404 started although some of those would have done 2.5 km only. They took 584 photos and I am not on a single one :-(
Part 2: 8 km at 6 PM (that's too late for racing, for future reference). I came in 68. overall, 37 min 20 sec which I think is a bit faster than in February but really I was so tired all day I could have fallen asleep at the start line. Anyhow, 9. women I think (not too sure on that one), 2. in my age category.
Both races combined: I was 46. overall, 4. woman, 2. in my age category again. They called out all participants that finished both races and I had the impression my age category (women 30-34) was the largest with 6 or 7 runners finishing both races.
I bet I was the best pregnant runner ;-) not that there is such a category ...
The results from the February race have by the way been corrected (not sure how some runners got missed?!) but I'm now 39. overall, 5. women, 2. in my age category. Oh well.
Earth Day
What did you do yesterday? I volunteered at an event in Huron Natural Area, in the south of Kitchener, where I also had a chance to plant 10 trees. Due to the weather, 5 degree C and a bit of wind, the turnout was not as big as last year and there weren't enough people walking out to the planting area to get the 550 white cedars, birches and black cherries into the ground. I love tree planting, it's not hard, especially not when all materials are provided. Fingers crossed we get rain soon to water the little fellows.
The event also included a birds of prey presentation, snakes and turtles, a butterfly display, bird silhoutte crafts, bird box building, fishing (for foam fish) and searching in the pond for aquatic insects. The Kitchener Trail riders, part of the city's bylaw enforcement unit, explained their jobs to keep the city's parks safe and sound. REEP was present too. All in all it was a very excited event, given one was dressed for the weather.
The downside of the event: the shuttle bus that connected several Earth Day Events in the city came and left repeatedly empty, while the road and parking lots of surrounding businesses were choked with cars for the entire afternoon. Preserving hte planet by pumping more emissions into the air.
The event also included a birds of prey presentation, snakes and turtles, a butterfly display, bird silhoutte crafts, bird box building, fishing (for foam fish) and searching in the pond for aquatic insects. The Kitchener Trail riders, part of the city's bylaw enforcement unit, explained their jobs to keep the city's parks safe and sound. REEP was present too. All in all it was a very excited event, given one was dressed for the weather.
The downside of the event: the shuttle bus that connected several Earth Day Events in the city came and left repeatedly empty, while the road and parking lots of surrounding businesses were choked with cars for the entire afternoon. Preserving hte planet by pumping more emissions into the air.
Monday, April 16, 2012
I love spring
Did I mention I love spring, really really love it. Not too hot yet but everything is fresh green. No other season can beat that. I want to go camping and hiking and BBQ and sit in the garden that we don't have. Sitting on the balcony is not the same. Mornings and evenings are especially beautiful. Unfortunately, we are very strict with getting our child to bed which is currently way before sunset so we don't get to enjoy evenings outside often. We still dream of the evening walks we used to take, because we don't have a garden.
I started our balcony garden, put seeds for parsley, chive, radishes and spinach in those long planting pots. We need more soil now and more hooks to mount the pots on the balcony railing since I don't have space for the pots to stand on the balcony floor. Nor do they get much sun and rain there. Our local hardware store - th one we can walk to because it's not in those endg-of-town-malls - had only two hooks left though, sigh.
I also take an hour lunch every day to go for walks or cycle to that one park nearby which has meadows and woods. So nice. Can't get enough. Spring should last 6 months. The old neighbourhoods in Kitchener, those with tree-lined streets, large front yards and garages set-back past the house front (all contrary to the new neighbourhoods), are beautiful now too. Hope you enjoy the spring as well!
I started our balcony garden, put seeds for parsley, chive, radishes and spinach in those long planting pots. We need more soil now and more hooks to mount the pots on the balcony railing since I don't have space for the pots to stand on the balcony floor. Nor do they get much sun and rain there. Our local hardware store - th one we can walk to because it's not in those endg-of-town-malls - had only two hooks left though, sigh.
