By Erin Hitchcock- As a mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old, with another child on the way this spring, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the number of pesticides to which our kids are exposed. Parenting can be hard work and doing things the right way all of the time can feel impossible, especially when a lack of time and energy get in the way. But I feel it’s critical we at least prevent our kids from consuming chemicals that could have negative, life-altering effects. All too often I have seen families guzzling litres of soda to wash down their fast-food…
Author: thegreengazette
Part of the Cariboo Regional District’s Solid Waste Info Series: Becoming Waste Wise Recylepedia? Not a word you will find in the dictionary but, it is used to describe a service that will answer all your recycling questions. The Recycling Council of British Columbia (RCBC) provides this service in combination with its call-in hotline. Every Regional District in the province pays RCBC about three cents per person, per year to support the recycling information services. RCBC maintains the most extensive and up-to-date waste and recycling database in Canada. All you have to do is ask for the information. The…
What does the term ‘living shorelines’ mean to you? Living shorelines refers to a unique part of the ecosystem that is a Ribbon of Life. And what is not alive is providing for life in some other way. Whether it provides shelter, shade, or protection, a diverse array of features (plants, logs, trees, stumps, and rocks) play a vital role in a maintaining a healthy “living” shoreline. A living shoreline provides valuable erosion control through plant root systems that penetrate deep into the ground, holding the soil in place. Those same roots that provide bank stability will also filter sediment…
Submitted by the Potato House Society – Over 2016 you will see a lot of action at the Potato House as we renovate to create a mini Community Hall. With funding from Northern Development Initiative Trust and crowdsource funding from the National Trust for Canada, we will be able to build a washroom on the first floor with a pull cord toilet, clawfoot tub, and hot and cold water, all keeping with the style of 1941, the year the house was built. Renovations will also include a new, insulated roof, refurbished floors, freshly painted walls, and historically accurate light fixtures.…
By Terri Smith – It’s that time of year again. What time of year is that? I’m glad you asked, because it never feels believable when it arrives, but it is time to order seeds! As I write this I look out my window at the snow-covered trees and the foot or more of that fluffy, white stuff, and planting seeds seems like both a distant memory and a task so far in the future it seems absurd right now. I know not everyone starts their own seeds. Many of you may just buy seedlings, or, like most people…
By Venta Rutkauskas- Driving through the autumn fog, I am on my way to meet painter Simone Benjamin. In the fog, the lines of reality are blurred, and it has been said the veils between worlds are lifted. It would seem that artists of all media understand the notion that ideas and inspiration are often not of their own making. The artist opens, receives, and transmits in the act of creation, and what remains is a unique impression of the world around them. For the fine-artist, the style in which the impression comes through is akin to a fingerprint:…
By Brianna van de Wijngaard – Community LiaisonCariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society 2016 brings yet another World Water Day (WWD) on March 22. Part of its purpose is to keep water conservation and preservation top of mind at both local and global levels, but also because each WWD theme is part of a strategic sustainability initiative established by the UN Water department. This year’s theme is Water and Jobs, meant to “highlight the two-way relationship between water and the decent work agenda in the quest for sustainable development” (Stockholm International Water Institute). So, of course, this makes us curious: what…
By Brandon Hoffman- We’re all ready to embark upon another season at the Station House Gallery. I am quite thrilled with the lineup we were able to put together for our 35th year. We received a huge pile of fantastic applications and it was a daunting task narrowing it down. Our season kicks off in February, with exhibitions from Coral Keehn and Rick Blacklaws. Coral’s show in the Main Gallery is comprised of the original illustrations from her children’s book Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, out on Friesen Press. Coral brings a fanciful and creative interpretation of the 19th-century lullaby by…
Pacific Wild and Valhalla Wilderness Society are challenging the legality of the government of British Columbia’s controversial wolf cull program. In January 2015, despite considerable opposition, the BC government launched a multi-year wolf kill program in the South Peace and South Selkirk regions. Government contractors are paid to radio-collar wolves in the spring so snipers in helicopters can track and kill entire packs throughout the winter. Ministry officials estimate the program will kill nearly 500 wolves and cost taxpayers approximately $2.2 million. According to M. Hume’s Globe and Mail article, “B.C.’s controversial wolf cull program to save caribou will continue,”…
