By Patrick Taylor – As of 2015 the world population sits at approximately 7.3 billion people, and is estimated to be 8 billion by the year 2024. This figure is staggering when considering it will have quintupled from the 2 billion documented in 1927. This increase in the global population has led to many crises and significant strain on the planet. Our ecological footprint does not stop at the grave, however. The ecological impact of a deceased human body, including how we as a society prepare and dispose of it, is exorbitant and unsustainable. The Urban Death Project,…
Author: thegreengazette
By Ron Young – In part one of this article I discussed various topics including Solar Availability, Types of Mounting, Length of Wire Run, and Charge Controllers. The remaining two major components of your off-grid system are Inverters and Batteries. INVERTERS An inverter is a device that takes the stored battery power and changes it from DC (direct current) to AC (alternating current). AC is required for all your conventional household appliances and is what you get from the utility (BC Hydro). In the early days of off-grid systems, it was common to use DC appliances because inverters were…
By Thomas Schoen, Chair, CMBC – Trail recreation, including hiking, trail running, horseback riding, and particularly mountain biking, is growing in popularity throughout British Columbia. Numerous communities throughout the province, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, are investing significantly in trails as a means for enhancing the liveability of their communities and to attract and retain residents. In addition, trail recreation and tourism are also growing and providing exciting new opportunities for economic development. The development of trails can have a significant impact on the health and well-being of communities. Trails make a significant contribution to community development, creating opportunities for healthy active…
By LeRae Haynes – Documentary film maker Robert Moberg has focused on the Fraser River, Rick Hansen, and a unique species of fish for a feature-length film to be released in 2017. Giants Among Us: Rick Hansen and the Great White Sturgeon will highlight these incredible fish, some of whom may be 150 years old, as well as the importance of preserving and protecting their habitat. Rick Hansen, friend of Moberg, avid fisherman, and founder of the Fraser River Sturgeon Preservation Society, will be invited to a screening of the film in Williams Lake. One of the people interviewed in…
By Brandon Hoffman – On June 5, Horsefly musicians and banjo builders Pharis and Jason Romero awoke to find their banjo shop in flames. Before long it had burned completely to the ground, consuming not only the J Romero Banjo Company, but an assortment of rare and vintage instruments, boutique microphones, and boxes upon boxes of the duo’s band merchandise. In interviews with the CBC, Pharis sounded amazingly upbeat about the whole debacle. By the time of the fire, the Romeros had just finished demolition of their house, and had barely begun construction of a new one. The sudden erasure…
By Dr. Joseph Moskowitz – On May 26, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the National Institutes of Health issued the first in a series of reports that contains partial findings from their long-awaited $25 million study of the cancer risk from cellphone radiation. This report summarizes the study of long-term exposure to cell phone radiation on rats. The report on mice will be issued at a later date. According to the report: “Given the widespread global usage of mobile communications among users of all ages, even a very small increase in the incidence of disease resulting from exposure to…
By Oliver Berger – This summer I was fortunate enough to join The Rivershed Society of BC (RSBC) and 11 other fantastic individuals on a journey down the Mighty Fraser from headwaters to mouth. Each participant came with camping gear, a sustainable project for their home community to work and build upon, and an open mind. We had three to four facilitators who educated and inspired us in this beautiful open-air class room teaching about the importance of healthy river sheds and the human impacts on the environment throughout them. Along route we met many more people from other communities, hearing…
By LeRae Haynes – Protecting and preserving the environment is a top priority for wilderness-based businesses, and Big Canyon Rafting in Quesnel and Fraser River Raft Expeditions in Yale are no exceptions. But for both of the owners, that priority is also intensely personal. “Our business was affected when the Mt. Polley Mine breach happened,” said Julie Dinsdale from Big Canyon Rafting, who owns the company with her husband, Tyler. “It was the beginning of our peak season and there was a lot of uncertainty.” “We feel very strongly about this. We’re supportive of the Tsihlqot’in National Government (TNG) in…
By Natalie A. Swift – Each year forest practitioners and communities across Canada celebrate National Forest Week, an initiative that invites the public to learn more about forests and how they contribute to our livelihood. This year’s festivities are taking place September 18 to 24 under the theme, “True North, Strong and Green: Celebrating Canada’s Forests.” With 348 million hectares of forest in Canada there is, literally, a lot to celebrate. Internationally, this expanse represents 9 per cent of the world’s forests, 24 per cent percent of the planet’s boreal forests, and the third largest forest-area after Russia and Brazil.…