I also take an hour lunch every day to go for walks or cycle to that one park nearby which has meadows and woods. So nice. Can't get enough. Spring should last 6 months. The old neighbourhoods in Kitchener, those with tree-lined streets, large front yards and garages set-back past the house front (all contrary to the new neighbourhoods), are beautiful now too. Hope you enjoy the spring as well!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
A comment on the previous post
I just wanted to add a bit more to the last post even though it's not very ecological. Of course, it's not all that black and white. As long as you work in the Alberta tar sands or you are a computer scientist you'll make a lot of money at a young age. In KW my husband has met again quite a few of his university buddies, most of which studied computer science and now work for Google, RIM, OpenText and the like. They earn a lot of money, seriously. Half of them do not work 8-hour-days though, something that for us is paramount because we have a child. I am not giving up that little bit of time that I see my daughter now every day for longer work days. No thanks. I spoke once to an event organiser not much older than myself and she said she loves her job but it will not ever make her rich. She said all her friends have 6-digit incomes. Really? Not sure how they do it but I know I can't relate to people my age that own a big house and two cars and lots of fancy stuff because they can afford it.
My husband still says his best job ever was in Scotland. His boss realised how clever he is and made him let him do the year-end report. Ever since, his career has gone downhill and the experience we have made is that we get hired for jobs we are overqualified for and since we do them well and have spare time left from the 40-hour-week we are given even less appealing tasks. So much for motivation. If it was not for that bit of money that makes such a difference in our bank account I would not do the job. Can't wait to be done with it though in a month. Besides feeling deprived of fresh air and sunlight from sitting inside all day I am not happy with the tasks given to fill in my time, including being asked to take out the garbage that I am not creating because I don't bring in Tim Hortons three times a day.
All the baby boomers I know, and those are not too few due to certain clubs and committees I have joined being full of them have a lot. I don't think they realise, they just take it for granted. Says that article that expectations have changed over the years. Sure, they have. When you leave the house of your parents you are not going to go from having it all to having nothing and live on a mattress in an empty room. You may detest the materialism you have experienced over the years (or you love it and overspend until you are hopelessly in debt) but you still want some things. Besides, if you were to put a child to sleep in a dresser drawer now and anybody finds out you probably have social services come and take your child away.
Anyway, I can't relate to those people either, even though it's nice talking to them once in a while.
One more story of I can't relate to them. We met a couple recently, very nice smart people, whose both kids are off to university now. She complained how expensive it was and I agree with her there. But they have a combined yearly income of $170,000!!! What are they talking about? I mean what would you spend so much money otherwise on? The education of your kids seems a decent idea, although I still believe the kids should have to pay part of the expense themselves.
My husband still says his best job ever was in Scotland. His boss realised how clever he is and made him let him do the year-end report. Ever since, his career has gone downhill and the experience we have made is that we get hired for jobs we are overqualified for and since we do them well and have spare time left from the 40-hour-week we are given even less appealing tasks. So much for motivation. If it was not for that bit of money that makes such a difference in our bank account I would not do the job. Can't wait to be done with it though in a month. Besides feeling deprived of fresh air and sunlight from sitting inside all day I am not happy with the tasks given to fill in my time, including being asked to take out the garbage that I am not creating because I don't bring in Tim Hortons three times a day.
All the baby boomers I know, and those are not too few due to certain clubs and committees I have joined being full of them have a lot. I don't think they realise, they just take it for granted. Says that article that expectations have changed over the years. Sure, they have. When you leave the house of your parents you are not going to go from having it all to having nothing and live on a mattress in an empty room. You may detest the materialism you have experienced over the years (or you love it and overspend until you are hopelessly in debt) but you still want some things. Besides, if you were to put a child to sleep in a dresser drawer now and anybody finds out you probably have social services come and take your child away.
Anyway, I can't relate to those people either, even though it's nice talking to them once in a while.
One more story of I can't relate to them. We met a couple recently, very nice smart people, whose both kids are off to university now. She complained how expensive it was and I agree with her there. But they have a combined yearly income of $170,000!!! What are they talking about? I mean what would you spend so much money otherwise on? The education of your kids seems a decent idea, although I still believe the kids should have to pay part of the expense themselves.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Do you hate the Baby boomers?