By Jasmin Schellenberg – Anytime Cookies (makes 12) Sweetened by dried fruit, these cookies make a great start to your kids’ day. Ingredients ¼ cup coconut flour ½ cup almond butter 6 pitted dates (soaked in warm water for 15 min) ¾ cup shredded unsweetened coconut ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce 2 eggs 1 ½ tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ tsp sea salt ½ tsp baking soda 2 Tbsp dried cherries 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts 3 Tbsp currants Method Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine coconut flour, almond butter, and…
Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Centre, the Cariboo’s only Buddhist Centre, located at 212 S 3rd Avenue, is entering its fifth year of service to the community of Williams Lake. It is a recognized and well-utilized organization, adding to the rich spiritual diversity in our area with a broad range of offerings including but not limited to advanced Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy classes, introductory Buddhist classes, guided meditation on Monday evenings, and Sunday morning group meditation and discussion. Visiting teachers give workshops two or three times a year to round out and deepen our understanding of all that we have learned. His Holiness…
By Lisa Hilton- Each of us has a light side and a dark side. This is part of why Star Wars holds an appeal for us… we can relate. I am reminded of this on a daily basis, by each of my three children. No matter how hard I try to teach them to be fair, to share with each other, to be kind to each other, it seems each of their little dark sides manages to rear its ugly head on a daily, if not hourly, basis. And then at other times, their little light sides amaze me with…
By Lisa Bland – International Women’s Day, acknowledged globally on March 8, arose out of a political response to suffrage (the right to vote) and other conditions for women at the turn of the century. In modern times and in more gender balanced nations, recognition of this day includes respect, appreciation, and love towards women and recognizing their economic, political, and social achievements. In some regions, a political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations aims to create political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide. In some countries, such as Afghanistan, China (for women only), Russia,…
By Pat Teti – If you buy locally produced meat or vegetables, you are probably connected to a worldwide network of travellers who help grow those meats and veggies. Their idea of a holiday is to live and work on a small farm or ranch far from their home for weeks at a time in return for room and board. These helpers are critical to some of our local producers because they’re compensated with room and board—not cash. Helpers also receive the bonuses of memorable experiences and friendships. Unlike tourists, these helpers are motivated by the desire to experience the…
By Sage Birchwater – Climate change touches all of us in different ways. When I came to the Cariboo-Chilcotin in 1973, we had “real” winters. Temperatures would drop to forty or fifty below for days or weeks at a time, and this was considered normal. Two decades later these extended periods of extreme cold happened less and less frequently. Today if the mercury drops to minus 25 degrees Celsius for a day or two, we call that a cold snap. I’m not complaining, mind you, just observing how things have changed. Milder winters mean lower heating costs and less burning…
By LeRae Haynes – Kindergarten kids in School District 27 have the opportunity for a fresh new classroom environment in September, 2016 when the unique Scout Island Nature Kindergarten opens its doors. Joan Lozier, early years co-ordinator for School District 27, said with the environment as co-teacher, youngsters will partake in an emergent and play-based curriculum, and the teacher will encourage kids to be curious, providing tools, ideas, and resources for kids to come up with answers to their own questions. “Kids are so naturally curious outdoors, they can direct their own learning and are so much more engaged: it’s…
By David Suzuki – My grandparents came here from Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. Although it would be a one-way trip, the perilous journey across the Pacific was worth the risk. They left behind extreme poverty for a wealth of opportunity. But Canada was different then, a racist country built on policies of colonization, assimilation, and extermination of the land’s original peoples. My grandparents and Canadian-born parents, like Indigenous people and others of “colour,” couldn’t vote, buy property in many places, or enter most professions. During the Second World War, my parents, sisters, and I were deprived…
By Kate McDonough – I’m awake, no doubt about it, and it’s cold, snapping cold in here. At least minus forty, I guess. This is the Chilcotin, after all, far away from the nearest town, Williams Lake, British Columbia. I can see my breath above the wool-stuffed comforter, a fog halo lingering above our heads. Jumbled thoughts revolve like prayer wheels, slowly, but soon crystallizing like the frost I see sparkling in the poplar trees outside our window. Then the images melt, turning into the face of a Jersey cow, fog rising from her nostrils and from her frosty back,…
By Oliver Berger – This is going to be a tough article to write. There is a small battle I have been struggling with for some time. For those of you who don’t know, I am one of those casual smokers, and have been for over a decade. It is a tough thing to admit, however, a reality of having a partially addictive personality, I suppose. There are so many reasons not to smoke: obvious health issues, which I seem to completely ignore and somehow figure they will not happen to me, and even knowing friends who have suffered to…