By Adam McLeod, ND, BSc — I tell virtually every cancer patient that they should avoid sugar as much as possible. Some doctors insist sugar has no effect on cancer. This is simply not what the scientific literature states. If you are trying to fight cancer or prevent the recurrence of cancer, then you should make an effort to reduce your sugar intake. Study after study has demonstrated a direct connection between sugar intake and cancer risk. There is a wide range of cancers associated with increased sugar intake. Cancer cells often have significantly more insulin receptors than normal…
Author: thegreengazette
By Terri Smith — Like many in the Cariboo, I live out of town. About an hour out of town. I love living here. I love the silence, the wilderness, the animals, the ability to ‘get away from it all,’ just by driving home. But there are times when it’s tough to live off-grid and a long way away from everyone else. Take the last few months, for instance. Like many who live out of town we have satellite Internet, and like many of you have probably found, it doesn’t always work very well. In fact, for the last two…
By Heather Clay — Bees are dying. Why are they in trouble and what can you do to help? One third of every bite we eat depends on the pollinating activity of many species of insects. We would have a very bland diet if it was not for the most prolific pollinator, the honey bee, transferring pollen from flower to flower and initiating the production of fruit or seeds. Our food would be limited to wind pollinated plants such as wheat, rice, corn, or oats. It goes without saying that we need healthy bees in adequate supply to pollinate the…
Dr. Anthony B. Miller — “There is a potential risk of rapidly progressive and more malignant tumours.” In March and April, 2015, the Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health invited international experts to testify about Safety Code 6—Health Canada’s exposure guideline on non-ionizing radiation from cellphones, WiFi, cordless phones, baby monitors, smart meters, and other electromagnetic sources. These doctors, scientists, and researchers almost unanimously denounced Safety Code 6 as outdated and inadequate for protecting the health of Canadians. Below is the testimony presented by Dr. Anthony B. Miller, Canada’s foremost expert in radiation and…
By Oliver Berger — Converting waste into reusable material – recycling – some people do it, others don’t. It is a choice, like so many things in life. I’ve been to parts of the world, (South-East Asia, Spain, Eastern Europe) where recycling isn’t even in the vocabulary and littering is the normal thing to do. Yet in Switzerland or Japan, recycling is the only option for your waste. Why do some parts of the world care so much and others don’t have the knowledge or resources to participate? That is a global question. As a “Laker,” I ask, “Where…
By Van Andruss — My partner Eleanor and I visited the Emerald Isle for the fourth time this past winter. I would like to offer bits of what we learned there while enjoying a change of scene. Even before we flew into Havana, we heard the news about Obama’s intention to “normalize” relations between the US and Cuba. Embassies will open in both countries. At least one “conversation” had been held with US officials in Washington, DC, with more to come. The last three of five Cuban patriots had been returned after spending years in a US prison on…
By Jasmin Schellenberg — HEALTHY SNACKS AND WHY Rhubarb Slush This is a refreshing spring time beverage. Ingredients 6 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped 2 cups brown sugar 6 ounces fresh or frozen orange juice 6 ounces fresh or frozen lemon juice 3 cups water 2 liters of carbonated water, chilled Method Place rhubarb in a large saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until tender. Drain and mash or puree in a blender. Stir together the rhubarb puree, sugar, orange and lemon juice, and water. Freeze. Place scoops of the frozen mixture…
By Danielea Castell — It turned out to be my last campaign as an activist. The world was preparing for Y2K and I was living on Salt Spring Island when Texada Corporation became the new owners of 40,000 hectares of pristine forest which they promptly announced they were going to clear cut. Every cell in my body screamed “NO!” and I leapt into action along with a few others to organize the Direct Action group. A committed fundraising group formed soon after, and raised enough money to buy the remaining unlogged land from Texada Corporation. My learning moment came…
By Ciel Patenaude — In the first week of May, I travelled to Mayne Island, one of the more southern Gulf Islands just off the coast of Vancouver, to visit my parents. Riding the ferry across (as I have done hundreds of times before) I was hit with the salty bite of the ocean air – a smell I have always so loved – and blown away once again by the pristine waters of Georgia Strait. The scenery was so perfect that one could have assumed those clear waters extended in an infinite manner in both directions, both teeming…
By Devon Chappell — Well, ladies and gentlemen, enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, farmers, friends, and other fine folk! Spring has arrived, evolved, and seems to be turning into another glorious sunshine-filled summer. Some of us will have been preparing for this by trying to recover our “beach bods,” while others of us have kept eating clean to battle the winter blues. And then there are those of us who have hibernated from the chilly winter winds, chowing down on comfort foods to keep warm. However you spent the colder months, it’s time to get ready for the splendid days of summer.…