Did you read the Globe and Mail last weekend? I did not but I just found two articles on the web from that issue. We had it all and still do talks about the spoilt Baby boomer generation and We'll pay for your retirement but we won't be happy about it talks about Generation Y, and kind of X as well because we are pretty much in the same boat. Then there's a discussion about both articles. Reading the articles you can't help but end up hating baby boomers. The discussions helps a little bit to put things straight.
My most disliked comment comes from the stupid conservative baby boomer who writes "Young professionals from around the world will be clamoring to come to Canada because we have the best quality of life and a stable, relatively prosperous economy that will remain strong because of our good governance, educated people and our bonanza of natural resources. We're the envy of the world and that's not going to change any time soon." Canada with the new budget is running into deeper and deeper environmental disasters waiting to happen ... It's really not attractive to me but I suppose most immigrants come from less developed countries anyway. By the way, has she ever left the North American continent?
The Generation Y rep writes instead "I've heard from a lot of millenials who think boomers don't care at all about the environment since they won't be around to suffer through the effects of climate change. May not be the case, but when things like the environmental review process for natural resource projects are scrapped in large part in the budget, theories like that take shape..." Can you blame anybody for coming up with those theories, after all the government is run by baby boomers. They do not care about much else but their own comfort that they have acquired and don't want to give up. And if it will be the minority of boomers who care and do something to change their own environmental impact, without losing that comfort of course.
Did I mention the story where an acquaintance (she's a baby boomer) congratulated me to getting a car. And I thought, it's not an achievement to have a car in this country, it's an achievement to live without it! A couple of weeks later she asked me how life is going with the car now and I said we don't drive it much, we are not used to having a car and can't be bothered to take it everywhere. She was a bit speechless.
Anyway, there are lots of interesting comments in the discussion about for example, preventing over 70 year olds from voting to youngster get more power to shape the world they'll live in, and the controversy of keeping decrepit people alive at a high cost who are obviously not going to make it anyway, and young smart people going overseas for their education because it's cheaper, and so on. Read it, it's worth it.
My most disliked comment comes from the stupid conservative baby boomer who writes "Young professionals from around the world will be clamoring to come to Canada because we have the best quality of life and a stable, relatively prosperous economy that will remain strong because of our good governance, educated people and our bonanza of natural resources. We're the envy of the world and that's not going to change any time soon." Canada with the new budget is running into deeper and deeper environmental disasters waiting to happen ... It's really not attractive to me but I suppose most immigrants come from less developed countries anyway. By the way, has she ever left the North American continent?
The Generation Y rep writes instead "I've heard from a lot of millenials who think boomers don't care at all about the environment since they won't be around to suffer through the effects of climate change. May not be the case, but when things like the environmental review process for natural resource projects are scrapped in large part in the budget, theories like that take shape..." Can you blame anybody for coming up with those theories, after all the government is run by baby boomers. They do not care about much else but their own comfort that they have acquired and don't want to give up. And if it will be the minority of boomers who care and do something to change their own environmental impact, without losing that comfort of course.
Did I mention the story where an acquaintance (she's a baby boomer) congratulated me to getting a car. And I thought, it's not an achievement to have a car in this country, it's an achievement to live without it! A couple of weeks later she asked me how life is going with the car now and I said we don't drive it much, we are not used to having a car and can't be bothered to take it everywhere. She was a bit speechless.
Anyway, there are lots of interesting comments in the discussion about for example, preventing over 70 year olds from voting to youngster get more power to shape the world they'll live in, and the controversy of keeping decrepit people alive at a high cost who are obviously not going to make it anyway, and young smart people going overseas for their education because it's cheaper, and so on. Read it, it's worth it.
Sustainable neighbourhoods - the new way of life?
