By Lisa Bland, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief – The first Earth Day, held on April 22 in 1970, marked an historical era that catalyzed changes at many levels of society. The day of action on behalf of the planet grew out of the counterculture of the 70s on a stage set in 1962 by Rachel Carson’s famous book The Silent Spring. The book foretold a future where industrialism converged with the natural world, resulting in damage to ecosystems and by extension, humans and all life. The force for action grew out of the anti-war movement in the US. It resulted in behaviour and…
Author: thegreengazette
By Venta Rutkauskas – ʔuẑilhtŝ’an… Listen. A land and its people tell a story. Fractured by outsiders, a cultural battle pulses like the beat of thunder on a sacred mountain. Voices swell, then blend, speaking truth in time with the drum. Listen. The legacy of colonization bubbles to the forefront of mainstream consciousness. A new generation of voices emerges, using hip hop to elucidate the state of being young and Indigenous in Canada. Hip hop arose from African American and Latino roots in the charged inner-city boroughs of 1970s NYC. Informed by Black Power politics and cultural pride, the movement…
By Terri Smith – Spring has officially arrived and it’s time to think about how to wake up the garden and get it growing again. As winter comes to an end I am always so excited to get back out there and start growing (and eating!) again, but my excitement is also always tempered with some feelings of trepidation as I try to prioritize what the garden needs and try not to feel too overwhelmed. So, where does one begin? Lists can be a great help here, and while there are as many ways to grow a garden as there…
Press Release – Sage Birchwater’s latest book, Chilcotin Chronicles: Stories of Adventure and Intrigue from British Columbia’s Central Interior, is hot off the press. He will be holding a number of book launches and book signings across the region starting on April 19 in 100 Mile House at Nuthatch Books from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The following evening, Thursday April 20, Birchwater will give a slide show and talk in Williams Lake at the Central Cariboo Arts Centre (the old Fire Hall), starting at 7 p.m. A week later on Thursday, April 27 in Quesnel, he will give a…
By Sharon Taylor – If you grew up, like I did, in the 1960s and 70s, you will remember how we proudly compared the mosaic that was Canada to the melting pot that was the United States. While it was important for people who immigrated to the US to become American in every sense of the word, in Canada, it was considered admirable to still feel tied to your home country: to sing the songs, dance the dances, and eat the food. In a speech to the Ukrainian – Canadian Congress, Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Eliot Trudeau…
By Terri Smith – In another month Amadeus will be five years old. When I realized this a few days ago I no longer wondered why it was that I have been having such a difficult time coming up with things to say about him this month. Five years is a long time to have been writing (or reading) about a goat. And especially this goat! It’s not as if he is actually all that interesting. His main occupations are eating and pooping and sleeping, and sometimes he head-butts things or people or animals, and he often falls over. Alright,…
By Margaret-Anne Enders – This year, Canada will mark its 150th anniversary. Celebrations are being planned in towns and cities across the country. It’s easy to get drawn into the hype and excitement, especially with so much global political stress. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate? Let’s slow down and think about this for a moment. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate? Canada is country that offers great opportunities. It is a vast land with stunning natural beauty. It has been built up through the generations by immigrants from every continent, each region bringing culture and traditions that have been woven into…
By Bill Irwin – The question of whether I have ever seen a UFO arises frequently at the observatory. The answer is no, at this time. Without extrapolating to a spacecraft with aliens in it, I would be looking for something that shows unusual motion or erratic brightness patterns. A massive object cannot instantly change direction like a laser pointer beam can. Its inertial mass prevents this. To do a tight right angle turn very rapidly takes a huge amount of energy. I think we instinctively sense this, so something behaving like that would be noticed. It could, of course,…
By Guy Dauncey – It’s a very small village called Hudswell, perched on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in the north of England, with a population of just 353 people. It was listed in The Domesday Book, so it’s at least a thousand years old—and for many years it had a village pub, The George and Dragon. In 2008, however, the big banks in New York and elsewhere took their entitlement to such an extreme they almost blew up the world economy, and as a result, Hudswell’s little pub went bankrupt, leaving the villagers with nowhere to gather and…
– Submitted by Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Society – Waste Wise is proposing a one-year pilot program to recycle car seats, with direct reporting to ICBC that could result in partial funding from the corporation. After one of her recent school presentations, local Waste Wise educator Mary Forbes found herself contemplating the issue of old car seats as waste. She wondered, “Are they recyclable?” “The plastic is recyclable, so why doesn’t somebody recycle them?” “What about the fabric covers and the buckles?” Mary contacted ICBC and the Recycling Council of BC as well as West Coast Plastics to see if it…
