By David Suzuki – In 1926, US automaker Henry Ford reduced his employees’ workweek from six eight-hour days to five, with no pay cuts. It’s something workers and labour unions had been calling for, and it followed previous reductions in work schedules that had been as high as 84 to 100 hours over seven days a week. Ford wasn’t responding to worker demands; he was being a businessman. He expected increased productivity and knew workers with more time and money would buy and use the products they were making. It was a way of spurring consumerism and productivity to increase…
Author: thegreengazette
By Diane Dunaway – In Part One of my report about the Bee Audacious gathering held last December in San Marin County, California, I related the experience as part travelogue. Once home, processing the conference was surprisingly challenging. At the best of times expectations can be unrealistic; compound that with words like “audacious” and the pressure’s on. I suspect that most change is gradual and insidious. It sneaks up on you! How, then, to relay the messages of the Bee Audacious conference with sincerity and action? There was much agreement about the state of bee and pollinator affairs before the…
By Ciel Patenaude – Egos have a pretty bad image. Thanks to Freud and his buddies in the therapy realm combined with some intense uber-oneness-focused spirituality amplified in the 1960s (and today), most of us are perplexed by the existence, importance, and meaning of our egos, and are quick to judge them as creations of a less spiritually-aware soul. Even the mention of them in casual conversation is usually done deridingly, as though involvement of the ego in anything we do is implicitly bad. But this is not true in the least. The ego is an essential part of being…
By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette – It’s no longer a secret, a little-known fact, or exclusively the business of those living isolated on a mountain top. The facts are firmly in place: being outside is good for you. Time in the wild, among trees, and near water changes your brain chemistry. It elevates mood, is a great excuse to exercise, and measurably reduces the risk of all kind of illness from diabetes to cancer. The trouble is, we don’t take advantage nearly enough and time in the outdoors is on the decline. However, Canadians are fortunate to have…
By LeRae Haynes – Mountview Elementary School is a family-based school nestled in a rural area about five kilometers from Williams Lake. The staff at Mountview takes great pride in building a school that meets the academic, social-emotional, and physical needs of students. As of last year, Mountview Elementary School also offers a Nature Club and kids arrive never knowing what they’re going to learn: tracking and identifying animals by their paw prints or their scat, discovering how fungi and algae are ‘lichen’ each other, or simply how to have fun exploring in the forest. Thanks to the nature passion…
By LeRae Haynes – A truly diverse and captivating annual highlight will hit the streets of Williams Lake on Wednesday, June 21 when the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council’s National Aboriginal Day celebration takes place. Embracing diversity and unity, the event includes an outstanding parade and a range of presentations, activities, and vendors in the park. “Out-of-towners just love looking at the crafts and getting bannock—bannock is a huge draw,” said Bonnie Slack, operations co-ordinator at Northern Shuswap Tribal Council. “And the kids love the bouncy toy.” She said they get so much positive feedback, adding it’s getting bigger every…
By Leah Selk – “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” – Hippocrates Many of you may know me as a fixture in the local arts community. I grew up as “that artsy girl” among peers, went away to art schools, and returned to play a role in arts administration and in furthering the development of the arts through my employment and involvement with various area arts organizations. While the arts are still a major part of my life, and always will be, I’m now finding myself on a new and different path going forward. I’ve recently…
HSI/Canada, Pacific Wild, and middle school students unite to protect wildlife in the lead-up to the provincial election. Humane Society International/Canada, Pacific Wild, and middle school students from Glenlyon Norfolk school are calling on the BC government to implement a complete ban on the trophy hunting of grizzly bears in British Columbia, and to implement an immediate moratorium before the hunting season. Gabriel Wildgen, campaign manager for HSI/Canada, said, “One can only imagine the pain and terror that a grizzly bear experiences in the course of a trophy hunt. Worse off still are the wounded bears hunters never track down—they…
By Peter Atamanenko – On Thursday, March 16, a meeting held at the Central Cariboo Arts Centre in Williams Lake brought in a progressive-minded think tank to share a few different ideas about the future of our public forests. A full house packed the old firehall, with about 70 people. Ben Parfitt, resource analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Peter Ewart, of the Stand Up for the North Committee, both delivered presentations. An important message from the keynote speakers was that we are not alone—other communities, other millworkers, and independent loggers are facing the same kind of…