Recently I read at least two articles about chosing a neighbourhood that supports sustainable living. These articles are geared towards home buyers and we are not going to buy a home soon but it's never too early to get informed. There are certain criteria that characterise these type of sustainable neighbourhoods and you can for example read up on them on the website of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. It's about being close to shops, school, community centres and work. It's about being able to cycle, walk or take the bus easily. It's about energy-efficient homes and finding a home that fits your needs. Just think about the health benefits once you have all those advantages!
There might be articles about this but I would like to see statistics on how many homebuyers do look for these features. I think, there are not many of these neighbourhoods available yet and people don't mind. Looking around KW the new neighbourhoods are farther away from stores and work places than ever before. They are like ghettos with illogical street systems that don't allow shortcuts by bike or foot, some of them don't even have sidewalks but they all have double driveways out the door and minimal garden space. The next bus stop is often many blocks or miles away. But these neighbourhoods seem pretty well populated, the houses sell. I would not want to live there, never ever. Such a move could only make my life more inconvenient. But my husband and I are also not addicted to driving. And to be honest, how many people would actually want to live in "walking distance" to amenities? What is walking distance for most people, a 100 metres or so, before they jump in the car and drive instead? How many people would be willing to carry their shopping home for a simple single kilometre, 1000 tedious metres? Can you imagine doing shopping for a family or three or four by foot or bike or bus? I can in Germany, I can't here in Canada. And don't forget, once you have a store nearby they'll be a fast food outlet or coffee store too and bang you have the litter with it. Want to live close to it? Surely not.
My parents live half a kilometre from a supermarket, bakery, flower shop, drugstore and a bank. And other stores are about 1 kilometre away. It's safe and easy to walk and bike there, with sidewalks and bike lanes and quiet residential roads. That's how I grew up. Sure enough, once in a week or two we'd go by car to a bigger supermarket and stock up there but my parents don't do that anymore. Now my mum shops more at the farmers market and supermarkets near work during lunch break. I wished. What do we do currently? We get our produce delivered which I love apart from the fact that the man rocks up at 5:30 AM on Wednesday. Otherwise I go shopping with the stroller in the evening or early Saturday morning, once a week. Occassionally I pick something up during lunch break where I spent an hour strolling the neighbourhoods of my office. But I can make it far enough to get to shops. Never mind our car in the parking lot. Depending on where I go shopping it's not pleasant to go with the stroller when everyone else around you drives but I still prefer the exercise over blasting out emissions.Would not it be nice if others did the same? By the way my dream home is located in the countryside,away from the buzz of the city. Yes, we will depend on a car but who says I am going to leave my home and garden every day. I know what you think, we have a child that will have to go to school. That indicates just how long I might have to wait for my dream home. Unless we find a pleasant little village with a job opportunities. That would do too.
There might be articles about this but I would like to see statistics on how many homebuyers do look for these features. I think, there are not many of these neighbourhoods available yet and people don't mind. Looking around KW the new neighbourhoods are farther away from stores and work places than ever before. They are like ghettos with illogical street systems that don't allow shortcuts by bike or foot, some of them don't even have sidewalks but they all have double driveways out the door and minimal garden space. The next bus stop is often many blocks or miles away. But these neighbourhoods seem pretty well populated, the houses sell. I would not want to live there, never ever. Such a move could only make my life more inconvenient. But my husband and I are also not addicted to driving. And to be honest, how many people would actually want to live in "walking distance" to amenities? What is walking distance for most people, a 100 metres or so, before they jump in the car and drive instead? How many people would be willing to carry their shopping home for a simple single kilometre, 1000 tedious metres? Can you imagine doing shopping for a family or three or four by foot or bike or bus? I can in Germany, I can't here in Canada. And don't forget, once you have a store nearby they'll be a fast food outlet or coffee store too and bang you have the litter with it. Want to live close to it? Surely not.
