By Bill Irwin – I suppose, like your parents waiting up when you’ve been out late, it’s time for us to have that little talk about Mars. As a reader of this column, you’ve probably wondered what it might be like to stand on the surface, however briefly, and with some life support, of course. There would be a sky, because Mars still retains some atmosphere, but things would be stark and lifeless, like some remote desert on Earth. Mars has only one tenth the mass of Earth, so it hasn’t been able to retain the atmosphere it once had.…
Author: thegreengazette
By Van Andruss – Like so many others of my generation, half-asleep in a commercially-induced fog, the awakening of my social imagination took place in the 60s. There was a mixture of influences, political and economic, that might explain how the awakening happened, but that’s not my interest here. My purpose is to call for another such uprising to pull ourselves out of this current social morass. It would not be the same sort of movement as before. We’re 50 years beyond the 60s and things have changed radically. Yet similarities will persist. If such a movement takes place, deserting…
By Oliver Berger – China has experienced a huge increase in coal-burning for power and industry in the last 50 years. The result from burning coal has made China into an unhealthy, hazy space for humans and animals to reside. China is responsible for 30 per cent of all globally emitted greenhouse gases. However, in recent years there has been a rise in low-carbon energy, and emission rates have actually started to decrease. They must want to breathe a little easier. China has also been exporting products to the rest of the world for decades. Cargo ships span the Earth’s…
By Lisa Bland, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief – The nature of water is flow, and it knows no boundaries. The cycle of water, or hydrological cycle, describes the continuous movement of water above, on, and under the surface of the Earth. Water is a universal solvent and described by scientists as a weird and wonderfully magical molecule with many mind-bending properties. Water carries particles with it and within it, and often amplifies their effects downstream or into the atmosphere via natural seasonal weather patterns, climate induced change, or changes due to human industrial activity and urbanization. Water can teach us a lot about…
Reviewed by J. Baker – Solving our environmental problems is proving complicated, not only because we don’t know what to do, but because our journey to solutions requires that we confront huge technological challenges as well as our individual and collective human character. This complexity becomes obvious when reading The EcoTrilogy. As a weekly environmental columnist, having written more than 750 pieces over 16 years, Ray Grigg has developed a sense of perspective on a situation that will tax humanity’s intelligence and resolve. This challenge is implicitly evident in The EcoTrilogy, partly because of the breadth of subjects he explores…
By Amy Quarry, Co-Owner of Long Table Grocery – Throughout this past year I have become fascinated by the concept of permaculture. The permaculture principles are most commonly applied to gardening and my family finds my interest in this subject very entertaining since my thumbs tend to be more black than green. Many a carrot has failed to live up to its potential under my care, something I am not sure even a lifetime of studying permaculture will rectify, despite my best efforts. Where I feel permaculture really gets interesting, though, is when we apply the Design Principles to other…
By Kathie Vilkas, Executive Director, Williams Lake Hospice Society – How do you envision your end-of-life? In a hospital? In your home? Have you thought about what you would like your end-of-life journey to look like? Have you discussed your wishes with the important people in your life? Have you done your Advanced Care Plan? What is hospice palliative care? Imagine you are diagnosed with a life-limiting illness. How do you even begin to make such difficult life decisions? What is Hospice Palliative Care? Firstly, hospice palliative care is not just for the final days or months of life. Hospice…
With files from Parker Crook, Vernon Morning Star, Originally published Dec 3, 2017. It’s a history that has been passed from generation to generation through spoken word. But, after years of research and transcribing, Sage Birchwater transferred that oral history of the Central Interior into the written word in his 2017 book, Chilcotin Chronicles: Stories of Adventure and Intrigue from British Columbia’s Central Interior. Since the book was launched in April 2017, Birchwater has held a number of book signing and slide show presentations throughout the province, from Vanderhoof to Vancouver Island and the Okanagan to Bella Coola. “A lot…
By LeRae Haynes – There is huge range of exciting programs and events for families and individuals through the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, with even more coming up this spring. Everything from bees and trees to knees and cheese, from the Lazy River to climbing the walls, there’s something for everyone and something to delight every family. One new program running through February 21 is Piyo for moms and babies. It’s a fun way to enjoy hands-on fitness with your baby on board, strengthening your core, increasing flexibility, and working on overall strength training. Another innovative program that will blast…