Submitted by the Rivershed Society of BC – The Rivershed Society of BC is hosting its 14th annual Sustainable Living Leadership Program (SLLP). This educational program begins at the headwaters of the Fraser River near Mount Robson and arrives at the city shores of Vancouver, 26 days later, and 1,400 kilometers downstream. This journey of a lifetime includes some amazing time in nature. Connecting with the river, learning about the geography and history of the landscape, and the life that lives and breathes from it. The trip is also a great opportunity to grow and learn. Team building, conflict resolution,…
By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette – There are countless examples throughout our social history where information has been altered or destroyed, usually to fit the political or religious theme of the day. In contemporary terms, heightened environmental awareness sheds light on various ways sustainability and economic development as we traditionally know them don’t always work together, and while this often leads to evolution, it sometimes leads to knowledge suppression. Former prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper will go down in history for being at the helm of one of the country’s least progressive environmental records. Triumphing a platform…
By Brianna Van De Wijngaard – Puddle Produce Urban Farm remembers its first season well in Williams Lake: I planted many seedlings and microgreens that either barely grew, or not at all. I operated a more than sketchy 30-year-old rototiller in people’s backyards, (which I am certain was not a pleasant sound), washed late into the night by headlamp the veggies that did grow, and lugged much of it around in my bike trailer. It was sometimes stressful, and a lot of work, but a great time and totally worth it. I’ve learned a lot since then, and hope to…
By Jasmin Schellenberg – HEALTHY SNACKS AND WHY Roll-ups The great thing about roll-ups is that the roll can be so many different things. The most obvious is tortilla (preferably whole wheat and sprouted), but other choices include toasted nori seaweed sheets, crepes, pancakes, or a large leaf of lettuce. Here are a few ways to fill them: • Raw cream cheese sprinkled with grated carrots, grated zucchini, and grated apple, topped with a lettuce leaf • A slice of deli meat or left over roast, a little mustard, a pickle or sauerkraut, and fresh sprouts • Cream cheese, wild…
By David Zirnhelt – I credit my mother with encouraging us to continue learning. I would be (and still am) inspired by heady ideals like “world peace” and using diplomacy rather than bombs to achieve noble ends like a “better society”. That lead me to studying international politics and seeking a career as a diplomat. Twice I refused opportunities to follow that career in favour of seeking elected political careers where I could work with others directly in a democratic context to create political will to adopt the solutions to what many saw as fundamental problems. If I had to…
By Megan Rempel – Despite seeming insignificant, cigarette butts are the largest contributor to litter out of all plastic products found along Canada’s shorelines. Four and a half trillion butts are littered every year. The cigarette filters are non-biodegradable, causing them to clog urban spaces and eventually pollute our earth’s aquatic systems. The Cigarette Recycling Campaign (CRC) project aims to change how the public thinks about littering a by-product known to be toxic to ourselves and to the environment. When I began to speak to people in my community about cigarette butt waste, the first thing I encountered was the…
By LeRae Haynes – Bringing unique, beautiful healthy flavour to the table is at the heart of Two with Nature Foods, a 100 Mile House business owned by Diana Richter and Christiane Nauen. They use their certified organic WildCraft herbs to create a taste experience that brings customers back time after time. They mix organic WildCraft herbs with pure Himalayan crystal salt, and create unique, flavourful mustards and salts. They also do catering for a wide range of events, including weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, holiday parties, and office events. “We have WildCraft herb salads and make our own pasta called…
By David Suzuki – We recently highlighted the faulty logic of a pseudoscientific argument against addressing climate change: the proposition that because CO2 is necessary for plants, increasing emissions is good for the planet and the life it supports. Those who read, write, or talk regularly about climate change and ecology are familiar with other anti-environmental arguments not coated with a scientific sheen. A common one is that if you drive a car, buy any plastic goods, or even type on a computer keyboard your observation that we need to reduce fossil fuel use is not valid—no matter how much…
By Beth Holden – As the days get longer, I can hear my mountain bike calling. I can’t think of anything more empowering than hopping on my bike and peddling for hours. It feels so good to conquer a challenging climb, shred a technical steep descent, or hit a jump for the first time. As exciting as it is, I still get scared and I still remember what it was like to be a beginner. When I first heard of mountain biking I was intrigued and intimidated. I’ve always been drawn to the mountains and the forest for adventures and…