My parents live half a kilometre from a supermarket, bakery, flower shop, drugstore and a bank. And other stores are about 1 kilometre away. It's safe and easy to walk and bike there, with sidewalks and bike lanes and quiet residential roads. That's how I grew up. Sure enough, once in a week or two we'd go by car to a bigger supermarket and stock up there but my parents don't do that anymore. Now my mum shops more at the farmers market and supermarkets near work during lunch break. I wished. What do we do currently? We get our produce delivered which I love apart from the fact that the man rocks up at 5:30 AM on Wednesday. Otherwise I go shopping with the stroller in the evening or early Saturday morning, once a week. Occassionally I pick something up during lunch break where I spent an hour strolling the neighbourhoods of my office. But I can make it far enough to get to shops. Never mind our car in the parking lot. Depending on where I go shopping it's not pleasant to go with the stroller when everyone else around you drives but I still prefer the exercise over blasting out emissions.Would not it be nice if others did the same? By the way my dream home is located in the countryside,away from the buzz of the city. Yes, we will depend on a car but who says I am going to leave my home and garden every day. I know what you think, we have a child that will have to go to school. That indicates just how long I might have to wait for my dream home. Unless we find a pleasant little village with a job opportunities. That would do too.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Do you have native plants in your garden?
The other weekend I attended a workshop hosted by the city of Kitchener and Evergreen about native plants for gardening. I don't have a garden but I am very interested. So the dozen people or so that came heard about weeds, noxious weeds, invasive species, non-invasice, native and non-native species. Evergreen has actually compiled a list that gives people a native, non-invasive equivalent for common introduced plants that are put into gardens here. Shockingly, they end up there because garden centres sell them. Why not, if there's demand for it, it makes money, right. Without a garden I almost never go to a garden centre so this note came as a shock to me even though it may seem obvious to you. So, unless people investigate for themselves I'd assume they would not even be told at the garden centre that "this beautiful plant will spread quickly and once covering your garden will expand into nearby properties including woods and parks." Not so great.
If I ever get the pleasure of tending to a garden I shall pay much attention to what I plant there!
Here's the link to Evergreens details on native plants. Hope you care!
http://www.evergreen.ca/en/resources/native-plants/index.sn
If I ever get the pleasure of tending to a garden I shall pay much attention to what I plant there!
Here's the link to Evergreens details on native plants. Hope you care!
http://www.evergreen.ca/en/resources/native-plants/index.sn
Tim Hortons, cars and litter - one very bad combination
I wanted to write about litter and cars. I hate both. It's April 6 and the garbage bins in the parks in KW have still not returned. Never mind that we have not had snow for weeks but since I sit on the Kitchener in Bloom committee which is also attended by a superior from Parks and Recreation I also understand now better why things in the parks here are the way they are. Anyhow, only because there are no garbage bins that does not mean littering is okay. There is tons of posters around the city advocating "The only cure to litter is you" and "people notice when you litter" but opinions on how effective this campaign has been vary widely. In my opinion it all starts with coffee shops and fast food outlets which there are plenty of in this country, not to say chokingly too many. I can't believe the drive-thru line-ups at Tim Hortons every single day for example. No, I really don't get how so many people seem to drink (other liquids than water) and eat in their cars and need to get their food and drinks from drive-thrus. To me it's appalling. North America, grow up, become cultivated, use proper dishes and consume foods at a table. You can tell where all those paper cups and paper food containers end up, not in the garbage bins because there are no drive-thru options yet. The litter along main roads, even in front yards of residential areas, especially close to strip malls and main roads, and in parks of course is not beautiful. But with everyone driving who can be bothered?
After St. Patrick's Day the picnic table that is located right next to the playground in our local park was plastered with fast-food containers. Obviously, a bunch of people had a meal there, maybe even a party, and left everything right there to be spread by the wind because how could one take it home - it would probably overload that car. So I went and picked it all up - why? Because I walk past there every day with Ruby on the way to daycare and we play on this playground. It's disgusting, but not unusual. The park I jog in is very popular with dog owners for example. Apparently, dog owners have called the Parks & Recreation guy and asked where to put their dog's poo bags in the winter. Being told to take them home, some feel fooled and say, they weren't nuts. So what do they do instead? There's a pile of stinky plastic bags in this park I mentioned exactly in the spot where in summer there's a garbage bin standing. Can you believe it? Yes, these dog owners (not all of them) are nuts!