By LeRae Haynes – A community event celebrating local artisans is coming to Williams Lake on April 22, thanks to the efforts and vision of two young business owners Leslie Mahar and Lacey Tomlinson. Leslie from Paper Airplanes and Lacey from Something Borrowed Weddings and Events are bringing together vendors, shoppers, and families for Handmade in the Cariboo. “This is a great chance to showcase local artisans who make things with their own two hands,” they said.“These are unique, one-of-a-kind items you can’t Google or buy online—things people have invested their heart, time, and creativity to make.” They have a…
By Jennifer Clark – Downsizing and living a simple life is part of many different philosophies, and can be traced back decades, if not centuries. In what is probably one of the first (or at least the best-known) rejections of modern working life, Henry David Thoreau built himself a small home next to Walden Pond in 1845. There, he experimented with working as little as possible and living frugally. This was his attempt to avoid the misery he saw in the world at the time. He felt “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”. It’s impossible to know…
By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette – Whether to plants seeds or nurse seedlings—that is the question. As a non-commercial home gardener with boxes my husband made and a crapshoot of light and soil quality locations around my property, the gardening season is always an adventure. I try new things each year, along with my tried and tested favourites. My children pick out at least one new thing to plant and nourish and oversee the flower planters. I have conjured miserable fates for corn, patty pan squash, and even a no-brainer batch of strawberries, and I have consistent successes,…
By Tera Grady – I was recently at one of the CRD’s smaller landfills touring a group around the site. We stopped by the trench to discuss the garbage accumulation. It was astounding to many in the group how most of the waste was recyclable even with a recycling depot less than five metres away. Plastic bags and plastic containers stood out as the most obvious and frequent items. However, with further inspection, the single use coffee cups started to appear. While the exact number of single use coffee cups that end up in local landfills is unknown, a single…
By Jessica Kirby – Love it or hate it, plastic is everywhere. Since its earliest development nearly 200 years ago, the compound has revolutionized the world but with dire environmental consequences. How Much Plastic? Each year, plastic consumption increases by nine per cent over the previous year. • The world has produced more plastic in the last decade than in all of the last century • 50 per cent of that is used once and disposed. • 80-90 per cent of plastic is thrown away—enough each year to circle the Earth four times. • Nearly every piece of plastic ever…
By LeRae Haynes – Landfill diversion and public education are two highlights on the job for Central Cariboo Disposal’s new area manager Dan Harrison. “I wasn’t a really big trash guy when I came here; I see it now—keeping stuff out of the landfill is my biggest priority,” he said. “If we can push recycling and diversion of any description, it’s a good thing.” He said it’s been a great learning curve in the past year. “Every day is different. If I need to drive a truck, I drive a truck. I help a guy in the shop if needed,…
By Ciel Patenaude – It has been a lengthy, bizarre, and intense winter, rife with viruses that wouldn’t quit, overwhelming political and sociological events both south of the border and within our own boundaries, extreme and levelling blocks of frigid arctic air, and the snow that just kept coming. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this – sometime in April, likely – we’ll be out of this late winter cycle. We’re ready for spring. Classically, spring is considered the time of renewal, growth, activation, and healing, the period when life around us springs back into expression, and our bodies follow.…
By Theodora Scarato, MSW – In December 2016, the Maryland State Children’s Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council (CEHPAC) voted to issue recommendations advising the Maryland Department of Education to recommend that local school districts reduce classroom wireless radiation exposures to as low as possible by providing wired – rather than wireless – internet connections. The Council’s action represents the first State Body to make recommendations to reduce school wireless exposure in the United States. The Council began its review of the health risks posed by electromagnetic radiation exposures from laptops and wi-fi after I first raised the issue three…
Submitted by citizens’ group, Rail Ties Be Wise – Appealing an action by a provincial ministry is not for the faint of heart or the short of patience. Rail Ties Be Wise –the local citizen group challenging rail tie burning in Williams Lake – is finding that out through experience. Atlantic Power Corporation has received approval to receive millions of railroad ties each year, burn them in its Williams Lake Power Plant, and dispose of the ash in an open pile. Thirteen Williams Lake residents have filed appeals to the relevant permits, raising health and safety concerns shared by much…
By LeRae Haynes – Save On Foods in Williams Lake recently decided to charge for plastic shopping bag—a move that has been very well-received by the community. “Feedback from shoppers about having to pay for plastic shopping bags has been overwhelmingly positive,” said store manager Paul Eckersley. “We were a little anxious at first but once the community understood how many bags go into the garbage, they got behind it. We tried to paint the picture; everybody started to see it, even myself. It’s easy to sell if we’re all doing it.” Shoppers can opt for plastic, paper, or cloth…