Submitted by Cariboo Growers Co-op – Celebrating its seventh summer season of operations, Cariboo Growers Farmers Co-op would like to showcase some of the local producers who grow organic produce for the community in and around the Williams Lake area in the beautiful Cariboo country. The Cariboo Growers Farmer Co-Op Store opened its doors in April, 2010 with one goal in mind: to provide the community of Williams Lake with delicious locally sourced and organically grown produce. The store is a not-for-profit co-operative owned by the very same local ranchers and farmers who sell their produce there. As…
By Jessica Kirby – If you are like me, you don’t need more reasons to drink craft beer. You already appreciate its smooth, frothy goodness; its robust and diverse flavour variety; and, its extensive list of health benefits. If you are like me, you spend a good deal of browsing time in the craft singles section of the beer store and are game to try new styles and flavours. You might be lured by interesting label art, a cool story about the microbrewery’s roots, or a fascinating list of ingredients (cardamom? really?). Most importantly, you approach craft beer drinking like…
By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette – There is a well-known statistic that says today most kids can name 1,000 corporate logos but can’t identify 10 plants and animals found in their own backyards. This speaks to a vast chasm between people and the natural world that has become progressively wider over the last decade. According to Richard Louv’s book, “Last Child in the Woods,” lack of nature in the lives of children links to a rise in obesity, attention deficit disorder, and depression, and a report from Parks Canada says only 15 per cent of Canadians…
By Terri Smith – To some, the idea of a group of people all sharing land and living together harmoniously in a community sounds absurd or downright awful. To others, it sounds fabulous and like it might be the only way our world can continue to survive. Intentional communities are by no means a new thing, though it seems each generation that tries it feels like they have invented it. Some people love the idea, some people feel threatened by it, and some have never given it any thought at all. So, just what is an intentional community? There are…
By Devon Chappell – Strange, what is it!? Kombucha! A rejuvenating health elixir many of you may have heard of before. If you’ve tasted it you probably either loved it or found it wasn’t for you. If you loved it you may now be brewing your own at home or maybe you’ve even gone to the extreme and made clothes out of its “scoby” as designer/biological conjurer Suzanne Lee has done. Enthusiasts have been talking about it, grocery stores in North America have been holding it since the 90s, its origin remains unknown (maybe north eastern China or Russia), yet…
By Casey Bennett– It’s amazing how far a tiny idea can go. It was only a little over a year ago when Robert and Bettina Johnson decided to sell their home in Victoria and move their young family to the community of Alkali Lake (called Esk’et in the Shuswap language), 45 km southwest of Williams Lake. Robert spent his childhood in Alkali, and both he and Bettina had it in their hearts to one day make the move back there to be involved in their community. Robert, a Red Seal journeyman carpenter, spent the last 10 years working diligently in…
By Jennifer Clark– We’ve probably all put a worm on a hook to catch a fish at some point in our lives—maybe, like me, it was when you were out fishing with your grandfather as a kid. What I never knew until I started to learn about urban gardening and sustainability was that those wiggly worms you can buy for fish bait can be so much more useful to you alive for composting food waste in your kitchen. Like my mother did at first, you might say, “Ew, gross, worms in my kitchen?!” My answer to that is, “Absolutely!” Worm…
By Dr. Reuben Dinsmore BScH, ND– Natural supplements, or nutraceuticals, have been given a bad rap lately, which, in some cases, has been absolutely warranted. But natural formulas that actually contain what they claim to contain, and that are formulated to have maximal efficacy can be equal to their pharmaceutical counterparts—but without the laundry list of side effects. Caution: many natural supplements can interact with prescription medications in various ways. Some supplements can reduce the effectiveness of drugs, and some can actually increase the effectiveness of a medication. Although this might sound like a positive thing, your dose has been…
By Sharon Taylor– You wake up in the morning, acrid smoke already making your throat hurt. You glance out the window as you get ready for work. Every time a plane flies over, you look up and calculate how near it is and what direction it is going in. At work, everyone is talking nervously. The computers are down—no Internet means no work. But lots of time to share news and not-quite-news: “My brother heard…” and “My boyfriend’s boss says…” Then the daycare calls. “Come pick up your baby. We are being evacuated.” But you don’t have a car and…
By Erin Hitchcock – A couple dozen people marched through Williams Lake last month to raise awareness about pesticides and genetically modified food and how these products may harm our health, environment, and society. While this local March for Food Justice was small, participants joined millions of people across the globe, marching in solidarity during the world-wide March Against Monsanto that took place in 388 cities, 49 countries, and six continents on May 21. Taking place from Cariboo Growers and supported by the Williams Lake Food Policy Council and other community groups, this year’s march was named March for Food…