By Caitlyn Vernon, Sierra Club BC Campaigns Director — Who knew stopping a pipeline could be so much fun?! Or that it would include chocolate bars, concerts, beer tastings, wilderness trips, and pancake breakfasts? The Pull Together campaign was launched last year on the heels of the federal government’s approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project pipeline and tankers. Community groups in Smithers and Terrace hosted small scale fundraisers to support the seven northern First Nations who initiated legal challenges to stop the Enbridge pipeline. These northern communities knew firsthand what was at stake, and the power of standing…
By Sharon Taylor, Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society of Prince George-Williams Lake Branch — The last week of June gives us an opportunity to Celebrate Canada! with four days focusing on four different elements of Canadian culture. The first is National Aboriginal Day, June 21. Many Aboriginal cultures traditionally celebrate around the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. June 21 was declared National Aboriginal Day in 1996 to recognize the many different cultures shared by peoples of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis heritage. Watch for the Annual National Aboriginal Day Parade and Celebration in Boitanio Park on Sunday,…
Performances in the Park is the place to be on a Thursday night. From July 2 to August 20, 2015, the Gwen Ringwood Theatre in Boitanio Park will light up each Thursday evening with awesome musical performances from 6 – 8 p.m., along with food vendors, a children’s art corner, and a farmer and vendors’ mini-market. Performances in the Park is a true community event. It is presented by the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society in partnership with the City of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District, and is supported and sponsored by business and media partners. Each…
Submitted by Louis Blanc Studio — In 1868, a photographer named Louis A. Blanc travelled to the Cariboo to seek his fortune. We know very little about Louis, but here’s what we do know: he was a trained goldsmith and his home country was the French area of Switzerland. He made his way to Victoria in the mid-1860 and attempted to make a living practicing his trade. While apparently not very successful in Victoria, he bought some used photographic equipment from a gentleman in that city, got some training, and decided to head to the Cariboo goldfields. Why was Monsieur…
By Ron Young — Studying the past can inform us about lives that have caused a sea of changes in the course of human history. Such men as Galileo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Henry Ford come to mind, but it is often much more difficult for us to identify modern day geniuses. Steve Jobs is one who many regard as a modern day visionary, but you can get into an argument on any street corner about that and only time will tell. Another who some consider a modern visionary is Elon Musk. Mr. Musk was the co-founder of Paypal,…
By David Suzuki — The monarch butterfly is a wonderful creature with an amazing story. In late summer, monarchs in southern Canada and the US northeast take flight, travelling over 5,000 kilometres to alpine forests in central Mexico. The overwintering butterflies cling to fir trees there in masses so dense that branches bow under their weight. The monarch’s multigenerational journey northward is every bit as remarkable as the epic southern migration. Three or four successive generations fly to breeding grounds, lay eggs, and perish. The resulting caterpillars transform into butterflies and then take on the next leg of the…
By Terri Smith — “When you lose your heart, there’s no turning back. Everything’s changed I promise you that…” In case you missed it, those lines are part of the chorus to the song LeRae Haynes wrote about Amadeus and which she sang along with the women’s ukulele group and the Angel Keys children’s choir at Seedy Saturday in May. She wrote the song over a year ago now and has sung it with countless children and adults, including a ukulele group in Hawaii while she was on vacation earlier this year. It’s an incredibly catchy tune, and those…
Part of the Cariboo Regional District’s Solid Waste Info Series: The BC government has been regulating recycling in BC for as far back as 1970 with the introduction of a mandatory deposit-refund system for soft drink and beer containers. In 1991 programs for lead-acid batteries and tires came into place. Since 1994 over 14 additional Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs have been added to the regulation including medications, household hazardous waste, used oil and used oil products, thermostats, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, alkaline, UPS and lithium batteries, e-waste, appliances, lighting products, power tools, cell phones, packaging and printed…
By Brianna van de Wijngaard, Community Liaison, Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society — Here at the Water Wise headquarters, in the basement of the Phoenix building, we’re always trying to find ways to decrease summer water use, because it increases so much in July and August—up to 50 per cent, compared to other months. Of course, some of the primary culprits are lawns and gardens, and – as many of you know – there are ways we can have both. This how-to piece is on mulching, arguably one of the top dogs of garden tasks. Mulching for Water Conservation…