Dog owners aside (you'd think they care about the environment since the take that four-legged buddy of their's for walks every day, but far from it) I think there is a strong connection between restaurants and coffee shops that sell their products in throw-away containers, the habit of people here to drive everywhere, and the litter in public spaces. It's not a pleasant connection though. It's one that makes me say, North America throw away your throw-away culture!
Or suffocate in your very own garbage.
After St. Patrick's Day the picnic table that is located right next to the playground in our local park was plastered with fast-food containers. Obviously, a bunch of people had a meal there, maybe even a party, and left everything right there to be spread by the wind because how could one take it home - it would probably overload that car. So I went and picked it all up - why? Because I walk past there every day with Ruby on the way to daycare and we play on this playground. It's disgusting, but not unusual. The park I jog in is very popular with dog owners for example. Apparently, dog owners have called the Parks & Recreation guy and asked where to put their dog's poo bags in the winter. Being told to take them home, some feel fooled and say, they weren't nuts. So what do they do instead? There's a pile of stinky plastic bags in this park I mentioned exactly in the spot where in summer there's a garbage bin standing. Can you believe it? Yes, these dog owners (not all of them) are nuts!
Dog owners aside (you'd think they care about the environment since the take that four-legged buddy of their's for walks every day, but far from it) I think there is a strong connection between restaurants and coffee shops that sell their products in throw-away containers, the habit of people here to drive everywhere, and the litter in public spaces. It's not a pleasant connection though. It's one that makes me say, North America throw away your throw-away culture!
Or suffocate in your very own garbage.
Gas war starts May 1st
Booh, I have not been on this website for a while and it has all changed, not for the better I think. Anyway, here's an email I got that is very interesting to read although I do not share the opinions expressed in it. While I believe that gas companies get far too rich with their business I do not support the upkeep of the current driving habits of most Canadians. Gas needs to be expensive to get people out of their cars and onto public transit, or our environment is going to choke in no time. But go ahead and find out for yourself what this is all about.
GAS WAR STARTS MAY 1st
THIS IS NOT THE 'DON'T BUY' GAS FOR ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE CAN GET GAS BACK DOWN TO $1.00 PER LITRE.
This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Haliburton. If you are tired of the gas prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to read this please.
Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea. This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! It's worth your consideration. Join the resistance!!!!
I hear we are going to hit close to $ 1.50 a litre by this summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?
We need to take some intelligent, united action. The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas ...
It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can Really work. Please read on and join with us!
By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $.99 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $1.28 at SUNOCO and ESSO for regular unleaded in Hamilton and Ottawa and climbing every week.
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $.87 to .99, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not sellers.
With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action.
The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas.
But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.
Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), SUNOCO(PETRO CANADA) andESSO.
If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of SUNOCO(PETRO CANADA ) and ESSO gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers .
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!
If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!
This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Haliburton. If you are tired of the gas prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to read this please.
Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea. This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! It's worth your consideration. Join the resistance!!!!
I hear we are going to hit close to $ 1.50 a litre by this summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?
We need to take some intelligent, united action. The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas ...
It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can Really work. Please read on and join with us!
By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $.99 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $1.28 at SUNOCO and ESSO for regular unleaded in Hamilton and Ottawa and climbing every week.
Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $.87 to .99, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not sellers.
With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action.
The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas.
But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.
Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), SUNOCO(PETRO CANADA) andESSO.
If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of SUNOCO(PETRO CANADA ) and ESSO gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers .
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!
If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!
How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!
Acting together we can make a difference.
If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from SUNOCO(PETRO CANADA)/ESSO UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $.99 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.
If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from SUNOCO(PETRO CANADA)/ESSO UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $.99 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.
REMEMBER – STARTING MAY 1st NO GAS FROMESSO / PETROCAN/ SUNOCO!
(why wait till then, get into the habit by starting now)
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