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.                    

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!

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.  

REMEMBER – STARTING MAY 1st NO GAS FROMESSO / PETROCAN/ SUNOCO!

(why wait till then, get into the habit by starting now)

All cars are evil

My hubby started a new job on March 5. His office is in the next city and the bus connections leave something to be desired. So we bought a car. Insuring it turned out to be a big hassle and very expensive but we got it sorted. Now we got the car … and don’t drive it. Noticed that the weather has been terribly awesome recently? That’s why. My hubby is not allowed to drive on his own yet so I would have to go with him and then go to my workplace, back in the city we live in. For me, it’s much easier though to cycle to work, 20 min on a trail that avoids traffic lights and cars. I love it. Taking the car does not get me to the office any faster even though I only have to turn twice! There’s like 2 dozen traffic lights on the way and an avalanche of cars at rush hour. My husband figured that walking 15 min, taking the Express Bus and walking for another 15 minutes is, without a car, the fastest way for him to get to work. And in good weather it’s no big deal. I am terribly disappointed again anyway. I thought with the weather people would leave their cars and cycle instead. Forget about it! Not here. People have it hammered into their brain that they can’t go places without a car. A bicycle is not considered a mode of transportation but merely a sports article that needs to be driven (not ridden) to the park and then one can circle around the park for a bit. What a waste of energy. Where I come from we use bikes to run errands, commute to work and visit friends in our town or city. I love my bike even though it’s a crappy one. I wished I was not such a lonely cyclist. I miss home.

So we did drive the car last weekend to get out of town. We drove from Kitchener to Guelph Lake Conservation Area. I am disappointed again. Sure, putting a fence around a piece of countryside and calling it conservation area will prevent it from having houses built on top of it. Great! Suburbia really does not need more spreading. But, building a road right through it and having lots of camping spots along it does not necessarily protect the land or wildlife. In fact, this land is heavily used (and probably polluted to a certain degree) every summer. Call it a campground then, which also justifies the entrance fees. I am not a fan of having to pay for a picnic spot or a walk in the park. I said to my husband, let’s go and visit conservation areas outside the season. At least our daughter can roam around freely without us having to watch for vehicles and protect her from being run over. Don’t get me wrong though, we rather give money to Parks Canada (although now that they approved that Brewster theme park nonsense I like them less) or other nature conservation efforts and organisation than any other cause. And, after all we might have to pay the fee just so we can swim in a lake in summer, since most of the lakes around here seem to be part of a conservation area. Sigh.

I come back to the evilness of cars ... and litter ... and lack of community spirit.        

Organic Booze??

I have not thought about that before because we rarely drink alcoholic beverages but of course it exists. 
David Suzuki's Queen of Green wrote about the Pemberton Distillery in her article Is the organic in your vodka? 
Very interesting indeed! 

Nature's Gym or how to stay fit

The David Suzuki Foundation published an article the other day about joining nature's gym to hit your fitness goal's this year. Not a bad idea. Better still is to live a lifestyle that keeps you fit. I know that from experience and I happen to have proven it recently too.

On Sunday I ran the Re-Fridgee-Eighter, the first race of the year in the Waterloo Running Series. I chose the 8 km over the 8 miles. I took running up again since coming to KW but I still at the most run twice a week for half an hour. Luckily, I have a toddler and no car (and no sitting-around in the office job either (yet)) which seems to keep me on my toes very well. I finished 39. overall, as 5. woman, and 2. out of 19 in my age catergory, in just under 38 minutes (my chip time was even less but gun time counts) Re-fridgee-Eigther results. I was surprised myself. After all we had -5 C and gusts of over 20 km/h which thankfully only blew into our faces on the last mile. I never run that fast on my own but once I am in the group I can't help, got to go. By the time I crossed the finish line I was pretty much out of breath but two minutes later I was back to normal. I did not even get sore muscles! My "secret": I walk and/ or cycle every day many kilometres and I take the stairs whenever possible and stay active in whatever way possible. On a regular day you won't see me sitting around much.

The one thing that did annoy me though was the fact that the location of the run is not served by buses on Sundays! Start and finish were at a huge sports complex with at least 6 ice rinks, several indoor hockey, baseball, volleyball and other courts; and on all the courts and rinks competitions were taking place at the same time. All these people had to come by car! The closest bus stop was 4 km away which I know so well because we had run that way and km-markers showed the distance. So I walked to the bus stop afterwards but in the morning because there weren't buses to get me there early enough I had to ask a friend to drive me. Oh yes, it did piss me off a ton. I am not mad at Grand River Transit though, I am mad at all those people driving!                 

Nestlé Chair Brabeck-Letmathe doesn’t deserve an honorary degree

Another email I received that makes me shake my head as usual at the stupidity shown. You wonder who comes up with this BS. What does this man get a degree for? For setting bad examples!! Once a water market anywhere in Canada is privatised it will set the path for more of such privatisations and soon we compete with big, rich (because they don't pay taxes) corporations over our daily water! Once water prices explode it will surely stop people from wasting water but it will also cut us off from one of our most basic needs - no water, no life.  But hey, I just had an idea: If you work for one of those corporations who want to buy water rights and profit big from what comes out of your tap, go to work with as many barrels as you can fit into your car (for once it will come in handy if you still drive a big one) and fill them up with water at work and then distribute in your neighbourhood. Want to see the look in your employer's face. 

There's a link, it's in your hand too:
            

Dear supporters of Our Water Is Not For Sale,

Please take a few minutes for this important action alert from the Council of Canadians: “Tell the U of A that Nestlé Chair Peter Brabeck-Letmathe doesn’t deserve an honorary degree.”
The University  of Alberta has announced that on March 1, 2012 it will award an honouary degree to Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, the Chair of Nestle, the world’s largest multinational food and water corporation and the largest bottled water corporation in the world.
Nestle has been a leading force in pushing the privatization and commodification of water globally. They have also been pushing water markets in Alberta. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe has bragged that Nestle is “actively dealing with the government of Alberta to think about a water exchange.” His comments come at a time when our network and many Albertans have been raising concerns about the serious problems with water markets and pushing for the government to consult with Albertans.
Please click here for the full action alert with more information. Or use the Council’s online form to email the University.

One just can't trust that government

This is an email from the David Suzuki Foundation that I received:    

Tell the government to honour its commitments to our oceans

If a panel of doctors told you to take better care of your health, would you listen? Ten leading marine scientists with the Royal Society of Canada just told Canada to take care of its oceans before it’s too late.
With the budget speech just weeks away, now is the time to tell Finance Minster Jim Flaherty that our oceans desperately need proper investment. Rising ocean temperatures and increased salinity in certain areas are just two of the serious threats they face. In last year’s budget speech, the government promised to create six new marine parks by 2012. That hasn’t happened yet, and they only have 10 months left to meet their commitment.

Join the thousands of Canadians telling the government to listen to its doctors and honour its commitments to the oceans.




You see the link, it does not take long to send that letter. Considering the government's stance to the environment I can't believe that they made such a promise. Probably with their fingers crossed behind their backs. To say "Six marine parks" is a bit of a vague statement anyway. How big is each of them going to be? The ocean around Canada is incredibly vast and protecting an inch here and there will not make a difference. Will the fishing industry stop being short-sighted and support marine parks? I doubt it. But keep the number in mind and we'll see what happens by the end of 2012.