By Tera Grady – Cariboo Regional District (CRD) residents pay for garbage and recycling costs primarily through taxation, not “user pay” as in most other jurisdictions in British Columbia. The CRD is one of only a few regional districts that does not charge residential tipping fees on household waste. In the CRD, solid waste residential tax rates for 2018 will be about $56 per $100,000 of assessed property value. On first thought, many residents are likely happy with this system as it makes garbage drop-off quick and easy at refuse sites. However, upon further investigation, many residents might change their…
By Bill Irwin – Well, did Santa leave a long slender package hiding a telescope under the tree? Or maybe a short stubby one with some new binoculars or a moon globe or something? I’m afraid some of you might have gotten yard lights for Christmas. Maybe one of those intense blue LED ones that prey on your blue sensitive, dark adapted, night vision. Your eyes much prefer the warm red glow of Rudolph’s nose, I suspect. A typical yard light is considerably brighter at a 1 km distance than the brightest celestial objects like Jupiter or even Venus. Night…
By LeRae Haynes – Aiden and Garrett Cochrane and their parents Suzanne and Carl love to pile in the family vehicle and hit the slopes for some skiing. Regulars at Mt. Timothy Ski Hill, they grab every opportunity to enjoy winter in the beautiful Cariboo outdoors.- Aiden, six years old, and Garrett, 13, have both been skiing since they were about four years old. “I like doing my favourite runs that have the bumps and the jumps,” says Aiden, “and powder snow is the best—I call it sugar!” “Having kids outside in the winter is great,” Suzanne says with a…
By Van Andruss – Gloria Atamanenko, a dear friend and a greatly valued contributor to Lived Experience, died this year at Deni House in Williams Lake, BC. By her side was George Atamanenko, her husband of 60 years, and her devoted son, Peter. Gloria Katherine Chomiak was the first born of six children on a farm near Fort Vermilion, Alberta (see LE7, “Two Autobiographical Sketches”). She left the farm at age 15, summoned to Wilmington, Delaware, to care for her uncle. Graduating from high school, she continued her education in Wilmington at Swarthmore College and afterwards began a career as…
By Sage Birchwater – Most people in Williams Lake are probably unaware of the wide range of services provided by the Cariboo Friendship Society. Executive director Rosanna McGregor and social programs supervisor Tamara Garreau describe some of the work they do. “Our primary function is to provide support services for urban Aboriginal people,” says McGregor. These services, staffed by 80 employees, are packaged into more than a dozen programs that include a transition house for women and children, addictions and mental health outreach, pregnancy outreach, shelter services, early childhood development, Aboriginal supported child development, Aboriginal infant development, cultural based preschool,…
By Terri Smith – It seems a lot of people have been really sick this winter. I was, and for way too long, and for me, this was a wake-up call. In my own life, I have noticed illness is often brought on by a combination of physical, mental, and emotional reasons. I found this winter’s illness perplexing because I had thought I was healthy, happy, and eating well. In reality, I had let some things slide. First of all: I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I’m not a farmer, not really. I also don’t actually want…
By Terri Smith – In my last article, I mentioned that I was ruining my own immune system worrying about that of Amadeus. I was mostly joking, but it turns out it was much truer than I imagined. I was ridiculously sick for all of December. I had three different illnesses during Christmas month (and I am rarely really sick) beginning with a weird combination of things that the doctor explained as, “Your immune system has just pretty much shut down for some reason.” It was terrible and I found myself puzzling over what the heck was wrong with me…
By LeRae Haynes – There are wonderful changes afoot with StrongStart in the Williams Lake area, with more nature emphasis and wilderness immersion. More children have more opportunities to love and enjoy the outdoors, expanding their horizons and enriching their lives. StrongStart, a free, play-based drop-in program for parents and little ones, is held in elementary schools throughout the school district. It gives parents and youngsters the opportunity to become familiar and comfortable in a school setting, enjoying stories, games, and crafts with an early childhood educator (ECE). And now, it has an increased emphasis on learning in nature. Naomi…
By Petra Markova – It feels like yesterday our canoe landed at its final destination: the Jericho Sailing Centre in the Lower Mainland, for which we had set off 25 days earlier from Tête-Jaune Cache in BC’s north. It feels like yesterday I was first meeting the eight other participants and four facilitators who would become like my family, even after our journey ended. It feels like yesterday the Fraser River was my home. My journey down the Fraser took place thanks to the Sustainable Living Leadership Program (SLLP), a 27-day trip put on annually by the Rivershed Society of…
By Al-Lisa McKay – “Goodness is about character, integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.” ~ Dennis Prager Do you ever ponder that randomness is a mathematical concept? In statistics and probability, a random event means that it cannot be predicted. To act is to take action and do something. Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Put them all together and what do you get? Random Acts of Kindness Day, of course. This day is celebrated in New Zealand on September 1,…